The Maker Camp Playbook

Welcome to Maker Camp! This is your guide to hosting a Maker Camp. The Playbook provides tips for new Maker Camp Sites, helps you plan your camp, shares guiding principles, and provides additional resources to enhance your camp.

NOTE: Please click the “Start Here” button on the right to have access to the Playbook.

Adventure Content

Getting Started

Maker Camp Basics

All about Maker Camp.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for a quick overview? Check out the Maker Camp F.A.Q.

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Who Is a Maker?

We believe everyone has the potential to be a maker: to be inspired to imagine, create, and share personally meaningful projects.

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Your Role

As a facilitator, your role is to create a welcoming environment in which people feel encouraged to imagine new ideas and bring them to life through creative hands-on explorations.

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Planning a Camp

Camp Checklist

A quick list of what you need to prepare for camp.

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Preparing for Camp

Hosting a camp takes some preparation in advance. Here are some recommendations from the Maker Camp staff.

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Camp Materials

Here, we offer some suggestions for gathering materials, items to have on hand, and materials to order.

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Promoting Your Camp

One of the most important things to do is to share your Maker Camp with the community.

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Science Near Me

Science Near Me is a free resource to help users quickly find opportunities to engage in STEM.

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Digital Assets

We love seeing the fantastic ways our Maker Camp Community Partners publicize and celebrate their programs every year.

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Leading a Camp

Project Flow

Plan for how your projects and camp sessions will flow.

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Guiding Principles

To support creative learning and making experiences, we suggest four guiding principles.

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Creative Competencies

Our Camp Adventures are designed to encourage young people to develop their own ideas, to experiment, and to innovate.

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Working With Kids

A useful reminder to those who are new to working with kids as well as folks who may need a refresher.

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Working with Groups

Some important things to consider when working with larger groups of campers.

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Staying Safe

We cannot emphasize enough safety’s importance.

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Celebrating Accomplishments

There are many ways to celebrate the accomplishments of your campers as they develop new skills and overcome challenges.

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Sharing Camper Work

Safely share your camper's projects.

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Tips & Tricks

Keep It Campy

There’s no reason you can’t sample some of the best parts of traditional summer camp.

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Tips from Dale

Tips and tricks to make your Maker Camp a great experience.

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Tips from Camp Sites

Here are some of the lessons learned by people who were Community Partners in the past.

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Additional Resources

The Maker Camp Playbook

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