There’s a world where Oreo cookies represent the moon and Capri Sun pouches become launching pads for rockets.

Welcome to Outer Space Architect camp, where kindergarten through third-grade students are encouraged to use their imaginations to infinity and beyond.

Outer Space Architect camp, one of Ravenscroft's weeklong summer programs, lets students design and build their own space-themed creations. The STEM and innovation-focused activities encourage students to share big ideas, stretch their imaginations and tackle hands-on engineering projects and creative problem-solving.

The camp is taught by Middle School English and Language Arts Instructor Christina Frazier. During the summer, her classroom transforms into NASA headquarters. Students use every inch of the room to paint, tape, tie and cut their own inventions, having fun while learning along the way.

"It's to be excited about space," Frazier said when asked about the camp's objective. "During snack, we might watch a Mars rover video or Ready Jet Go!, but we also talk a lot about scientific concepts such as Newton's Third Law. We do experiments exploring changes in the states of matter, like using baking soda and vinegar in a bottle to inflate a balloon. We do a lot of hands-on construction, which, in our digital age, kids need so badly."

On a table behind Frazier sat one of the class's latest creations. A group of students used boxes, foil, string and other recyclable materials they could get their hands on to create their own Mars rover. The project followed a book the class read about Curiosity, NASA's Mars rover, and students were encouraged to use their imaginations to determine what they needed to build their own version.

"Often they talk about battery packs or reflective silver coatings to protect the rover from the sun," Frazier said. "Some of them are very influenced by WALL-E."

The Mars rover has become the students' favorite project of the week, according to Frazier, largely because it involved spending an hour in the dirt with tape and scissors over three consecutive days.

Everyone loves Oreos, but the iconic cookie has a role beyond snack time. Frazier uses the classic black-and-white treat to demonstrate the phases of the moon. On another day, students used Capri Sun pouches as the launch mechanism for stomp rockets, sending their creations several feet into the air.

“I liked making the stomp rockets,” Mira Kheterpal ’36 said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of jumping on a box of deflated Capri Sun packages. “I learned that rockets fly because of the fire that it brings up. It can make it fly.”

The camp is play-based, so Frazier has found creative ways to help students retain what they learn.

"It's exciting to see the range of ages build on the knowledge they already have," Frazier said. "Often, the 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds come in already knowing so many things and are excited to share them, so they get to be the teachers, which is a really empowering role for a 7-year-old."

Even with the range of ages among participants, the camp engages everyone because it's so hands-on. Students spend much of their time building, experimenting and learning through trial and error.

"There's a balance to be found between child-created work, which is imperfect," Frazier said. "It needs to be imperfect before it can improve. Really embracing the imperfections and the failures is so much of the fun of this camp."