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Create a superhero story and a visual or 3D model in this three-week storytelling and design course for elementary school students on Bryn Mawr College’s campus.
Course Description
An everyday object can become a superhero with a problem to solve and a story to tell.
In this course your child will invent characters with puppets, models, and craft materials. They’ll explore what a character wants and how its shape or movement can suggest a personality. Familiar character types offer starting points for their own ideas.
Making a model stand or move gives them something else to try. Children sketch, build, test, and improve their designs. Mind maps and storytelling aloud help them connect a setting, a problem, and a solution into a beginning, middle, and end. They’ll revise and rehearse an original superhero story, then share their visual or 3D model and explain the choices behind it.
This three-week course for elementary school students is part of Summer Discovery’s Institute for the Gifted program on Bryn Mawr College’s campus in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The program is available to commuter students.
What You Will Do
• Invent characters using everyday materials
• Discover what makes a character act
• Map a story from beginning to ending
• Sketch and build a three-dimensional character or invention
• Test your model and improve its design
• Share your superhero story and visual
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain how a character’s traits and wishes shape a story
• Use planning and testing to improve a three-dimensional design
• Tell a story with a connected beginning, middle, and end
You’ll leave with your story plans, an original superhero story, a visual or 3D model, and a certificate of completion.
Why Storytelling Skills Matter
Telling a story helps children put ideas in an order someone else can follow. Deciding what a character wants, fears, and does gives them practice describing another point of view.
Making a model adds a different kind of thinking: choosing materials, testing a structure, and trying a change. Children can bring that patience and creativity to future stories, models, and school projects. Sharing what they made gives them practice explaining an idea in their own words.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade.
A child who turns everyday objects into characters or loves making up superhero adventures has plenty to explore here. Drawing, pretend play, and building all offer ways into a story. Your child will try designs, shape an idea into a complete tale, and share their creation with classmates.
Institute for the Gifted eligibility requirements apply; see the program FAQ.
Your Summer at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr gives elementary students a welcoming place to spend the day learning, creating, and meeting new friends. Its historic, tree-lined setting near Philadelphia makes a summer class feel special and academically structured while remaining close enough for students to return home each afternoon.
The commuter-day format combines hands-on academics with a clear daily routine and shared activities throughout the program day. Students can try something new, build confidence through participation, and enjoy the fun of learning on a college campus without an overnight stay. For families, Bryn Mawr offers a thoughtful balance of creativity, academic challenge, friendship, and age-appropriate independence in a structured day-program environment.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification of completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive