Explora’s X Studio teen summer programs are week-long experiences where teens can learn, experiment and connect with each other while immersing themselves in STEAM subjects.
Financial assistance is available for all summer programs on request. We don’t want anyone to miss out on summer camp! Contact reservations@explora.
June 3-7, 2024
X Studio Great Explora Bake-Off
Grades 5th-8th
9am-12pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Ready, Set, Bake! Throughout the week you will learn new skills in chemistry, calculating, baking and building. Then use your skills to participate in a final bake-off challenge! What can you create?
June 3-7, 2024
Blast Off 2.0!
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Calling all aspiring space explorers! Join our electrifying rocketry class to design, build, and launch your own rockets. Delve into the thrilling realms of aerospace engineering and witness your creations soar towards the skies in this awe-inspiring adventure of space exploration.
June 3-7, 2024
Digital Photography
Grades 8th-12th
9am-12pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Unleash your creativity through the lens! Capture moments, tell stories, and learn the art of photography in a fun, hands-on environment that sparks your imagination, turning your snapshots into masterpieces.
June 10-14, 2024
Brain Games
Grades 9-12th
9am-12pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Delve into your brain—its parts, functions, and the many ways it works, and tricks, you. Learn to apply brain anatomy to human behavior and the 5 Senses. Then experiment with visual illusions and designs, hidden messages, thinking beyond the obvious, seeing your accuracy as an eyewitness, and learning to improve your memory.
June 10 -14, 2024
Tiny Creatures
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Explore the world through microscopes and discover the microorganisms that live all around us. Learn about the fungi that help grow our food, the bacteria that keep our digestive systems healthy, and the insects that are permanent residents on our bodies. Uncover the six main groups of tiny creatures through active collection, microscopic discoveries, and hands-on learning.
June 10-14, 2024
Digital M3Dia
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
Materials Fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
TV and social media advertising, 3D printing and modeling, animation, and game development are just some of the things you can create all with today's computers. Explore different digital media and develop your inner entrepreneur as you shift from consumer to creator!
June 17-21, 2024
Digital M3Dia
Grades 8th-12th
9am-12pm
Materials Fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
TV and social media advertising, 3D printing and modeling, animation, and game development are just some of the things you can create all with today's computers. Explore different digital media and develop your inner entrepreneur as you shift from consumer to creator!
June 17-21, 2024
Biotech
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
Materials Fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Would you like to create medicines, clean up pollutants, or protect crops from pests? These are just some of the things that you can do as a biotechnologist! Build biotech skills with scientists from UNM as you run experiments that control cells using engineered DNA! You could be starting your career in biotech!
Presented in partnership with and with funding assistance from Lakin Labs of UNM.
June 17-21, 2024
Nano Science
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Come explore the science of the super small. Nanometer-sized objects are too small even for ordinary microscopes to see them! Investigate how scientists can work with items that are too small to see, explore products that use nanotechnology, and discover how nanotechnology gives ordinary materials special properties.
Presented in partnership with the Cavallo Research Group at the University of New Mexico with support from the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2144944)
June 24-28, 2024
Arduino-Based Robotic Combat Bot
Grades 5th-8th
9am-12pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Experiment with design options and work through a conceptual structural design as you build a robot. Learn to program an Arduino-based remote-operated robot, and hold an end-of-week tournament to see whose robot is the most robust and durable. You’ll also get to experiment with some more advanced robots from New Mexico Tech.
Offered in Collaboration with NM Tech Mechanical Eng Robotic STEM Outreach Programs
June 24-28, 2024
Raspberry Pi®
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
Material Fee: $15 members/$20 non-members
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Learn real programming skills as you discover the ins and outs of a Raspberry Pi®, a computer the size of a credit card that you get to take home!
Raspberry Pi® is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi® Foundation. Funding assistance for this camp has been provided by Van Dyke Software.
June 24 -28, 2024
Intro to Engineering
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
Materials Fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
What in the world is engineering? Almost everyone has heard of Mechanical and Computer Engineering, but what are Materials, Mineral, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering? Join New Mexico Tech for hands-on explorations of these five areas of engineering, learning real-world applications of these disciplines and why they are important to civilization.
Offered in Collaboration with NM Tech Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
June 24- 28, 2024
Engineering in Space: NASA Style Rover System
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Design, fabricate, and program a robotic arm attachment for an existing six-wheel rover platform. See if you can complete the mission of opening the external door of the Lunar base from its outside. To complete this mission, your team must design the attachment to operate the external release level and attach it to an existing rover platform. You’ll then have to operate your design remotely through a first-person view headset.
