STEM Center USA Summer Camp to be held at UC Santa Barbara
Average Rating Stars
Making Learning Fun
STEM education provides youth a rich foundation for curiosity, creativity, and confidence. Let's prepare the next generation for the jobs that don't exist yet by giving them the drive to design and build their dreams! Our STEM Camps give the students not just hands-on learning, but a FUN, SOCIAL week on amazing college campuses.
Highlights Include
- Full Day students get lunch included at university dining
- Learning from the educational leaders of STEM Center USA
- Curriculum that emphasizes the engineering design process
- Great student to staff ratios for extra attention during lessons
- View More Details ⟩
Camp Coaches
-
Co-Founders STEM Center USA Melissa & Lavanya Jawaharlal
STEM Center USA was founded by sisters Melissa and Lavanya Jawaharlal with a mission to share their love for tinkering and creating. After graduating with degrees in Mechanical Engineering from USC and UC Berkeley, respectively, they focused their attention on exciting the next generation of STEM leaders through hands-on, experiential learning. Using their technical background and love for education, they merged their two passions to create STEM Centers in Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga.
Camp Details
Campers will arrive between 8:45-9:00am and have some free time for games and socializing. Learning with technology is broken up with outdoor field games or campus fun! The whole camp gets to eat in the UCSB dining hall, which features all-you-care-to-eat service with so many options. Finally, each day we change gears by getting another hands project. These Mini STEM activity topics could include hands-on electronics and circuit making, crafty maker projects, robotics, hands-on math take-home creations, and more! This lets us work different parts of our brain and see if there are other topics that catch a camper's fascination.
- 2023 Dates: June 26 - July 14
- Ages: 8-14
- Meals: Lunch from campus dining included
- Times: Monday to Friday, 9:00am-3:00pm
- Cost: $595
Session I: June 26-30
- Game Design and Virtual Reality (rising 4th - 8th graders)
- Game Design with Minecraft (rising 3rd - 8th graders)
YOUR PRE-CAMP CHECKLIST:
To view your customer account, complete your mandatory forms, pay balance dues, and review important camp information, visit Pre-Camp Checklist.
All necessary camp information is on this page. If there are any imperative changes prior to camp start, registered campers will be notified via email and this webpage will be updated!
CHECKLIST OF THINGS TO BRING:
Below is a suggested list of clothes and personal items. US Sports Camps is NOT responsible for lost or stolen articles or money.
- Comfortable clothing for learning and outdoor play
- Water bottle and a snack
- Small bag/backpack to keep personal items organized
MEDICAL PROTOCOL:
Camps have an on-site Director to help with illness or injury. In case of an emergency, campers will be transported to the nearest hospital.
COMPANY POLICIES:
Please review information regarding our cancellation policy and all other company policies.
US SPORTS CAMPS FAQ:
For general questions about our camps please see our FAQ page.
FULL COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Click the orange button for more details
Show Less See More Camp DetailsGame Design and Virtual Reality (4th - 8th)
Step into a new dimension by creating your own virtual reality! Discover, explore, design, and experience your own 3D creations in VR. Students will go through an interactive design process where they will literally breathe life into their environments through CoSpaces and block code. Every character will be programmed to move, fly, jump, or do whatever you can imagine! Code your 3D worlds and then experience it on a Google VR headset (provided to each student to take-home). Projects include a Dream House, Animal Oasis, Escape Room, Maze Game, and Parkour.
Game Design with Minecraft (3rd - 8th)
Love Minecraft? Interested in making your own ideas come to life? Let’s take your skills to the next level and show you how to design and make your own games! Learn the basics of game design and build in-demand STEM skills while getting to play in your favorite video game interface! Students will code their own levels and games, and build their own environments and adventures. Use your creativity and design skills to make mind-blowing maps and unique characters, as well as enhance your game-play by gaining expertise in coding with command blocks and creating new structures and resource packs.
Coding in Lua and Game Design with Roblox Studio (5th - 8th)
Roblox is the largest social platform that allows students to create and play in immersive 3D worlds. With over 29 million user-generated online games, the platform has a massive outreach to students all over the world. More and more kids are excited to play games and try out all the Roblox features. Rather than a random series of games, this camp will help guide and engage students in the world of game development. Using the Lua coding language, students will: learn basic programming commands, create 3D worlds, expand characters/worlds using Lua functions, create custom actions and conditions, learn programming concepts like loops, conditionals, arrays, and inheritance, understand and execute proper privacy settings, and understand and execute proper multi-player settings. This camp is designed for beginner and some intermediate users of Roblox. Students will spend the week getting familiar with the environment, dragging-and-dropping code to create actions, and then customizing it with Lua. Students will complete the week with multiple games that they can take home!
