MIST summer camp sparks science-tech curiosity

The Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology (MIST) has launched its 2026 Science and Technology Summer Camp with a renewed focus on helping children understand the world around them through hands-on learning, emerging technologies and practical experiments.

The five-week programme, which opened Monday at Queen’s College, St James, is introducing campers ages six to 11 to a broad range of scientific disciplines.

Speaking during the official launch on Tuesday, acting director of the Science, Market Research and Innovation Unit, Arlene Weekes, said the camp has evolved significantly since it was first introduced in 2008 to keep pace with advances in science and technology:

“The camp is comprised mostly or entirely of science and technology-based activities. So we go through the different sciences, we do robotics and coding and there are lots of activities. It’s activity driven.”

While science has always been at the core of the programme, Weekes explained that technological advances have broadened the camp’s offerings:

“Over the years as technology has improved, we’ve come to include things such as robotics where we use the mBot and introduce coding to these young children. We’ve introduced [artificial intelligence] AI and other forms of technology as the years have gone on.”

This year’s programme introduces microbiology for the first time while also exploring electricity and magnetism, and acids and bases among core areas of science. 

Each participant will receive a certificate recognising them as a certified junior scientist at the end of the programme, while the top boy and girl in the oldest age group will be named Mr and Miss Science and Technology. 

Innovation officer and camp coordinator Paulita Benjamin said this year’s theme, Curious Adventurers: Exploring Our World, was chosen to help children appreciate the role science plays in everyday life:

Innovation Officer and Camp Coordinator Paulita Benjamin. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)

“We wanted this camp to have a lasting and memorable experience and show how science impacts our daily lives to understand the world that we live in.”

She encouraged campers to embrace every opportunity over the coming weeks:

“For the next few days, this space is your laboratory, your invention workshop, your playground. You are about to experience and do the things that you only read about and see in books.”

Participants would explore robotics, electricity, electrical engineering, microbiology, chemistry and online safety, said Benjamin, describing microorganisms as “those microscopic detectives that are hidden somewhere and you can only see them with a microscope”.

Addressing parents, she said: “Thank you for giving us your children and… providing them with the opportunity to fuel their curiosity to become problem solvers, critical thinkers, investigators, discoverers. We promise to return your children with bigger smiles, and incredible stories.”

Representing Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology Jonathan Reid, was the director of Future Barbados, Tamisha Eytle Harvey, who challenged campers to see themselves as the country’s future innovators and problem-solvers:

Director of Future Barbados Tamisha Eytle Harvey. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)

“The minister could have been here, but we haven’t figured out teleportation. So that is your challenge from me for the next few weeks because each of you are the future of Barbados.”

She told the children that science extends into almost every career.

“You are the next electrical engineer… I know there are future researchers… You are future farmers because there’s agriculture in science. You are future designers because design, science, fashion, they’re all connected.”

Harvey also encouraged them to remain inquisitive throughout the camp:

“I want to challenge you all this week to not be scared, to ask the hard questions… We want to make sure that you keep asking questions and questioning the whys, the hows, and the whats because that will make it more fun.”

She urged parents to continue nurturing that curiosity after camp hours.

“When they come home hopefully exhausted and tired… we need to figure out ways to continue this excitement and joy and freedom to learn and ask why.”

She continued: “The future of Barbados is science. It’s technology. It is making sure we are building the solutions that will not only shape our futures but shape the futures of the rest of the world.”

The opening ceremony concluded with live science demonstrations, including a plasma ball experiment that allowed campers to safely observe electrical energy in action. Children also watched as an unpowered fluorescent bulb illuminated when brought close to the plasma ball, giving them a practical introduction to electricity before beginning five weeks of science-based activities and discovery. 

A camper touching the plasma ball. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)

(LE)