Immerse your child in 5 days of creative opportunities, collaboration, and hands-on learning!
LINCOLN SQUARE
Our Summer Apprenticeship Program is accepting applications!
Kids 14+ are invited to experience BitSpace in a whole new way!
Fun Opportunities for Your Child to Flex Their Creative Muscles
Our camps offer more than just projects; they’re a springboard for skills that open doors to life’s vast opportunities!
Woodworking
Discover the joy of building from scratch! Your child will gain fundamental woodworking skills, growing confident in their ability to shape ideas and safely handle power tools.
Problem-Solving
Through engaging activities, your child will develop college-level critical thinking skills, tackling complex challenges with innovative solutions.
21st-Century Skills
Our camps foster essential 21st-century skills, including Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity, equipping your child for the future.
EXPLORE OUR CAMPS
To give your child the best possible experience, please choose a camp that aligns with their skills.
Crash Course 2.0
Week 1 (June 8 – June 12)
Challenge yourself to make the coolest, spectacular vehicles that will take on competitions and challenges! Win trophies for the ultimate week of camp.
*Great for newcomers and as a refresher for campers we haven’t seen in a while.
🛠️Required Skills:
motor skills, planning ahead, attention to detail, basic computer skills
Miniature Worlds: Roomscapes
Week 2 (June 15 – June 19)
Dive into the world of miniatures and architecture as you design and build your own tiny creations! Let your imagination shape a world where every detail matters.
This beloved theme is running twice this summer, check out Week 8 for more little worlds!
🛠️Required Skills:
computational thinking, Fine Motor skills, attention to detail
Bad Robots
Week 3 (June 22 – June 26)
Our most intensive offering of the summer! Learn the fundamentals of coding with arduino and make the best bad robot!
Please note, this is a challenging week and requires active listening in the digital lab for the first two days as we learn the language of computers!
🛠️Required Skills:
intermediate computer literacy, computational thinking, interactive media, attention to detail
InterAct Week
Week 5 (July 6 – July 10)
Work as a group to develop and design a massive project to be displayed proudly at BitSpace for the year! Will it be a building-wide maze for parents to navigate? A virtual reality treasure hunt? The possibilities are endless during InterAct week!
🛠️Required Skills:
Design thinking, computational thinking, interactive media, material construction, communication.
Illumination Week
Week 6 (July 13 – July 17)
Explore the magic of illumination as you design and build glowing creations!
From custom lamps to night lights, this camp is all about lighting up your imagination and making projects that truly shine.
🛠️Required Skills:
motor skills, critical thinking, basic computer skills
Skateboards
Week 7 (July 20 – July 24)
Campers discover the thrill of transforming sheets of wood into their own skateboards! With a mix of glue, clamps, and a dash of imagination, they’ll learn that with the right techniques, anything is possible.
🛠️Required Skills:
motor skills, planning ahead, teamwork, dedication, attention to detail
Miniature Worlds: Landscapes
Week 8 (July 27 – July 31)
Dive into the world of miniatures and architecture as you design and build your own tiny creations! Let your imagination shape a world where every detail matters.
🛠️REQUIRED SKILLS:
computational thinking, Fine Motor skills, attention to detail
Better Bots
Week 9 (Aug 3- Aug 7)
Choose your own robotics adventure in the exciting play on Bad Robots. Hone your coding skills, try out advanced functions, smooth out physical mechanics, and really power up your robots!
Whether you’re a beginner coder or a robotics master, join us for an even better week of bad robots!
🛠️Required Skills:
intermediate computer literacy, computational thinking, interactive media, attention to detail
Fort Week
Week 10 (Aug 10- Aug 14)
**AGES 7-9 ONLY
From secret hideouts to towering structures, this camp is all about teamwork, creativity, and building the ultimate space to call Our own. Perfect for the youngest of makers!!
🛠️Required Skills:
TEAMWORK, DESIGN THINKING, COMMUNICATION
Games: Big Fun
Week 11 (Aug 17 – Aug 21)
We all love to play around. Let’s super size the fun and build a comically oversized version of your favorite games!
Not BIG on that? Why not a pocket version instead? Experience fun in all sizes!
🛠️REQUIRED SKILLS:
motor skills, critical thinking, time management
What does a typical day at Summer Camp look like?
Our camps offer more than just projects; they’re a springboard for skills that open doors to life’s vast opportunities!
Monday is all about settling in! Campers meet the guides, cover safety, and learn the ropes for a fun, responsible makerspace experience.
