Play-Well STEM Discovery using LEGO® Materials

Accommodation

Play-Well STEM Discovery is a day camp, not an overnight program. Campers attend the afternoon session and return home after camp. No cabins, dorms, residential rooms, or overnight supervision are included.

The Carlsbad session runs from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday. This shorter format is well-suited to younger elementary students. It gives children enough time for building, problem-solving, and a snack break without turning the day into a long full-day camp schedule.

The camp takes place in a classroom-style learning setting at Kelly Elementary through Carlsbad Educational Foundation. Families should plan for daily drop-off and pick-up. Children are signed in and out each day, and instructors remain with enrolled students until a parent or guardian arrives for pick-up.

This is a focused STEM enrichment camp rather than a general summer childcare program. The day is centered on LEGO® engineering projects, not sports, outdoor recreation, or open-ended free play.

Meals

Campers should bring a peanut-free snack. The camp includes one break midway through the session, and the snack break may take place outside depending on the weather.

Snacks are not provided. Since the session runs in the afternoon and lasts three hours, lunch is not part of the listed camp schedule. Families should send food that is simple, easy to open, and appropriate for a short classroom break.

There is one important allergy note. LEGO® pieces in the teaching kits cannot be guaranteed completely free of peanut oils. For children with peanut allergies or severe sensitivities, families should review this risk carefully before enrollment.

Safety

Play-Well instructors supervise enrolled students from the time they are dropped off or enter the classroom until they are picked up by another responsible adult. Children are signed in and out each day, and instructors remain in the classroom with campers until pick-up is complete.

Staff hiring includes an application, reference check, and one-on-one interview. After hiring, employees complete criminal-record and sex-offender registry screening at the national, multi-state, and county levels. Instructors also receive training on classroom management, reporting serious injuries or medical emergencies, sexual abuse awareness and prevention, mandated reporting, and safe student interactions.

Play-Well maintains a no-closed-doors policy for one-on-one situations with children. Management team members have completed Stewards of Children training through Darkness to Light. These practices support a classroom environment designed for young students, where supervision and clear adult responsibility are central to the camp day.

Play Well STEM Camp Carlsbad uses LEGO® materials to introduce children to engineering, architecture, coding, robotics, and problem-solving. Campers usually work on two engineering or architecture projects per day. Each project begins with a short introduction, then campers move into a design-and-build challenge.

Younger builders work with themed LEGO® engineering projects. Options include Minecraft Engineering, Pokémon Engineering, Dino Design, Sports Lab, Adventures in STEM, and STEM Discovery. These sessions help children practice structure, motion, stability, and creative design through familiar themes.

Robotics and coding camps add a programming layer. Learn Coding, Explore Coding using LEGO® Spike Prime, Minecraft Robotics, and Bash’em Bots Robotics use robots, motors, sensors, lights, visual block coding, loops, conditional statements, and open-ended challenges. Some advanced FLL robotics sessions appear in the broader Carlsbad enrichment catalog and serve older students, but those are listed separately from Play Well TEKnologies.