Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

9 a.m. to noon
$117/camper; 10% discount for members; $15/per week for scholarship recipients; $5 discount for siblings in same camp
Lunch Bunch option available from noon to 1 p.m. for $35/week per child.
Campers must bring their own lunch and can enjoy free-choice play and quiet time.

JUNE 14-18 | GET CURIOUS WITH PBS’S ELINOR WONDERS WHY – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Join curious Elinor on an outdoor nature adventure and exploration through the museum’s galleries. With sensory play and hands-on experiments, your little one will build social skills, engage their senses, and use real science tools.

JUNE 28-JULY 2 | GET WILD WITH INDIANA ANIMALS – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Get up close to real museum specimens and discover animals from the Ice Age, like giant mastodons and mammoths, to animals of today – like racoons and bats. Your camper will use science tools to conduct hands-on experiments and work on collaborative projects.

JULY 19-23 | MESSY DISCOVERIES – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Get messy and discover what STEAM really means while becoming an artist, scientist or engineer through sensory play and experiments!

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; drop off between 8 – 9 a.m. for free-choice play
$240/camper; 10% discount for members; $25/per camp for scholarship recipients (includes lunch and snack); $5 discount for siblings in same camp

JUNE 7-11 | RACING INTO SUMMER – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Find out the fastest (and slowest) ways to move through Indiana, from traveling on a canal to a race car and everything in between. Explore engineering and design your own new method of moving fast!

JUNE 14-18 | EXPLORE WITH PBS’S MOLLY OF DENALI

Explore the culture of Alaska through games, and use problem-solving skills to help Molly and her friends in their adventures to get their dream tube.

JUNE 21-25 | SUPERHERO SCIENCE – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Investigate a different superpower each day like speed, strength – even invisibility! – and the science behind it.

JUNE 28-JULY 2 | ECO-EXPLORERS – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Did you know water is sticky? What animals can you find in the middle of a city? It’s time to get outside and explore all that is wonderful about nature.

JULY 12-16 | KID CAKES – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Icing, swirls, and yummy cake! You’ll learn how to make a cake, buttercream icing and royal icing. We’ll teach you some tricks of the trade to make your baked treats look amazing.

JULY 19-23 | ARTIST-IN-TRAINING – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Paint in plein air, or outdoors, like artist T.C. Steele did, or create a sculpture after finding inspiration from Robert Indiana’s works. Explore a different style of art each day, and make your own artwork inspired by Hoosier artists.

JULY 26-30 | BEST OF THE BEST

Have what it takes to win our 2021 summer games? Compete in silly challenges, make a team flag, design a logo and go for the gold during the Indiana State Museum Best of the Best Games.

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; drop off between 8 – 9 a.m. for free-choice play
$240/camper; 10% discount for members; $25/per camp for scholarship recipients (includes lunch and snack); $5 discount for siblings in same camp

JUNE 14-18 | TIME TRAVELER

Venture to five different time periods in the Earth’s history. From the Ice Age and beyond, discover the history, culture and technology of that time as we create and build.

JUNE 21-25 | DESIGN SQUAD – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

How will you use technology to build and make your very own DIY projects? Get busy as we explore a variety of STEM topics and solve engineering challenges.

JUNE 28-JULY 2 | BAKING BOOTCAMP – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Test your baking skills and learn new techniques with a new baking or decorating challenge each day.

JULY 12-16 | BUSTING MYTHS – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

If you swallow gum does it really stay in your stomach for seven years? Can you pull off a tablecloth without breaking a plate? Using the scientific method, we’ll experiment, explore and determine what is real or myth.

JULY 19-23 | DECONSTRUCT IT – SOLD OUT

To be added to our waitlist please call 317.232.1637

Use real tools as you reverse-engineer toys, appliances and computers to see not only what makes them work but also to create something new.

JULY 26-30 | INDIANA CHAMPIONS

Get ready for the Summer Olympics by learning about Indiana champions and participating in silly challenges for the mind and body.

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; drop off between 8 – 9 a.m. for free-choice play
$240/camper; 10% discount for members; $25/per camp for scholarship recipients (includes lunch and snack); $5 discount for siblings in same camp

JUNE 7-11 | TECH ART & DESIGN – SOLD OUT

Explore different tech-based tools and apps and bring your designs to life during this week of designing and creating.

