Williamsburg-area students will invent “life hacks,” program robots and design video games during a week-long camp in July at Tabb Middle School.
Invention Project, an educational program supported by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will be held July 11-15 at the school, located at 300 Yorktown Road in Tabb.
The program encourages students entering sixth, seventh and eighth grades to explore through hands-on activities their potential as designers, innovators, engineers and marketers.

Projects will include inventing “life hacks,” which are new methods that allow for everyday tasks to be completed more efficiently. Other activities planned for the camp include adapting sunglasses to create “the world’s next best-selling accessory,” designing video games to promote health and wellness, and building and programming robots.
Camp participants will be able to design and create prototypes of each project while also learning how to patent their own inventions, said Theresa Guthrie, the Tabb Middle School science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teacher who will facilitate the program.
“It’s more than just STEM. It’s going from inception to production,” Guthrie said. “It will give participants the experience of going from an idea to then creating it, building it and marketing it.”
The cost of attending the camp is $275 per person. Guthrie said there are 10 open seats left in the 25-person program. Click here to register.
To learn more about Invention Project, visit http://www.inventionproject.org/.