Meet Some of our Team

With a passion for child development and the magic of summer, Kaylie founded Neuron Garage in 2014. The program is enhanced with practices she gleaned from studying neuroscience and education at Dartmouth, as well as over a decade of experience in the classroom. 

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About Neuron Garage

At Neuron Garage we are confident that people who are able to think creatively, work collaboratively, and respond resiliently will thrive in any situation. We have found real magic in simple materials and tangible challenges — when they are combined in our intentional, supportive “garage” environment.

For the past seven summers, we have seen children with a vast range of interests get deeply engaged and energized by our building challenges, so we know that we have developed something that really works for children with all different backgrounds, learning styles and preferences. 

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Great for Children. Great for Parents.

Our goal is for your child to have a blast and for you to get some much needed relief.

Campers dive into their main Building Challenge for the week designing, building, and testing their ideas.

Campers learn and practice "Secret Skills" such as magic tricks & origami.

Fun with a Purpose.

Welcome to Neuron Garage, the summer camp where kids discover their potential through open-ended, hands-on building challenges. Our campers take recycled materials and are empowered to find solutions in a fun, collaborative atmosphere.

When your child can think creatively, work collaboratively, and respond resiliently, they can do anything.

The problems your children tackle at Neuron Garage are open-ended, with no set solutions. And the materials they use are simple and multi-purpose. This combination unlocks a level of engagement and resourcefulness that is both joyful and transformational.

Our thoughtfully trained team guides your children to tap into their own genius and to collaborate with their peers for inspiration and support. Campers learn how to give and receive feedback from other campers, how to push themselves to create their best work, and how to recover from frustration and setbacks in order to continue forward. As they build with their hands, these experiences build confidence and resilience, propelling them onto their next challenge — whether at camp or beyond.

The building is FUN. But, it takes energy and focus, so we make sure your child’s day has plenty of time to re-energize with reflection and play.

Building Challenges

Kids love our building challenges that keep them learning all summer long!

FAQS

The Summer Online Building Camp for Kids!

Online Safety

We leverage a premium Zoom account to keep your children safe. Sessions are password protected and private chat is disabled.

Technical Requirements

All you need is a Zoom enabled device and a stable internet connection.

Typical Day

In addition to hands-on building in the morning and afternoon, campers will play interactive games led by our instructors and on-line boardgames to develop individual friendships, engage in group discussions, and participate in plenty of movement activities and games.

Our goal is for parents not to be involved with their children's camp day. However, depending on a child's level of independence and fluency with technology, they may need additional guidance or redirection that we are not able to provide virtually.

Parental Involvement

Live Instruction

Campers will be with a live instructor throughout their day. Instruction and activities will be adapted to each camper and each group, just as they would be at our in-person camps.

How We Hire Staff

We hire college students and graduates with a passion for education and child development, and a love of learning and summertime. Every team member is background checked and trained to deliver the Neuron Garage curriculum in a supportive environment, whether that be in-person or online.

Try 2 days at no risk*

CREATIVE THINKING, COLLABORATION, & RESILIENCE

Ages 6-12 years old. Campers join our virtual community, led by a LIVE, trained Guide, and get hands-ons, repurposing their recycling to solve fun, weekly engineering challenges. Through the process, they have fun, make new friends, and build the foundation for a vibrant future.

We know that some school Zoom experiences have been less than ideal, and we aim to make this experience much more “campy”.

Enroll your child and let them come try out the program. If it is not a good fit, cancel by the end of the camp day on Tuesday for a full refund of your registration fees.

The day will be a balance between guided discussions, games, movement, fun lessons, small group collaboration and hands-on building.

The program is designed to maximize child independence and allow parents the ability to focus on their many other priorities.

We will be shipping everything your child will need to build and participate, including a guide to help them collect and organize recycling in the weeks leading up to camp. All you will need to provide is a Zoom enabled device.

Balanced & Engaging Days

Each day is filled with movement, hands-on building, discussions with peers and a lesson in a "secret skill".

We want to make this easy on you.

We will ship you a Build Box which includes everything your child will need. Just add recycling.

If your kingdom was under attack, could you defend it? Can you build a castle with a working drawbridge? Can you design a catapult that fires accurately enough to ward off intruders? Using two simple machines — pulleys and levers — along with lots of cardboard and imagination, campers build castles with defense systems.

*Register today and cancel by the end of camp on Tuesday for a 100% refund of registration fees.

Have a Quick Question? 

Kaylie is available to help! 

Direct Line: (512) 593-5393 | Email: 
Kaylie.Reed@NeuronGarage.com

Days are filled with movement and interactive games with other campers. 

$95 inc. shipping

TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE

Online Camp takes place during Central Standard Time (CST)

SUMMER 2021 - TWO WEEKS ONLY!

LIMITED SPACE.  JULY 12th - 23rd  (AM & PM SESSIONS)

SUMMER 2021 CAMP DATES

Morning sessions during the first week of camp, will focus on effective techniques for building with cardboard and other simple materials, as well as safe, productive use of the curated tools in the Build Box.

CARDBOARD CREATIONS

SPACE SURVIVAL

If you crash-landed on an unknown planet, what would you do? Would you stay and build a shelter, or would you fix your engine and design a new spaceship to return home? This week, campers will race against the clock to create spaceships, rovers and shelters for outer space survival.

MEDIEVAL CONSTRUCTION

"I just wanted to take a moment to say that Alex is SO enjoying his week at Neuron Garage. This experience has really exceeded our expectations including Alex's. Our basement has been wonderfully and magically transformed into a workshop of materials EVERYWHERE (and that's a good thing). We come together for dinner every night and talk about each other's days. Alex always has the greatest things to say. He feels empowered, challenged and motivated to solve the problems he faces."

"Maya is absolutely loving this camp- she says she’s “never bored” during it and she is spending a lot of time outside of camp working on her projects and showing us her work.  Thanks for all of the work to get this camp virtual- it allowed us to join all the way from California."

Parent Reviews

Want to hear from more parents?  Click here to read reviews about our in-person camps in Austin, TX. While a different experience than our online camps, the reviews offer parent feedback on the core enrichment and fun of our building challenges.

"Honestly, I have been really impressed with how well you have adapted the program for virtual camp. The build kit was a huge hit and the daily interactions offer the perfect blend of hang time, instruction, small groups and independent work. The guides are awesome as well.  "

"We really love the program! I just could not be happier with the way you engage the kids and teach them these valuable lessons about resiliency and creativity and continual learning!  Wow!"

"They are engaged the whole time, they LOVE popsicle time, they enjoy the games and they're excited about their projects. I am really impressed. The other online stuff we've tried has been much more of a flop."

If you could build anything out of cardboard, what would it be? This week, campers tap into their inner designer, following our Think-Build-Learn process to create something they are proud of out of the contents of their recycling bins.

INVENTION CONVENTION

Sam is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for great operations and building amazing teams.  Sam is deep believer in the enrichment goals of Neuron Garage and is focused on scaling  its positive impact  to Austin and beyond!

CAMP DATES