PITTSBURG, Kan. — Children and teens interested in continuing their learning over the summer can explore activities from building structures to printing 3-D models as part of the Design and Discover Summer Camp hosted by Pittsburg State University Economic Development and Community Engagement Division.

In the Pitsco Idea Shop at Block22, kids from kindergarten through sixth grade and their guardians spent Tuesday afternoon exploring hands-on engineering and problem-solving activities during a two-hour come-and-go event.

“We are offering kids a place to come and explore and play with things they’ve not had access to in their homes before,” said organizer Jill Ward. “We work with them during the school year and a lot of times, they want more time to engage in the activities, so this way we opened it up this summer, give the parents a place to come, and the parents a place to come and explore.

“... A lot of the equipment that we offer here (Pitsco Idea Shop) is something that might be cost prohibitive for school districts to purchase for themselves. So, if we have it here, we can offer it to the area.

Through the camp, the kids participated in activities such as BeeBots, a programmable floor robot designed to introduce kids to early coding, sequencing, and, of course, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) concepts. Another activity was the Kid Spark Education STEM Pathways Lab, an engineering and robotics kit.

“I want the kids to take away a sense of exploring, finding out what they enjoy,” said Ward. “One thing we always emphasize inhere, too, is there are no mistakes, just a way to learn more and do it differently the next time.”

The event is scheduled to take place from 2 to 4 p.m. every Tuesday through June and July at the Pitsco Idea Shop, located next door to the coworking space. Parents or caregivers are asked to remain with their students during the session.

“This is a great opportunity that is open to the whole community,” added Ward. “It’s (Pitsco Idea Shop) a hidden gem. A lot of people haven’t found out about us and we just like that we can open it up to different people who can have access to different stuff.”

For more information, email Ward at jmward@pittstate.edu or call 620-235-4218.

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.