Home Classes & Camps Eureka!: Where to Take STEM Classes in NYC by Anna KnoebelDecember 22, 2014 Search more like this sciencetechnologyhands onvideo gamesscience clubstop motion animationafter schoolall inclusivechristmas treeeducationgolfholiday cardhow tokindergarten Advertisement Trending Now Celeb & Entertainment Serena Williams Announces Retirement: ‘If I Were a Guy, I Wouldn’t Be Writing This’ Celeb & Entertainment Melanie Lynskey Talks about Being Body-Shamed in Hollywood & ‘Starving Herself’ Viral & Trending Viral TikTok Explains Why You Don’t Owe Toxic Parents a Relationship with Your Kids Celeb & Entertainment ‘Bluey’ Season 3 is Coming to Disney+ This Week! Viral & Trending Dad Gets Shamed for Using a Leash with 5-Year-Old Quintuplets Advertisement Back when we were kids, STEM wasn’t an acronym, it was part of a plant. Nowadays the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is practically a religion in education policy, permeating institutions of learning across the nation. As you can guess, in New York City this translates to even more opportunities for crazy fun and innovative classes, the likes of which our younger selves could never have imagined. Here’s where your tiny Einsteins can get steeped in STEM. photo: The Pixel AcademyGet creative with technology at Pixel Academy, where kids discover digital technologies like Virtual Reality Video Game Design and 3D Printing. Using the latest hardware and software available, even beginners will be able to create simple video games that they can play at home. Drop-in hours are fluid, so kids come when they want and learn what they want: maybe digital music one day and video game design the next. Academy teachers encourage their youngest members to start with design-centric topics like 3D modeling and stop-motion animation before moving on to more code-based lessons, like 3D game development and web design.Good to know: There’s currently a waitlist for membership, but you can still sign up for 8 weeks of Camp Pixel this summer. Registration is open now.What: 3D Modeling, Stop Motion Animation, and moreWhen: 2:30-6:30 p.m.Ages: 6-16 Cost: $25 monthly membership + $35 each visit or $45 each visit for non-membersThe Pixel Academy 163 Pacific St. Brooklyn Heights 866-771-6837 Online: pixelacademy.orgphoto: Angie Six via flickrTake kids with a budding passion for web development to New York Code and Design Academy, where they’ll learn basic programming skills with fun exercises that incorporate the Sphero Robotics Platform. (Sphero is a golf-ball sized toy that you can drive like a remote control car, use as controller for video games, and even as a pet toy.) The skills kids pick up in these classes teach them to think more logically and analytically and prepare them to program applications and analyze data. NYCDA offers classes for adults, too, so there’s plenty of room to grow. And if this all sounds way too complicated, know this: as long as your kid can install programs, delete files, and navigate to different directories, they have what it takes to begin.Good to know: Students need to bring their own laptops to class. Macs are preferred, but PCs work too. What: Programming with RobotsWhen: Tues. and Thurs., 4-5 p.m.Ages: 9-12Cost: $2000 for a 12-week course, all inclusive, and each student takes home a Sphero after the course.New York Code and Design Academy 90 John St., Suite 404 Financial District 212-571-7400 Online: nycda.com photo: Beam CenterUsing the credit card-sized computer called Raspberry Pi, students in Beam Center’s class will use the Python programming language and basic circuitry skills to build a homemade photo booth that posts pictures to the internet. They’ll also learn how the Raspberry Pi works, which means maybe you will, too. To get a true feel for the place, visit the free, two-day Inventgenuity Festival, hosted by Beam Center every January. The year’s festival features a large balancing sculpture designed by fabricator and Beam faculty member Brett Van Aalsburg, demos like experimenting with live-feed video installations and drop-in activities that might incorporate weird food projects. The 2015 festival will be held January 24-25.Good to know: Beam Center offers tuition assistance and pick up from some Brooklyn schools.What: Build Your Own Photo BoothWhen: Mon.