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Kids destroy, rebuild electronics in Camp Invention

It was a parent's nightmare and a kid's dream - pieces of computers and stereos throughout the room as young inventors used screwdrivers, hammers and pry bars to take apart electronics equipment.

It was all part of the hands-on activities and experiments involving more than 120 kids in first through sixth grades who attended Tuesday's session of the weeklong Camp Invention summer camp at Copeland Manor School in Libertyville.

"Kids come in and they invent their own inventions. They are little mini engineers," said Camp Invention director Jenae DeRue. "The kids come in with huge smiles on their faces, and every single day they are very excited when they get their hands on material to build their own inventions."

Children attending Camp Invention are immersed in imaginative play that reinforces school-year lessons through inquiry-based activities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as history and the arts.

Day-campers rotate through five integrated modules with names, such as Duct Tape Billionaire, Mission Space Makers, Have A Blast and Operation Keep Out that use creative thinking and teamwork to solve real-world challenges.

"I'm having a lot of fun. We get to take apart items that we bring," 11-year-old Matthew Lewis of Lincolnshire said after disassembling a stereo receiver in the Take Apart class.

  Five-year-old Jack Ferguson fires a hand-built sling shot with help from Jack Chadwick, 6, left, and Bennett Aquino, 8, in Have A Blast class during Camp Invention on Tuesday at Copland Manor School in Libertyville. More than 120 elementary school students participated in the summer camp program. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
  Andrew Pollema, 7, of Libertyville builds a hovercraft using a milk carton and duct tape in Duct Tape Billionaire class during Camp Invention on Tuesday at Copland Manor School in Libertyville. More than 120 elementary school students participated in the summer camp program. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com
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