STEAM Opportunities for Fairfax County Youth

Fun STEAM camps for all ages!

MOST SUMMER STEAM CAMPS HAVE BEEN CANCELED DUE TO COVID PRECAUTIONS. Many camps and activities have moved online. Click on the Virtual STEAM Resources tab to see a list for virtual camps, activities and resources for kids of all ages.

Northern Virginia Community College

• Register now for Virtual STEM Camp 20, camp for the whole family. Information.

Virginia Air & Space Center

•  Camp NASA 2020 will go on as planned with safety measures in place. Information.
• Week-long sessions for Kindergarten through 8th grade students in Hampton, VA. Kids stay on the base, eat in the base cafeteria, visit training facilities, and visit the actual launch area at the base. Information.

Fairfax County Park Authority

• Register now for summer camps. CANCELED

Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services

• Summer camp information coming soon! CANCELED
• 4H Summer Camp registration open for campers ages 9-13, and counselors. CANCELED

Fairfax County Public Schools

• Register now for Spring Break Camps for ES, MS and HS students CANCELED
• Register now for CTE Summer Academy for ES and MS students CANCELED
• Register now for Tech Adventure Camp for high school students CANCELED
• Register now for Courses for Credit Summer Career Academy - 10th and 11th graders CANCELED

Children's Science Center Lab

• Spring Break and Summer Camps now open for registration: Information CANCELED
  • Spring break camp for grades K-5
  • Summer camps for rising 1-4 graders; before and after care available

George Mason University

•  ALL GEORGE MASON CAMPUSES AND ACTIVITIES ARE CLOSED. ALL CAMPS CANCELED
• FOCUS (Females of Color and Those Underrepresented in STEM) Camp for Middle School girls July 6-11 
• FOCUS Academy for High School girls July 20-24
  • Registration open for both camps
• STEM Accelerator STEM Boot Camp - check back for dates or email stemcos@gmu.edu
• STEM Accelerator Math Readiness Camp - check back for dates or email stemcos@gmu.edu
• Earn college credit: Intro to Field Conservation Ecology (June 21-28) and How to Be a Better Naturalist (July 19-25) presented by the GMU-Smithsonian School of Conservation: Information.
• Mason Game and Technology Academy (MGTA) summer classes - Information
• Academic camps, including IT and engineering, math and technology and more. Information
• Music Recording Studio Summer Camp - Information
• Summer Arts Camp for ages 5-18. Acting & Theater, Art & Photography, Film & Video, Music. Information.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

• S.H.E. Can STEAM Summer Camp for middle school students. Applications open through April 30. Information. CANCELED

Virginia Space Flight Academy Summer Camp @ Wallops Island, VA

• Register now! Five sessions for middle schoolers to build and launch model rockets. Information. CANCELED

You can also view the STEAM map in full-screen mode. Click on icons to navigate the map.

This application performs best in modern browsers such as Chrome, Safari, and Edge.

Calendar

Calendar Color Guide - Calendar item colors are based on recommended ages of participants.

Pre-Kindergarten - Green               Elementary School - Yellow             Pre-K and Elementary - Purple
Middle School - Orange               High School - Red                             Middle and High - Light green
All ages - Families - Cyan

You can find resources and programs in your community by zip code, age of participant, program type or area of special interest. The map is a starting point for program information—please contact the individual organization for event or program details including dates and times, fees, and to register for programs.

This map continues to be in development with programs being added regularly.

STEM activities can be found using the following tools

All icons are located in the top right corner on the black bar unless otherwise stated.

NEAR ME: To find programs near your home, school or work, type the address into the Find STEM Programs widget  on the left. All sites and programs within a two-mile radius will be displayed. To expand the radius, adjust the slider on the widget.

STEM TOPICS: To find a certain type of activity, such as Makerspace or creative arts technology, click on the filter widget and select the topic. The icons remaining on the map offer the programs you’re looking for.

AGE-APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES: To find activities for a child’s age, do as above, but select the appropriate age/grade category.

FREE ACTIVITIES: To find free activities, do as above, but select the No fee category.

For additional information:

• Click the layers icon  to see the geographies available, such as ZIP Codes.

• Click the legend icon  to see a list of organization types on the map.

• The information icon  displays more information on how to use the map.

STEM activities are organized by the following categories 

• Health and life sciences
• Creative Arts Technology: Computer aided drafting, music studio, video editing, multimedia, graphic design, 3D printing, etc.
• Engineering
• Environmental and natural sciences
• Information Technology Development and Programming: Coding, programming, database, apps, web sites, games, data science, software, algorithms, web technologies, etc. 
• Information Technology Networking: Cybersecurity, IoT, OS, wireless and WAN networks, communications, Smart Cities, etc.
• Information Technology Systems: Robotics, drones, computer hardware, circuit boards, electronics, etc.
• Math
• MakerSpace: A place where children and youth can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore and discover using a variety of tools and materials.

More information about the STEM map tools

SITE LAYERING: If some site icons are too close together to select only one to view, click the zoom button , upper left corner, a few times to zoom in and the site icons will separate for easier selection. You may have to drag the map to reposition it. Hold down the left mouse button and drag.

Clicking on the tab  at the bottom of the screen opens a spreadsheet listing the current site selections. Under Options, this spreadsheet can be exported to a CSV file and printed.

To take the map back to its original view, click the home icon .