The rest of the week goes something like this…
- Morning Warm-Up: Icebreakers, brain teasers, and easy tasks to get our minds ready
- Mid-Morning: Brainstorming, designing, and planning big ideas
- Snack Break
- Creative Time: Hands-on building in the woodshop, digital lab, or textiles area
- Lunch Break
- Afternoon Check-In: Quick roundtable to share progress
- More Creative Time: Back to work on projects
- End of Day Clean-Up: Organize desks, tidy up, and put tools away
- Pickup at 4pm: Campers go home with stories and smiles!
Lunch Break: Weather permitting, we head outside for some fresh air and fun to eat our lunch. After lunch we jump right back into making progress on the week’s project.
Free Build: In the final working hour from Monday to Thursday, we switch gears for free-build time. This is when campers can let their creativity run wild, working on anything they choose that’s outside the scope of the weekly theme.
Friday Showcase: Each week we highlight campers’ work during the showcase. Kids have the opportunity to show off their plans, process, and projects in front of family and friends. Bring the whole crew and plan to arrive at 3:45PM on Friday for the best views!
Why Parents Look Forward to Our Camps
❝ The camp struck the perfect balance between structured guidance and free exploration, allowing each camper to tailor their experience based on their interests and skill level. It was truly inspiring to witness our child’s newfound confidence in tackling challenges and embracing the process of trial and error. Moreover, the camp fostered a sense of camaraderie among the campers.❞
—Jason, parent
❝ After day one Julie told my husband and I she couldn’t wait to get back to the camp the next day. That never happens in our house! She built a skateboard. It started with the design concept, built a mold and then used power tools and muscle to finish the board. She has continued to practice how to use a skateboard and has been recording her progress! Thank you BitSpace for building confidence in a girl in what might be regarded as a boys interest. Super cool and fun. ❞
—Eileen, proud Mum of Julie age 9
❝ My daughter has been waiting impatiently to be old enough to go to a Bit Space Summer Camp, and I am pleased to say it FAR exceeded even her high standards for what a camp should be. The space is warm and inviting – especially to those creative engineering/building types who love a little sawdust in their day (like us), but really the people and their encouragement and the space they make for kiddo creativity and ability to use cool tools – that is what sets Bit Space apart. We have been consumers of Chicago area summer camps for MANY years now, and hands down this has been my daughter’s favorite. She can’t wait to go back. ❞
—Melody, parent
⚠️ Updated Safety Guidelines
- Masking During Specific Activities
While we’ve relaxed general mask requirements, masks will be used during high sawdust activities for additional safety. They also help protect campers from airborne particles and dust in the workshop. - Health Monitoring
If your child has a cough or cold symptoms, they will be asked to wear a mask at camp for the safety of all participants. In the event of visible illness symptoms at camp, parents will be expected to pick up their child. - No Vaccination Proof Required
We no longer require proof of vaccination for participation. However, we encourage everyone to follow the latest health guidance to ensure the well-being of all campers and staff.
Thousands of Ideas Brought to Life
Check out some of the incredible projects created by campers with our guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. As long as it can fit through our doors and yours (and they have your approval).
Projects made during the InterAct camp week, however, will remain at BitSpace as a semi-permanent installation.
No. Once you sign up, your child gets free access to our tools and equipment during their stay at the camp.
Note: For safety reasons, some of our tools are restricted for older kids (ages 11+).
You are welcome to request to switch to a different camp week, provided there’s availability. We recommend making this request at least 30 days before your target camp date to ensure we can accommodate you. Just drop an email to Cherry at cherry@bitspacechicago.com, and we’ll help update your registration.
For requests made 30 days prior to the camp start date, we offer a full refund or transfer to another week of camp, if spots are available.
For requests made less than 30 days in advance, we offer a transfer to another week of camp, if spots are available, or a shop credit for future use to be used within 1 year from the date of issuance.
We do not offer refunds or credits for no-shows.
Campers don’t need to have a specific product idea to join the camp. Part of what we do is to help them generate and refine their ideas as we dive into making.
If your child is excited to join Bitspace, so are we! Fort Week is the perfect camp for kids 7-9 who are excited to make. This is the week for only the youngest of makers.
We also have Day Off Camps for kids 8 and up. They’re a great introduction for the younger makers to explore the makerspace.
If your child is showing signs of interest in taking things apart or testing the limits of what they are trying to do at home, then they’re more than ready for our camp!
They have as much agency as an architect would have when asked to design a museum. Their ideas are 100% their own but within the container of a conceptual topic.