Kids love building with LEGO Bricks, so what better way to have fun over summer break than the joy of a Bricks 4 Kidz LEGO camp? Bricks 4 Kidz is an award-winning STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) based child enrichment franchise primarily using LEGO Bricks and Technology for ages 4-14. Bricks 4 Kidz Tacoma was established in 2012 and is locally owned and operated by Tim and Kristi Walker, an engineer and teacher, respectively. That means they are totally invested in the local community while backed by proprietary models and curriculum developed by teachers, architects, roboticists, and programmers. All year round, they provide after school enrichment programs, preschool classes, robotics & coding classes, in-school workshops, scout badges, birthday parties, special event activities, and seasonal camps including winter break, spring break, and of course summer.
Summer camps are held at various parks and recreation community centers throughout Pierce County including Lakewood Community Center, Pavilion at Fort Steilacoom Park, Titlow Park Lodge, and STAR Center, as well as Center at Norpoint, Gig Harbor Recreation Center and Meridian Habitat in Puyallup.
A typical summer camp comes in two flavors: station camps and technology camps. In a station camp, kids will move from activity to activity throughout the camp day. At one station, they will construct dynamic motorized Technic models, such as a spinning Ferris Wheel by following a model plan with familiar-looking step-by-step instructions. At other stations, they will build a fun brick figure, such as an X-Wing Fighter, or create an artistic mosaic like a Minecraft Creeper, or make a take-home craft from Perler beads, paper patterns, photos, etc. And then there is always creative build: a big box of miscellaneous LEGO pieces to build anything they can imagine. Whatever they make, kids are always encouraged to get creative and innovative, to customize, play, and show it off. These camps typically have a fun theme that gets kids even more excited to be there, such as Minecraft, Star Wars, Superheroes, Video Games, Animated Movies, Sports, Disney World, and more. And every summer brings new and/or updated themes.
Bricks 4 Kidz also offers technology camps, where kids can learn computer coding, video game design, robotics, comic book creation, and stop motion animation movie making. Here, kids typically work in pairs on one project each day or even one project all week. They may build and computer program a TankBot from the Advanced Robotics Camp or an All-Terrain Bot from the Junior Robotics Camp. Or they may focus more on coding to create a video game around a virtual LEGO shark. And one of the highlights of the summer is the viewing party to show off the student-made short videos at the end of Stop Motion Animation Move Making Camp. (You can see past videos on the Bricks 4 Kidz Tacoma YouTube channel.)
This summer, Bricks 4 Kidz will be taking extra precautions to keep everyone safe from COVID, which will likely include wearing masks, social distancing, and extra cleaning. All state and local guidelines and those of the host facilities will be followed as the situation requires at that time.
These are specialty camps, so they are typically three hours a day for five days, often with a full day option, and are limited to 16-20 campers with two instructors. Camps are structured and keep kids engaged with LEGO building activities or other projects. Because the models and curriculum are proprietary, you won’t find them anywhere else but at a Bricks 4 Kidz camp.
Demand is especially high this summer - which should be no surprise - and space is limited, so early enrollment is encouraged. You can enroll online at www.bricks4kidz.com/tacoma or call (253)777-3481 with any questions. Have a “bricktastic” summer!
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