Coding & Game Design with Scratch (3rd - 6th)
Love to game? Interested in making your own ideas come to life? Let’s take your skills to the next level and by designing and making your own games! Learn the basics of game design by coding in Scratch to design computer/web-based games that involve keyboard interactions, gravity manipulation, and beginning to intermediate coding skills! Games include: A Dodging Game, Platform Jumping, Maze Runner, Story Game, and an interactive quiz show. Scratch is a limitless interface. This camp welcomes new users as well as those with some experience. Campers will each create their own games as well as present their final projects to the rest of their camp.
Sample Daily Schedule
- 8:45 Check-in Window
- 9:00 Course Learning
- 10:30 Outdoor Break or Activity
- 11:00 Course Learning
- 12:00 Lunch in the university dining facilities (included)
- 1:00 Afternoon STEM Activity
- 2:00 Outdoor Break
- 2:30 Course Learning
- 3:00 Pick Up
"Isla Vista, UCSB, Surfers, and Moonrise" by beltz6 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Our summer camp at UCSB balances outdoor play and essential STEM skill development. UCSB is the only University of California with beaches on campus! The UCSB campus is conveniently located minutes from Goleta, Santa Barbara, and North County. Let's go Gauchos!
(We are not affiliated or endorsed by the University of California, Santa Barbara)
Camp Questions & Answers
What is your cancellation policy?
Cancellations, for any reason, received at least one week before camp start date, will result in a camp VOUCHER for all tuition fees paid, valid through the following calendar year. Your VOUCHER is transferable to any family member and may be used for any program in partnership with US Sports Camps. Cash refunds will be given only with the purchase of Cancellation Protection (terms at check-out).
Those who cancel their camp session within six (6) days of the camp start date will receive a camp VOUCHER for 50% of the camp tuition.
Individuals who DO NOT attend their registered session (no-shows) will forfeit their full tuition payment.
Do I need to bring any computer or iPad?
The camp will provide hardware necessary for all classes. Only a few specific classes will ask a camper to bring a laptop from home on which they will do course learning. This will be in the class description.
Who are your staff for STEM camps?
Camp is led by a trained educator with plenty of experience in the administration of a team and supervision of students. Each class will have a Lead Instructor that is trained in the curriculum. There may be additional Assistant Instructors or Interns to support a Lead Instructor and provide our desired teaching ratio. These assistants and interns are at least rising High School Seniors.
What construction/traffic impacts will there be?
A bridge replacement project on Highway 217, just north of the Henley Gate entrance to UCSB, will begin in mid-April. Please allow extra travel time. This construction may impact airport access, as the Sandspit Road on and offramps may be periodically closed. Passengers traveling to and from the Santa Barbara Airport will be advised to use the Highway 101/Fairview Avenue exits or an alternate route to access the Terminal during this time.
Road information and updates can be found on Caltrans District 5’s use Quickmap (under "Options" be sure to check the boxes for "Lane Closures", "Full Closures", "CHP Incidents" and "Highway Information" in the Road Conditions section).
Camp Reviews
Overall Average Rating Stars
-
He enjoyed playing with a variety of people
— Anonymous
-
Super Fun!
It was a super fun camp and one of my favorite camps.
— Camper
-
Campus is Inspiring
The location & campus is wonderful in inspiring young kids to the future.
— Parent
-
Really Fun!
Everything was really fun. I really actually enjoyed this!
— Camper
-
Best Summer Camp
My son thoroughly enjoyed this camp and thought it was the best Summer camp he's ever attended...and he's attended quite a few.
— Parent
-
College Campus
The college campus setting was fantastic - gave them a real world + fun view of what the future holds. Kids talked about college a lot this week, thank you!
— Parent
STEM Center USA Summer Camp to be held at UC Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California 92697
SECURE YOUR SPOT – CAMPS SELL OUT!
Last year over 650 Sports Camps sold out, leaving 7,000+ campers on the waitlist. Due to high demand, early registration for our first-come-first-serve camps is strongly recommended.
Camp Dates & Prices
This program has concluded for the season.
Please Join our Priority List to be notified when this program is available for registration.