What Was Your Most Memorable Christmas Gift?

Christmas is quickly approaching and the stores are full of toys, gadgets, and other gift ideas. Well, I’ve got a great Christmas gift idea for your inquisitive, science-minded young person.

How about a summer camp experience they won’t soon forget?

An overnight or day camp with Camp Infinity (Ci) means hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities (including robotics) and solid apologetics teaching. Your young person will be strengthened in their faith as they discover more about God’s creation with other like-minded young people. Talk about a memorable experience!

When I was thinking about Ci as an unforgettable experience for your child, it had me reminiscing about the most memorable Christmas gift I received as a child:

As a kid I was always intrigued by electronic gadgets. Of course, growing up in the 60s compared to today the choices were pretty minimal. But I'll never forget my first "programmable computer" that my parents got for me. By today’s standards most would not consider it much of a computer. But as a 10-year-old boy, I had never seen anything like it.

There were, as I recall, 10 or 15 different programs that involved lights and wires and slider bars. Depending on how you wired it would determine the output in lights. It's the one thing I remember that first got me excited about building automations through software.

Parents, you never know what gift or gadget you get for your child will turn on that spark of imagination and set them on a course for life. But for me it was definitely this little "programmable computer."

I asked several of our staff members to share their most memorable Christmas gift with me. Here’s what they said:

Emily Barney (director’s assistant):

I've always loved patterns! From people watching (yes, people have patterns) to fabrics and wallpaper, even as a child I loved looking at patterns and seeing how the repetitions worked together to develop one design.

When a new electronic toy came out that had a game in which the player had to watch the pattern and recreate it, I was "all over" that! Merlin was an electronic toy that had several different games (I think it was cool that Bob Doyle designed it as he worked for NASA!). My favorite games were playing tic-tac-toe with my brother (the "cat" usually won) or playing the pattern game!

Merlin was something new in the electronic world. It was great because it was portable! I could take it anywhere. And since personal computers were very costly and would have taken all of my bedroom, Merlin was the game for me.

Joel Leineweber (creative designer):

At Christmas when I was 8 or 9, my parents revealed a surprise gift contained in an enormous box. Tearing open the wrapping paper revealed a giant G.I. Joe spaceship complete with a launch pad on wheels. It was nearly 3 feet long and was too heavy for my young frame to lift by myself. I loved it not just because of its size, but because it was an invitation to explore my imagination with outer space. It gave my brother and I countless hours of creative play for years after.

Jason Goff (social media manager):

Mine was anything I could take apart. I hate to think about all the collectors items I destroyed when I was a kid!

Probably my favorite thing was an erector set that my parents bought for me. It had a motor that I could hook up to a battery. That was pretty high-tech at the time. And, of course, it was great because I was allowed to take it apart over and over again!

Avery Foley (creation apologetics writer):

When I was twelve or thirteen my parents surprised me with an MP3 player for Christmas. I think at the time iPods were just becoming “a thing” but I had never had anything but a Walkman that skipped if you didn’t hold it just right. I was thrilled with my new gadget. It opened up a world of audio and dramatized books that let my imagination soar.

I encourage you to consider Camp Infinity for your child this Christmas. Register before December 15, 2016 and receive a special certificate and gift to put under the tree for Christmas. Learn more at CampInfinity.com/camps.

Camp Infinity

Where Science & Technology Meet Truth