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Beyond the face paint, colorful tutus and chicken cheers, Galileo instructors help campers unlock the innovation skills they’ll need to thrive—creative problem solving, brave risk-taking and persistence in the face of challenges. Each outrageously fun activity is a carefully crafted opportunity for your camper to grow their innovator’s mindset, becoming more visionary, courageous, collaborative, determined and reflective. Our activities also encourage campers to practice the Galileo Innovator’s Process, the series of steps below that are inspired by the teachings at Stanford’s d.school and help campers turn their ideas into reality.
Here's how your Nebula practiced the process and mindset to create a balancing Titanosaur and how you can keep encouraging them to innovate all year long.
| Identify the Goal | Challenge: Two might we build a balancing titanosaur that can reach as tall a tree as possible |
| Generate Ideas | Campers discussed ways to create a model titanosaur using toothpicks and foam |
| Design | Teams planned how they would work, with one partner starting at the head and the other building the tail. |
| Create Test Evaluate Redesign |
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| Share | Everyone shared their balancing titanosaurs to celebrate and get ideas for the future |
In this project, your camper also practiced being COLLABORATIVE by talking with their partner and including both people’s ideas about how to build the Titanosaur.
Researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Education put our programs to the test in multi-year study. They found that Galileo kids tend to:
GENERATE IDEAS: Next time your family has a collective goal (planning a Saturday, making a meal, etc.) try working together to brainstorm a long list of possibilities—from practical to outrageous—before finalizing your plan. With lots of ideas to choose from, you’re likely to find a more creative and satisfying outcome.
3 ways you can support the ongoing practice of COLLABORATION:
Here's how your Star practiced the process and mindset to create a theropod hand and how you can keep encouraging them to innovate all year long.
| Identify the Goal | Challenge: How might we create a unique theropod hand with fingers that close and open successfully? |
| GENERATE IDEAS | They looked at 5 different models of theropod hands. |
| DESIGN | They discussed making different models than their teammates, in order to compare a number of different hand designs. |
| CREATE TEST EVALUATE REDESIGN |
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| SHARE | Everyone shared their theropod hands and noticed that shorter fingers were better at digging and longer fingers better at grasping. They celebrated the variety of designs and how replicas can help scientists better understand behavior. |
In this project, your camper also practiced being REFLECTIVE, by taking time to carefully test each finger and think about how well it opens and closes, before moving to the next finger.
Researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Education put our programs to the test in multi-year study. They found that Galileo kids tend to:
CREATE: The next time your family wants to create something (a garden, a birthday party, a school project…), adopt a bias toward action by jumping in, even if you don’t have it all figured out. Sometimes it can feel daunting to put those first proverbial marks on the page, but once you start working, you’ll be amazed at what you can create.
3 ways you can support the ongoing practice of REFLECTION:
What’s something you do every day that you think works really well? What’s something you do every day that you think can be improved?
Why is it helpful to stop and reflect when you’re creating or trying new things?
Step back, take a break or slow down to think about what you’re doing and what you might improve.
Ask others for feedback on what is and isn’t working in your project.
Here’s how your Supernova practiced the process and mindset to create grasping arms for their theropod and how you can keep encouraging them to innovate all year long.
| IDENTIFY THE GOAL | Challenge: How might we create theropod claws and hands that are specialized for grabbing a specific type of food? |
| GENERATE IDEAS | They developed ideas for specialized claws based on their dinosaur (Baryonyx: grab a fish, Therizinosaurus: knock down a tree). |
| DESIGN | They planned their design. |
| CREATE TEST EVALUATE REDESIGN |
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| SHARE | Everyone shared their grasping arms to celebrate and get even more ideas for the future. |
In this project, your camper also practiced being COLLABORATIVE by seeking inspiration and sharing hand design ideas with other campers building the same type of dinosaur.
Researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Education put our programs to the test in multi-year study. They found that Galileo kids tend to:
persevere at unfamiliar challenges
share their ideas more freely
respond better in the face of failure
EVALUATE & REDESIGN: The next time you complete something you do regularly (cook dinner, go on a hike, have a playdate, etc.) think of two stars—things that went well—and one wish—an opportunity for improvement. The “2 Stars and a Wish” strategy is a great way to evaluate something you created and make a plan to do things even better the next time.
3 ways you can support the ongoing practice of COLLABORATION:
What is something you’ve worked on collaboratively? What was it like working with others? How did you help the team? How did others help?
Why is it helpful to collaborate with others when creating new things?
Stay in constant communication, so everyone’s ideas can help shape the outcome.
Stay open and flexible—collaboration changes ideas, and that can be a good thing.
Here’s how your Meteor practiced the process and mindset to create an animal stencil and how you can keep encouraging them to innovate all year long.
| IDENTIFY THE GOAL | Challenge: How might we create an animal stencil to decorate the chair? |
| GENERATE IDEAS | They brainstormed a list of animals. |
| CREATE TEST EVALUATE REDESIGN |
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| SHARE | Everyone shared their stencils to celebrate and get even more ideas for painting their chairs. |
In this project, your camper also practiced being VISIONARY by imagining a clear and meaningful story for how the chosen animal represents them or someone else they’re thinking of.
The impact of Galileo programs is real
Researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Education put our programs to the test in multi-year study. They found that Galileo kids tend to:
EVALUATE & REDESIGN: The next time you complete something you do regularly (cook dinner, go on a hike, have a playdate, etc.) think of two stars—things that went well—and one wish—an opportunity for improvement. The “2 Stars and a Wish” strategy is a great way to evaluate something you created and make a plan to do things even better the next time.
3 ways you can support the ongoing practice of being VISIONARY:
What is something you’ve worked on collaboratively? What was it like working with others? How did you help the team? How did others help?
Why is it helpful to collaborate with others when creating new things?
Stay in constant communication, so everyone’s ideas can help shape the outcome.
Stay open and flexible—collaboration changes ideas, and that can be a good thing.