Just because we’re geeks doesn’t mean that we’re trying to mold our kids into mini-geeks. The key challenge of being a GeekDad is knowing the difference between your own hobbies and those you share with your kids, and not forcing them to tag along as cover for the former (I write this as a frequent offender).
That said, it’s always a good idea to get kids excited about science and technology, and summer camp is a fine place to start.
Last year the nine-year-old went to AstroCamp, which was his first sleepover camp (that’s him in the middle of the back row). The campus in the mountains in between LA and San Diego, on the site of a former sports camp. Over a week, the kids do rocketry, zero-g simulations in the pool, astronomy, robotics, astrobiology and some regular camp stuff like hiking and climbing. Needless to say, they had a blast (off).
We’re now looking for other sci/tech summer camps so the kids can have a choice (we’d like them to do one each summer, along with the regular sports day camps they do the rest of the summer). There’s a list of robotics camps, science camps, and even chess camps. What are your kids doing this summer?