Offered in Collaboration with NM Tech Mechanical Eng Robotic STEM Outreach Programs
July 8 -12, 2024
Water Mania
Grades 5th-8th
9am-12pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Dive into water science with guest educators from UNM’s Center for Water & the Environment. Through coding, designing, and inventing, you’ll work with a variety of water samples and test for water quality, build water level monitors, and learn about careers in water management and resources. Water is a crucial New Mexico resource: learn about the intersection of water and tech that has real-world applications!
Offered in collaboration with the Center for Water & the Environment
July 8- 12, 2024
Radio Crafters
Grades 5th-8th
1pm-4pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Get ready for a week of crafting and coding adventures! Learn to animate pocket-sized computers with MakeCode, a programming platform developed by Microsoft. Play games, design papercrafts, and solve puzzles. Make LED lights come to life using your creativity! Discover the science of wireless communication and how our devices send messages. Use these skills to create a community solution with radio communication. Great for beginner coders.
Presented in partnership with BSCS Science Learning with support from the National Science Foundation
July 8 -12, 2024
Nano Science
Grades 8th-12th
9am-12pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Come explore the science of the super small. Nanometer-sized objects are too small even for ordinary microscopes to see them! Investigate how scientists work with items too small to see, explore products that use nanotechnology, and discover how nanotechnology can give ordinary materials special properties.
Presented in partnership with the Cavallo Research Group at the University of New Mexico with support from the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2144944)
July 8- 12, 2024
Biotech
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Would you like to create medicines, clean up pollutants, or protect crops from pests? These are just some of the work that you can do as a biotechnologist! Build biotech skills with scientists from UNM as you run experiments that control cells using engineered DNA! You could be starting your career in biotech!
Presented in partnership with and with funding assistance from Lakin Labs of UNM.
July 15 -19, 2024
Sparkle Tech
Grades 5th-7th
1pm-4pm
Materials Fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Imagine spending your days surrounded by a rainbow of LEDs, soft fabrics, and buzzing circuits as you bring your fashion design ideas to life. Interact with different electronic components as you make cards, toys, jewelry and/or wearables. During the camp, you will learn about the science of circuits, switches, and basic electronics with daily design projects. Discover how technologies like semiconductors and microelectronics are made and how we can use them to make a better future world. And don't worry if you've never picked up a soldering iron or a sewing needle before. Our instructors will be by your side every step of the way, guiding you through the process of making, design thinking, and helping to let your creativity shine!
Presented in partnership with BSCS Science Learning with support from the National Science
July 15 - 19, 2024
Great Explora Bake Off
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Ready, Set, Bake! Throughout the week you will learn new skills in chemistry, calculating, baking and building. Then use your skills to participate in a final bake-off challenge! What can you create?
July 22-26, 2024
Digital M3Dia
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
TV and social media advertising, 3D printing and modeling, animation, and game development are just some of the things you can create all with today's computers. Explore different digital media and develop your inner entrepreneur as you shift from consumer to creator!
July 22 - 26, 2024
Raspberry Pi®
Grades 8th-12th
9am-12pm
$170 for members/$195 for non-members
Learn real programming skills as you discover the ins and outs of a Raspberry Pi®, a computer the size of a credit card that you get to take home!
Raspberry Pi® is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi® Foundation. Funding assistance for this camp has been provided by Van Dyke Software.
July 29 - August 2, 2024
Tiny Creatures
Grades 5th-8th
9am-12pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Explore the world through microscopes and discover the microorganisms that live in the world around us. Learn about the fungi that help grow our food, the bacteria that keep our digestive systems healthy, and the insects that are permanent residents on our bodies. Uncover the six main groups of tiny creatures through active collection, microscopic discoveries, and hands-on learning.
July 29 - August 2, 2024
Go Green
Grades 5th-8th
9am-12pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Become a power engineer and learn about electric power grids including power generation, transmission, and distribution. Explore renewable energy systems like solar, wind, and fuel cell. Learn about the concept of microgrids and how local generation resources can help power grids survive natural disasters. You’ll even have the opportunity to tour the UNM microgrid.
Presented in collaboration with the UNM’s Power System Emerging Technologies lab. Supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number ECCS-2338555
July 29 - August 2, 2024
Digital Photography
Grades 8th-12th
1pm-4pm
Materials fee only camp: $20 members/$30 non-members
Unleash your creativity through the lens! Capture moments, tell stories, and learn the art of photography in a fun, hands-on environment that sparks your imagination and turns your snapshots into masterpieces.