Science flows at U of L Summer Camp

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -

When most people think of summer camp, the first things that comes to mind are sports or outdoor activities.

However, one of the university's most popular camps, Destination Exploration, is introducing kids to the exciting world of science.

Destination Exploration is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) camp with the goal of getting the kids to play, explore, discover and learn.

It's a week-long day camp that runs for kids ranging from grades one to seven to help them learn in a new and fun way.

"We do everything from science, engineering, technology, math, robots, buildings, chemistry experiments, you name it," said the camps program coordinator, Steph Elder.

"It's all the fun things you think about with science and we just provide it to everybody."

The kids are split up depending on age groups with grades one to four in one group and five to seven in the other.

According to eleven-year-old Rocky Sutherland, they're learning new and exciting things every day.

"It's super fun," he told CTV News.

"We've done a pig heart dissection, we use lots of robots and tech and there's lots of building."

Summer science STEM camp in Lethbridge, Alta., July 9, 2021

The younger ones are also having a blast and making a science-fueled mess every chance they get.

"I really liked doing the eruption because it was really fun and I liked the colours that I chose because it's my favorite one," said nine-year-old, Zoe Foster.

"It just looked really cool when it erupted."

Even some of the really young ones can't get enough, especially when it comes to some of the more squeamish experiments.

"I got to see a pig heart, like a real one," said six-year-old, Daniel Fitzpatrick.

"I even got to touch the pig heart with gloves on."

It's not strictly a science camp though, as the kids do get the chance to be active every day.

"We do go to the pool, we do go out to the gym, we do all the fun things that you'd think camp would have as well as make things explode and build giant things out of cardboard," said Elder.

Seeing as the vast majority of the kids are under twelve and not eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, restrictions are still in place for the camp.

Everyone is expected to sanitize frequently and wear their mask at all times.

Destination Exploration runs until mid-August and registration is still open but you have to act fast according to Elder.

STEM Camp, Lethbridge, Alta., July 9, 2021

"You can sign up as long as space is there," she said.

"They are filling up fast now that everybody's getting a little bit more comfortable with how things are done but this is our second year of running camp in COVID so we're ready for you when you want to come."

Last year, they were only able to run U of L's summer camps for four weeks before they were shut down.

If you want a sneak peak as to what Destination Exploration looks like, or what the kids are up to, you can visit their social media where they post daily pictures and videos.

To register, you can visit the U of L's website.