It's a robo dog's world at Camp Invention

Children meticulously decorated the mechanical dogs they changed from Robo-Pets into personal companions Wednesday while they participated in Camp Invention at Copeland Manor Elementary School in Libertyville.

The program is a nationally recognized, nonprofit summer enrichment camp that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) using hands-on activities.

"This year's program is called 'Fast Forward' with five different modules or classes taught by teachers," said Jenae Murphy, Camp Invention director. "The kids are really excited and enjoy coming out and being little engineers or little inventors and creating their own projects."

About 120 bright students in grades K-6 rotated between modules in Robotic Pet Vet, Optibot, Mod My Mini Mansion, Stick to It and Camp Intervention Games, and used problem-solving skills in a fun and entertaining environment.

The camp highlight was the robotic pet care class, with each student receiving their own robo-pet they used to design their own dogs, learn about the inner workings of real animals, and eventually create their own dog parks.

"We are working on a robotic dog that we can actually make it look like a dog and it moves and has all the same parts of a dog," sixth-grader Ellie Shafer said after placing fur on its metal head and learning about how blood works in animals. "We get to decorate the dog and we get to name it. It's just really fun."