[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/LEAP-venture.jpg” caption=”Nicki Ross, Venture counsellor and a third-year chemical engineering student, demonstrates V-Star Hero, one of the many projects Venture and LEAP campers can build this summer.”]Sure, you can buy Guitar Hero for your kids, but they'll have a lot more fun playing the one they build at camp this summer.

Building a video game guitar is just one of several activities available to kids through two popular science and engineering summer camps offered at McMaster: Venture, for students in grades three to nine, and LEAP (Learning Enrichment Advancement Program), for students in grades nine through twelve.

Other choices for elementary school kids include building an electronic piano, MP3 player, pinball machine, or security alarm. They can also design a go-cart, make a video, create a web site, dissect a frog, or learn how the eye works.

“We give students opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have,” says Elysia Jellema, engineering and science director for Venture. “I love seeing the kids apply science and engineering to real life.”

High-school students in this year's LEAP camp can look forward to programming a robot that manually solves a Rubik's Cube, growing cells, experiencing a motion simulator, or building a miniature solar car. Some can even earn summer credits towards their first-year engineering program at McMaster.

“You really get a sense of what it's like at McMaster,” says Raluca Nuta, an administrator with LEAP. “Interacting with faculty and working on hands-on projects makes for a great learning environment.”

Venture and LEAP are run by university students and professors starting in June and running through early August. Campers get to work in real research labs and find out what engineering and science are all about. Last year approximately 1,000 students enrolled in Venture and more than 70 in LEAP.

Venture activities are designed to blend engineering, science, computers and technology with hands-on experience and creative opportunities. It is divided into two streams: engineering and science (for students entering grades three to eight) and computers and technology (for students entering grades four to nine). Camps are offered starting in July through August.

LEAP introduces students to the fundamentals of engineering through lectures, hands-on activities, labs, industry tours and projects. Students can choose from four course options: robotics and mechatronics, biomedical engineering, materials science and engineering design, and software engineering & introduction to game design. The HEADSTART option allows grade 12 graduates to earn advanced course standing by successfully completing the ENG 1P03 and/or ENG 1C03 courses.