Article from the Potomac Almanac:

Nine little children eagerly volunteering to get up in front of everyone and recite the order of the nine planets, from the sun to Pluto.  All the other little 3- and 4-year-olds enthusiastically joined in, as proud parents endlessly snapped pictures of their children's first week at camp.  Not many people are able to recite the nine planets in order, but the children at Camp Challenger JR... are getting an early start. ... Camp Challenger JR balances teaching spatial concepts, such as constellations and planets in orbit, with playing sports, for children 3 - 6.

Science and sports may seem like an unusual mix, but according to 5-year-old Christopher Root of  Kensington, the mix of learning about space and playing sports is a perfect recipe.

"I like learning about space just like my daddy, who works in NASA, and I like to play sports, too, "Christopher said.

A big part of the allure of the half day camp for parents is that they wanted their children who are entering kindergarten to get use to being away from home.

"We teach concepts such as mass, gravity and orbit, but we cater to their level of understanding through our language. They know a lot more than we think they do, but the concept just needs to be defined in a manner they can relate to and understand," Sisk (an instructor) said.

The staff at Camp Challenger JR has employed different methods to help the children understand concepts such as dehydration, rehydration and constellations.

"We used rice pudding to teach them about dehydration and rehydration. And we talked about connect-the-dots to help them understand constellations," said Maureen Kane, a camp instructor and teacher at Maryvale Elementary School.

The task was not as hard as it may seem, according to Kane.

"They have some background knowledge about these things; we just have to keep it basic and reinforce ideas. Because space really interests them it's not hard to keep their attention.  We just need to make sure to keep it hands-on, or else their minds will wonder," Kane said.