Themes for Apr-June 2026 weekly camp sessions:
Week 1: Laser Cut Stamps

To kick off this new session of Maker Bean camp, we’ll get to know each other by creating laser-cut stamps. Campers will get an intro to 2D designing in Adobe Illustrator, where they can design and customize a stamp to their liking that tells a story about them - their name, their favourite food - the sky’s the limit. Once their designs are ready, we’ll load them up onto our trusty pal, Monsieur Laser Cuteur and campers will get to watch their stamps go from ideas to reality.

Week 2: Glow bugs

This week we’re taking inspiration from the outdoors and a group of creatures that are crucial to helping all the new plants blossom - Insects! Campers will first get a lesson in electronics when they build a simple circuit with a coin-cell battery and a coloured LED light. Once our lights are shining, we’ll decorate our bug kits to make them match the ones we’ve seen in nature - or perhaps imagine a whole new species…

Week 3: 3D printed Play-Doh Moulds

We have yet to meet a kid (or a grown up for that matter) who doesn’t love Play-Doh! Today, we’ll be taking a dive into 3D modelling by designing moulds for our doh. Using TinkerCad - a beginner friendly 3D modelling program - campers will learn to combine basic shapes to create their custom moulds. Then we’ll load up their designs onto our 3D printers and next week campers will receive their moulds to use!

Week 4: Running Robot

This week campers will learn about circuits and building by creating a 2-wheeled robot with a motor to make it move. We’ll start by building a simple circuit with a motor and battery to power our running Robots. Once our motors are moving, we’ll assemble our robot, install some wheels and choose from a variety of laser cut heads, arms and tails to make our robot unique! Then we’ll have a race to see who’s robot runs the fastest!

Week 5: Amazing Animations with Wick Editor

This week campers will get a crash course in Wick Editor - a drag and drop animation platform for beginners and kids. We’ll learn some basic techniques and tools to help us bring our ideas to life, then we’ll get started creating our animations! After all our GIFs are complete, we’ll set up our chairs for Maker Bean Theatre and share our animations with the group on the big projector screen.

Week 6: FIFA Mascot Plushie

Dust off your air horns and lace up your cleats, the World Cup is coming to Toronto! To celebrate, campers will be sewing a plushie of the Canadian mascot, Maple the Moose. Campers will receive their laser cut felt pieces, and then put their fine motor skills to the test by learning a basic whip stitch. Once their felt pieces are sewn together and stuffed with cotton batting, campers can decorate their Maple plushies to cheer on their favourite countries. Gooooaaaal!

Week 7: Coding with Scratch - Flappy Bird

This week we’re working on a project that will be fun for campers AND their grown-ups: a custom video game! Using scratch - an introductory coding platform for kids and beginners - campers will be introduced to computational thinking concepts like loops, variables and If-then statements. Then they will create their own individual version of the popular game Flappy Bird!