International Museum of Art & Science, IMAS, Operation Imagination, summer camps, McAllen, children, education, science, art, engineering, clay, geology, ecolo…
Staff Report
MCALLEN TX - The International Museum of Art & Science is hosting Operation Imagination Summer Camps across two sessions this summer, running June 1-18 and July 6-24, 2026, with weekly themes covering science, art, and engineering for campers in grades 2 through 8.
Camps run weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with drop-off and pickup options available. Late pickup after 3:35 p.m. requires an aftercare payment of $5.
Pricing
Weekly camp sessions are priced at $200, with a discounted rate of $160 for IMAS Family Members and above. A 5% sibling discount is available using code OISB2 at checkout; all children must be in the same family unit and fall within the camp week’s grade level.
Week 3, running June 15-18, is priced at $160 per week, or $128 for IMAS members, due to it being a four-day session. IMAS will be closed Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth.
Camp Sessions
Week 1 (June 1-5) featured Movie Makers for incoming 4th and 5th graders, and Week 2 (June 8-12) featured Tinker Imagineers for incoming 2nd and 3rd graders. Both are sold out.
Week 3 (June 15-18) offers Clay Lab for incoming 4th and 5th graders, with limited seats remaining. Campers will explore clay techniques including scoring, slip, hand building, and coil building, and will sculpt a mask inspired by the IMAS Folk Art collection.
July Sessions
Week 4 (July 6-10) offers two simultaneous camps. Dig Into Earth, for incoming 2nd and 3rd graders, covers plate tectonics, rocks and minerals, geode demolition, and erosion modeling. McAllen Public Utility: World of Water, for incoming 4th and 5th graders, is offered in collaboration with McAllen Public Utility and covers water conservation, hydraulic technology, and ocean acidification, with presentations in the Science On a Sphere theatre.
Week 7 (July 13-17) features Artful Creators for incoming 2nd and 3rd graders, exploring art movements through painting, sculpture, and collage, and Paints & Prints for incoming 6th through 8th graders, covering printmaking techniques including etching, mono-printing, and screen printing alongside various paint media.
Week 8 (July 20-24) closes the summer with Ecology Explorers for incoming 2nd and 3rd graders, offering hands-on work in the MPU BioZone lab with insects, reptiles, owl pellet dissection, and microscope stations. Science Fusion, for incoming 6th through 8th graders, covers circuits, engineering, and physics through projects including sound visualizers and spin art machines.
Source - International Museum of Art & Science