RoboFun® Workshops

RoboFun® workshops offer children hands on experience making projects with leading edge technologies: like robot making, video animation, and videogame making. We offer Winter, Spring and Summer Camps, After School Clubs and One-Day Workshops. We also coach robotic teams for Robotic Competitions. Our staff are experienced teachers who love to work and share their knowledge. RoboFun® technowizards come back again and again to delve deeper into their projects, learn more about a specific technology, and become better problem solvers and designers. Principals have attributed students' increased test scores to our RoboFun® Programs that are run within their schools.

Beginners Welcome - No experience necessary! Workshops welcome beginner and advanced inventors ages 6 to 12 years. RoboFun® workshops engage children in learning new and sophisticated technologies while emphasizing:

•  An environment that is fun and “design” based - where creative problem solving and cooperative learning are essential
•  A Child-centered approach: projects are based on your child's own interests and ability level
•  Workshop repeatability: workshop themes are open-ended to enable your youngster to take the same class as many times as s/he wishes and to enable diving deeper into a topic, theme, or technology.

Popular projects can include Robotic Amusement Park; Robo Relay Race – make your own vehicle and race it; Crazy contraptions! Design & build your own Rube Goldberg sculpture; Cosmic comics – design and animate your own comic strip! Our workshops are a great opportunity for school age children to explore their creativity while learning new skills in problem solving, mechanics, logic, and much more.

Click here for workshop schedule

Current RoboFun® Offerings

LEGO® MINDSTORMS®

	LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT - age 8 and up: Over 10 weeks, RoboFun® instructors will guide participants in the creation of three different robotics projects. The first project is a practice vehicle robot in which the students gain initial skills using the LEGO® mini computer, motors, sensors, and different design attachments. Students practice giving robots instructions to complete tasks using an intuitive programming environment called NXT Mindstorms. For the second project, participants create a stationary project or contraption using gears, pulleys, axles, motors and sensors as well as techniques for building sturdy structures. The third project is the final project; students select the final invention based on his or her experiences in previous projects and own interests/creative ideas. Final projects are presented by students to parents on the last day of class. For examples of projects, visit our project gallery.
	LEGO® Mindstorms® RCX Robotics Don't just play it, CREATE IT! RoboFun® instructors will guide participants in the creation of different robotics projects using LEGO® mini computers, motors, sensors, and different design attachments. Every day has a different theme and missions so returning children are constantly challenged.

LEGO ® and Mindstorms® are trademarks of the LEGO® Group and this program is not sponsored or endorsed by the LEGO ® Group

VIDEO GAME DESIGN

Animation & Game Design with Scratch: Animate it! Design it! Program it! Play it! In the *ALL NEW* RoboFun® Animation and Game Design with Scratch workshop, students create their own animations, interactive stories, games, music and art that others can interact with and play. Scratch is a new programming language made specifically for kids; it's free and downloadable for home use. Projects can also be posted to the Scratch website for others around the world to play!

Scratch was created at the MIT Media Lab, and is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design. On the final day of class we will have presentations of the projects.

Click here for workshop schedule