JUNE 28-JULY 2 | YOUTH ACTORS THEATRE CAMP: STAND UP

Join Young Actors Theatre directors to learn what it takes to create and perform in a one-of-a-kind performance experience about facing challenges and standing up for yourself and others against bullies.

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
$55/camper; 10% discount for members; $7/day for scholarship recipients; $5 discount for siblings in same camp

JUNE 1 | RADICAL REPTILES

Turtles, lizards, skinks and snakes! Find out about reptiles and how they survive, then make color-changing playdough to explore the differences between cold-blooded and warm-blooded reptiles.

JUNE 2 | BIG ART

Let’s work together to create a really BIG piece of art – like a mural and a community art piece. Take home a mini mural for yourself.

JUNE 3 | BUBBLE-OLOGY

Spend the day playing with bubbles as we experiment with different bubble solutions and wands, and make colorful and creative bubble art.

JUNE 4 | READY JET GO

Jet off to explore space with the help of Jet and Sunspot. Make a launcher, create a robotic arm to explore beyond Earth’s atmosphere, and put your engineering skills to the test!

AUG. 2 | BEAD CREATIONS

Perler, pony, and paper, oh my! We’ll create new designs with Perler beads, make animals with pony beads, and even learn how to create beads with paper.

AUG. 3 | FOSSIL DISCOVERY

Become a junior paleontologist as you learn how to use tools of the trade to search for and discover more about fossils.

Join us as we explore the wonders of ancient Egypt. Learn the secrets of preservation, and try your hand at mummification, construct pyramids from scratch, dodge crocodiles on the River Nile and more. After this camp, you’ll be prepared to rule your own Middle Kingdom with ease and grace! Registration deadline is May 24.

At its height, the Roman Empire contained about 20% of the world’s population. During this camp, have fun as you learn about the people that made up the Roman Empire and test your skills as a Roman legionary! Registration deadline is May 31.

Have you ever wished you could change the world with a flick of your wrist? Come join us at Angel Mounds’ Wizards Academy to learn how to train a dragon, win a game of Muggle Quidditch and participate in the Tri-River Tournament throughout the week to become the reigning Domum! Registration deadline is June 14.

Have you ever watched a movie like Swiss Family Robinson or The Hunger Games and wondered how the characters lived off the land? Answer these questions and more as you learn about how the ancient Mississippian people survived and thrived. Start a fire without matches, discover ways to track animals, and build a shelter from materials you find in the woods. Registration deadline is July 5.

Anything goes as we celebrate the end of summer. Campers will love cooling off on our 70-foot-long slip and slide! We’ll inspire curiosity, creativity and camaraderie as campers participate in a host of team-building challenges. Registration deadline is July 12.

9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Youth ages 5-8, students entering Kindergarten – grade 2
$75/camper; 10% discount for members; $5 sibling discount for same camp
Early drop off starts at 9 a.m. and late pick up no later than 1:30 p.m. for $10/day. Arrangements must be made in advance with camp staff.

Get ready for an adventure in the natural world around you! Explore and learn off the beaten path in the same places where author and nature-lover Gene Stratton-Porter did. Based on the Kinderforest movement, this camp encourages campers to step outside their comfort zone and get their feet dirty. Sit spots, journaling and observation techniques will all be part of the camp. Registration deadline is May 24.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Youth ages 9-12, students entering grades 3-6
$150/camper; 10% discount for members
Early drop off starts at 8:30 a.m. and late pick up no later than 4:30 p.m. for $10/day. Arrangements must be made in advance with camp staff.

Explore the natural world around you as you learn about birds, flowers, insects and other creatures in nature. Campers will come away with more knowledge of the natural world around them and the tools they need to continue to explore long after camp is over. Registration deadline is May 31.

Join the staff at the Lanier Mansion, located near the banks of the Ohio River, to explore transportation in early Indiana history. With a focus on steamboats, campers will discover who sailed the Ohio River and why, and what it was like to be a real steamboat captain. Campers can expect exciting games and crafts during both days of camp!

Today is all about trains with a visit to a real train depot! Find out what the locomotive was used for in Madison, and what the connection is between the railroad and the Lanier family. Campers can expect exciting games and crafts during both days of camp!

