Educational summer camps at Southern Illinois University are bringing kids together to use building blocks outside of playtime.

The engineering and robotics LEGO camps, organized by architecture professor Jon Davey, teach children how to make various objects and control them with computer programs and pulleys. The camps are not only good for having fun, but also are geared for learning and discovering, Davey said. The camp is for students in first through fifth grade and aims to help them explore and interact with world around them.

Davey said he started the program five years ago as something fun and educational for children to do during the summer. He said it’s a great way for children to find something they are good at and expand upon it intellectually.

Some children’s talents get overlooked at school because they aren’t mainstream like reading, writing and arithmetic, Davey said. He said some of these children are talented at problem solving and fixing things instead.

“There are some kids that are bright as whips when it comes to putting stuff together,” he said.

Playing with LEGOs helps children learn important principles of problem solving and the camps give children the opportunity to discover their gifts, he said.

Any child can attend the camp without any previous experience or skills. Classes start at a beginner level with students entering first and second grade where they learn basic LEGO parts and construction of pulleys, gears, and motorized  vehicles. The next is an advanced course for students entering third through fifth grade where they learn to make a motorized go-cart, airplane, windmill and mobile crane. In the LEGO robotics camp, they even learn to use educational WeDo hardware and software, which is used to program their constructed robots.

“They are doing more than putting a kit together,” he said. “They are using mechanics and doing scientific things with gears, motorized parts and robotic stuff.”

Davey said these camps help students begin to look more critically at the world around them by having them learn about complex pieces such as pulleys and levers.

“I think that it is critically important that

Nick Lach, a senior from Murphysboro studying automotive technology and a LEGO camp instructor, said the LEGO camps at the university are a fun way to spend the summer and teach children basic LEGO construction all the way to motorized airplanes and more.

“Dr. Davey has given these kids a massive opportunity to come learn various things like gear ratio and leverage,” he said. “They get to design the engineering for the mechanics of the robots they build.”

Lach has worked at the camp since it first started in 2008. He said he enjoys teaching the LEGO camps, watching the children have fun and helping them build various projects.

Lach said he enjoys watching students who don’t think they can make something work successfully.

“My favorite thing about the camp is seeing the kids enjoy it, you know, really get into it,” he said. “They complain that it’s hard, but then they sit there and work through it and they’re so happy.”

Pat Eckert, a supervisor for Continuing Education and Outreach at SIU, said the office has worked with Davey for a very long time to help promote and organize his camps. She said she believes Davey’s LEGO camps are very educational and career-oriented, allowing for hands on material that’s fun for kids.

Eckert said the LEGO camp is so popular among kids that all sections are full for the summer.

For more information, contact Continuing Education and Outreach at dce.siu.edu or 536-7751.