Releases | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science’s Super Fun Summer Science Camps 2017! Registration is Now Open

March 9th, 2017

For Immediate Release:  March 9, 2017 (Albuquerque, NM)—Enrich your child’s summer this year with mind-expanding fun at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science’s (NMMNHS) popular Young Explorers Summer Camp program. Registration is now open for children from kindergarten through the eighth grade. Each Summer Camp session is one week long, with activities every weekday from 8:30am to 3:30pm. Each week is theme-based, with the first session beginning the week of June 12 and the last beginning the week of July 30.

NMMNHS has been offering science-based summer camps to elementary and middle-school students for more than 30 years. Every week has a fun, different scientific topic to choose from, and students interact with museum scientists, visit exhibits, go on field trips, and much more.

Summer Camp is conducted in NMMNHS education classrooms, Museum galleries, outside exhibit spaces, and sometimes on field trips. The fee for each weeklong materials-based Summer Camp program is $300 per student. NMMNHS members receive a 10% discount. Aftercare is also available until 5pm daily for an additional $15 per day. Camp will not be held the week of July 4.

June 12-16:



  • Space Detectives for Grades K-3: Are you ready to explore the universe and beyond? This camp will have everything you need to know to become a space detective! Comets, asteroids, rockets, rovers are part of this exploration of starry skies.

  • Galactic Engineers for Grades 4-8: Explore technology and outer space from Sputnik to tomorrow, reaching for the stars by tinkering with electricity and circuits leading to robots exploring other worlds.

June 19-23:



  • Garden Detectives for Grades K-2: Discovering living things with our eyes, hands, feet and ears during a week among plants and pollinators in the Kiwanis Learning Garden.

  • Natural World Around US for Grades 3-5: Explore the natural world of the Albuquerque area:  volcanoes, sand dunes, rivers, and mountains.

June 26-30:



  • Dinosaur Detectives for Grades K-2: Grab your paleontology hat, you’re about to go on a wild adventure! This week is all about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Find out what it’s like to be a paleontologist by examining real-life fossils. You’ll also be able to meet museum scientists and check out all our dinosaur exhibits.

  • Crazy Critters: From NM to the Galapagos for Grades 3-5: From your backyard all the way to the Galapagos Islands, there are crazy-looking plants and animals to discover! Why do they look and act the way that they do? Explore how animals are adapted to their environments and why they can oftentimes look so absurd.

July 10-14:



  • Dinosaur Detectives for K-2: Grab your paleontology hat, you’re about to go on a wild adventure! This week is all about dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Find out what it’s like to be a paleontologist by examining real-life fossils. You’ll also be able to meet museum scientists and check out all our dinosaur exhibits.

  • Noisy Nature for Grades 3-5: An adventure into nature, sound and music, how sounds are made and how we hear it. Surf soundwaves while delving into sound physics and explore how and why animals use sound to communicate, plus the exciting world of music in nature.

July 17-21



  • Space Detectives for Grades K-2: Are you ready to explore the universe and beyond? This camp will have everything you need to know to become a space detective! Comets, asteroids, rockets, rovers are part of this exploration of starry skies.

  • Celestial Pioneers for Grades 3-5:  Blast off to the edges of the Universe and learn how humans can travel to outer space. What else could we find out there? From planets to stars to entire galaxies, there much to learn about our universe and celestial bodies.

July 24–28



  • Nature Detectives for Grades K-2: Investigate nature just as a naturalist would and explore the amazing diversity of New Mexico’s habitats, learning about the animals, plants, and rocks of our mountains, grasslands, deserts, and rivers.

  • Garden Explorers for Grades 3-5:  Tasting fresh dill, watching a butterfly drink nectar, pressing clay into the bark on different trees - an outdoor garden offers explorations about plants and the animals that help or hinder them in the Kiwanis Learning Garden.

July 30–August 4



  • Summer Science Sleuths Jr. for Grades K-3: Investigate Museum exhibits, examine fossils and specimens, and talk to the museum’s experts!

  • Summer Science Sleuths for 4-8:  Investigate Museum exhibits, examine fossils and specimens, and talk to the museum’s experts!

To inquire about camp openings or for more information, please contact Charlotte at crohrbough@outlook.com or call (505) 841-2848.  

About the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science:
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is a Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. The Department of Cultural Affairs is New Mexico’s cultural steward and is charged with preserving and showcasing the state’s cultural riches. With its eight museums, eight historic monuments, arts, archaeology, historic preservation and library programs, the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs is the largest state cultural agency in the nation. 

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