-Thurs., 3-6 p.m.Ages: Grades 2-6 Cost: $360 for 8 weeksBeam Center (*In February, the center is moving to 60 Sackett St., one mile away.) 47 Bergen St. 347-470-6747 Online: beamcenter.org/workshopsphoto: MakerStateCreated by a founder of the Carnegie Learning Center, MakerState stokes a passion for engineering, circuitry, computing, physic, and design through hands-on projects. At the JCC, in its wildly popular Minecraft course, students collaborate on basic programming problems, build structures that fit real-world architectural logic, and learn about economics, division of labor, and resource management — all within the confines of the Minecraft game.Good to know: The program’s assignments link to Common Core in a fun, engaging way.What: Minecraft Engineering and Computing with MakerState When: Mondays, 4:30-6 p.m., Jan 26 – Jun 1Ages: 7-12Cost: $525.00 Member, $675.00 Non-member for 15 sessionsJCC Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Ave. Upper West Side 646-505-4444 Online: jccmanhattan.orgphoto: Staten Island Museum Naturalist and Staten Island Advance columnist Clay Wollney hosts the Junior Science Club at the Staten Island Museum, covering various science topics through hands-on projects. January’s program offers the chance to design and build mechanical contraptions, and in February kids will experiment with science and technology while learning about Mobius chains and fossil molds.Good to know: The program also offers nature hikes on select mornings.What: Jr. Science Club and Outdoor Adventure ProgramsWhen: Monthly, every third SaturdayAges: 8-13Cost: $8/$5 Members at the door Staten Island Museum 75 Stuyvesant Pl. 718-727-1135 Staten Island Online: statenislandmuseum.orgphoto: Brooklyn Robot FoundryBeginning in kindergarten, kids at Brooklyn Robot Foundry learn the fundamentals of engineering through hands-on projects. Each week, the classes integrate new concepts and instructors contextualize the kids’ work by pointing out real-world examples. Most weeks, older students will take home their self-built robots or machines. Weekend workshops are also available if you and your engineer want to sample the Foundry’s offerings. Upcoming workshops include building a vibrating robot or an electronic stuffed animal.Go to know: The Foundry also has a a Manhattan location at 528 Canal St.What: After School Robot Building When: Mon.-Fri., depending on age, 3:30-5:30 p.m.Ages: Grades K-7Cost: $480 for 10 weeksRobot Foundry 303 3rd Ave. Gowanus 347-762-6840 Online: brooklynrobotfoundry.com photo: The MakeryThough the location of The Makery is constantly changing, its founders have a permanent passion for emerging creative technologies. Offering pop-up workshops around the city for kids and adults ages 8 and up, The Makery encourages intergenerational learning, coming alone or with friends, and involving parents in the process of creating and discovering. Its next pop-up opens around January 12th in TriBeCa with workshops like Toy Hacking (make old toys do new things) and Make Your Own Paper Speakers.Good to know: If you can’t make it to The Makery, the group sells instructional kits, like a make-your-own interactive color changing holiday card.What: The Makery Pop-Up WorkshopsWhere: TriBeCaWhen: Opening January 12thAges: 8+Cost: $50-300 depending on the workshopOnline: nycmakery.comAnother workshop-based center is Sony Wonder Technology Labs, which hosts Sci-Tech workshops twice a month. The workshops are inexpensive and by reservation, so you don’t have to worry about showing up and being sent home. One recent class taught kids how to wire, connect and power-up an arrangement of LED lights to illuminate a Hanukkah menorah or Christmas tree “portrait” to take home, for the bargain price of $10 for a three-hour workshop.Good to know: The lab also offers Tech for Tots workshops for 3-6 year olds.What: Sci-Tech WorkshopsWhen: Dates vary, check website for upcoming workshopsAges: 8+Cost: $6-10 depending on the workshopSony Wonder Technology Labs550 Madison Ave.Upper East Side 212-833-8100 Online: sonywondertechlab.com photo: Carmelo the Science FellowLast but not least, we have Carmelo the Science fellow in Brooklyn, where this winter, kids will take their fascination with pirates to its apex in a course called Walk the Plank. Using hands-on, inquiry based methods, mini scientists will learn concepts like buoyancy and displacement when they build ships out of clay and compare them to ships made out of other materials. They’ll also learn physics, studying forces, motion and potential-kinetic energy by observing and building catapults and air cannons.Good to Know: Younger kids can participate in Carmelo’s Science Playgroup.What: Walk the Plank: A scientific study on PiratesWhen: Tues. and Thurs., 4-5:30 p.m.Ages: Grades 3-5Cost: $425 for 13 weeksCarmelo the Science Fellow300 Atlantic Ave.Cobble Hill718-722-7000Online: carmelothesciencefellow.comDo you have a favorite STEM class in the city? Tell us about it in the comments below!—Anna Knoebel Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Copy (Opens in new window) Search more like this sciencetechnologyhands onvideo gamesscience clubstop motion animationafter schoolall inclusivechristmas treeeducationgolfholiday cardhow tokindergarten Welcome to our Tinybeans family! 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