Remember the classic scene from "I Love Lucy" in which Lucy and Ethel frantically work to wrap chocolate bonbons on an increasingly faster-moving conveyor belt? Kids attending the Durham Museum's Mind Bender Mansion summer camp will have a similar chance, but with food-shaped props that aren't nearly as messy.
Mick Hale, the Durham's director of education, is excited about the program, which is coming to Omaha from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland and is part of an exhibition of the same name opening May 26. He describes Mindbender Mansion as designed to test kids' brainpower and to encourage their creativity on a multitude of levels.
"It's highly interactive, engaging and full of different challenges," he said. "It really focuses on problem-solving skills like logic, reasoning, math, physical science and predicting outcomes."
No worry about wandering attention spans, though. Shawna Forsberg, the museum's director of marketing and public relations, said, "There are a whole lot of different subjects like math and science around the exhibit's summer camp, but the teachers put a fun spin on it. It's something that's truly special. It's not at all like a classroom — it's so kid friendly."
The Durham's summer programming, however, is about a lot more than Mindbender Mansion. It also features camps that grant kids "passports" for international travel. Buildings, Bridges, & Pyramids, for example, lets them explore the ancient and modern architectural wonders of the world. Expedition Art brings them to places where they can see great art located in places as far-flung as Zimbabwe and Australia.
If "global travel" isn't your child's thing, he or she can have fun with camps geared toward our area. Exploring Omaha includes field trips to the Henry Doorly Zoo, the Omaha Community Playhouse, the Joslyn Art Museum, Laurtizen Gardens and El Museo Latino.
Trips to places such as Boys Town and the Strategic Air and Space Museum round out the experience. Plus, the Made in Nebraska camp teaches them about things such as Kool-Aid that come right from their home state.
Other programs focus on what's going on right now by bringing campers into the thick of current events.
The Durham Olympics coincides with the 2012 Summer Olympic Swim Trials, which will take place in Omaha, and focuses on health and fitness. Election 2012 makes politics fun and gives kids an opportunity to design political platforms and run for office.
If children are more given to flights of fancy, additional programs nurture fanciful imaginations. Kids can be kings, queens, wizards, pirates and cowboys. They can become storm chasers, detectives or even civil war historians.
Or they can take inspiration from the "Daring Book" series for boys and girls and explore activities as diverse as ballroom dancing and astronomy.
A maximum of 25 kids is allowed per camp, and instructors are certified teachers, assisted by college students studying to become educators themselves.
"I think our folks are really outstanding," Hale said. "They enjoy teaching and love being around kids. They are so engaged."
Regardless of your child's interests, the director of education notes that campers get more from the camp than they might realize.
"Really what we hear from parents is that the activities let kids learn and think outside the box,' he said.
"All the summer camps let them have fun while also learning — we build off their imaginations."
Durham Museum
When: June 4 to Aug. 3 (no camp July 4)
Where: 801 S. 10th St.
Who: Ages 7 and older depending on camp; see brochure or website for details
Cost: $75 to $150 for members; $85 to $170 for nonmembers; $30 extra per week for before and after care
Information: For more information and to register visit www.durhammuseum.org. Camps fill quickly, and the Durham Museum advises early registration.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