This camp is led by Wonderlab Science Museum and takes place at T.C. Steele State Historic Site. Recommended for students entering grades 4-6.

Bring your wide brimmed hat and get ready for Expedition T.C. Steele.  We will get up close with insects, plants, and other natural items on the T.C. Steele property.  Students will learn orienteering as we hike the trails. We will investigate, sketch, use clay and paint the nature that we see. We will learn about T.C. Steele and his wife Selma and how to classify bugs, plants and trees. “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time” will be our motto! Transportation option available.

This camp is led by Wonderlab Science Museum and takes place at T.C. Steele State Historic Site. Recommended for students entering grades 4-6.

Wide brimmed hats encouraged again as campers will head out onto the trails at T.C. Steele to observe the terrain, and patterns in nature. We will practice orienteering and plant and rock identification. The week’s focus will be Fibonnaci’s Golden Ratio and how it is found in nature and used in design. Campers will explore Selma Steele’s stenciling and try their hand at making their own. Campers will learn about ratios in painting and create their own masterpiece! Transportation option available.

See what creeps and crawls around T.C. Steele State Historic Site as we go on an adventure outdoors to discover a variety of bugs, insects and spiders.

Design, build, test… repeat! Spend the day solving fun engineering challenges through play and imaginative creations.

All the colors of the rainbow create what we know as light. Bend light, twist colors and use mirrors to create colorful experiments.

Have you dreamed of becoming an archaeologist? Find out what archaeologists have uncovered right here at T.C. Steele State Historic Site, then learn how these discoveries help us better understand the past.

Go outdoors to explore what art and nature have in common! Examine patterns and color as we leave behind nature-made sculptures for others to enjoy.

Immerse yourself in the wacky world of Rube Goldberg and explore chain reactions. Then, set off your own chain of events as you design and build your own machine.

Take on the role of a paleontologist for the day as we find out what animals roamed the lands of Indiana. Make your own fossil to take home!

Activate your creative side as you explore the home of a famous Hoosier artist, and spend the day creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

What can you build with some cardboard, scissors and tape? Put your maker skills to the test as you plan and construct your own design.

From Hoosiers Gene Stratton-Porter to Percy L. Julian, Indiana is full of fascinating scientists! Explore how their cutting-edge research affected the world, and construct your own scientific experiments.

This camp is led by Wonderlab Science Museum and takes place at T.C. Steele State Historic Site. Recommended for students entering grades 4-6.

This camp will take place in Brown County at the home of the 19th century American impressionist artist, T.C. Steele (1849-1926). Campers will explore the traits of impressionism, such as light, color, movement, and shadows, en plein air (in the grand outdoors). Daily hikes and a variety of art mediums will be part of this week’s exploration in inspiration. Transportation option available.

• Tables are spaced 5-6 feet apart.
• We will have up to two campers per 6’ table, sitting at opposite ends of the table.
• We allow campers to self select their seat for the day. Siblings may choose to sit together or at different tables.

• All materials will be grouped per child. Each camper will have a bin of art supplies that will be just theirs to use during the camp day. When extra materials are needed, a museum staff person will gather those materials.
• We will do our best to limit contact with non-camp staff and museum visitors. This includes touring the galleries before the museum opens and having lunch in our camp room.
• Recess and free exploration are important aspects of camp. We will have variety of exploration bins that a camper can explore with for the day. These materials will be cleaned at the end of each day. If the weather permits (not raining), we will go outside for walks and non-contact recess games.

• Campers will wash their hands when entering and leaving the camp room, before and after snack and lunch, and after using the restroom. Both hand sanitizer and soap and water will be available for campers to use as needed.
• Tables, chairs, camper bins and materials will be cleaned at the end of each camp day, once the campers have left for the day.
• We are using 80% isopropyl alcohol, Virex and cleaning wipes to clean items after use.

• Campers and museum staff will be expected to wear a mask during the camp day, except for lunch and snack time.
• Pick-up and drop off will happen in the circle drive right outside the museum entrance. This will limit the number of adults in the camp space. Additional details will be emailed to parents before camp.
• If we don’t reach our minimum camp attendance, camp will be cancelled on the Monday the week before that scheduled camp.