Summer camp 2025
Our seven-session BizBuzz Camp helps young founders ideate, build, and pitch market-ready ventures alongside Shark Tank alumni, civic leaders, and finance experts.
Seven intensive weeks of entrepreneurship education, hands-on activities, and mentorship from industry leaders.
- Dates
- June 6 to July 25, 2025
- Where
- 95th Street Library, Naperville
- Grades
- 3 to 8
- camp sessions
- 7
- guest speakers
- 5
- students taught
- 120
7 sessions
Each session built on the one before it. Open any photo to see it full size.
2025 Session 1: Networking & Ideation
In Session 1, kidpreneurs at our 2025 Summer Entrepreneurship Camp broke the ice with new friends and high school instructors through a high-stakes Networking Bingo game. They then learned to identify and brainstorm real-world problems in an interactive "Bug-Me List" and ideation session. The day concluded with a Mini Fish Tank challenge, where students pitched creative product mashups for Jolly Ranchers and $135 in Andy's Ice Cream treat cards.
2025 Session 2: Lean Canvas & Value Proposition
In Session 2, kidpreneurs kicked things off with our Inventor Fusion game, combining random objects to invent new products and test their teamwork. They then completed a Lean Canvas Model to refine their business ideas from the previous session. Building on these ideas, they competed in our Pokémon Card Investor Report challenge, where students pitched 30-second summaries of their ideas, advanced through group voting rounds, and competed for Chicago Wolves and White Sox game tickets.
2025 Session 3: Marketing & Branding
In Session 3, students learned how to market their business ideas by designing logos, slogans, product sketches, and fliers that built a cohesive brand. After an icebreaker where they pitched creative uses for random objects, each room worked on Canva to build a group logo and flier, deciding on colors, fonts, and layouts together. Students then created their own marketing portfolios and competed in a full-class flier design bracket, with top teams winning Illinois State University football and basketball game tickets.
Featured speaker
Kandice Henning
CEO of the Alive Center
“Brand Like a Boss”
About the talk
Sharing how strategic marketing grew the ALIVE Center into three Naperville locations and counting, she showed students that powerful branding goes beyond visuals, using storytelling to build genuine connection.
2025 Session 4: Prototyping & Product Creation
In Session 4, students brought their Fish Tank ideas to life through hands-on creation. After the "Personal Brand Soul Train" icebreaker, they split into three creative tracks (Tinkercad for 3D modeling, Google Sites for website design, and detailed sketching) to build prototypes, online product pages, and prototype blueprints with high school specialists.
Featured speaker
Lindsey Fleischhauer
Co-Founder at Totes Babies
“Totes Babies, Totally Brilliant”
About the talk
Walking students through the journey of refining her car seat carrier for parents on the go, she shared how Totes Babies grew from a rough prototype to a Shark Tank success story, eventually pitching it in Las Vegas and securing a deal on Season 12, Episode 17.
2025 Session 5: Finance & Budgeting
In Session 5, students got "hired" by Invisibelle, a startup selling invisible products, pitching their wildest talents to instructors in a hilarious Founder's Got Talent challenge. They then learned how to think like entrepreneurs by budgeting a $3,500 dream vacation, making surprise spending choices and pitching their trips to classmates. The top planners walked away with Kane County Cougar and Chicago Fire game tickets, while everyone else scored sweet Jolly Ranchers for a job well done.
Featured speaker
Mary Gibson
Naperville Park District President
“Campaigning Your Company”
About the talk
As the city's Park District President, she connected big data, emotion, and politics, showing students how running a campaign is just like marketing a business, where authentic, consistent storytelling turns voters and customers into true supporters!
2025 Session 6: Business Planning & Leadership
In Session 6, students finalized their Fish Tank ideas, outlining full business plans from problem to profit. After hearing advice from Mayor Scott Wehrli and City Finance Director Raymond Munch, they spent the afternoon polishing slides, scripts, and prototypes, and celebrated their progress with prizes like Keller's Farmstead passes, a DuPage Children's Museum family pass, a DuPage Forest Preserve gift card, and a Gourmet Gift Baskets gift card.
Featured speaker
Scott Wehrli
Mayor of Naperville
“Leading the Local Way”
About the talk
Sharing stories from his journey in public service and business, he inspired students to see leadership as service to their community. He encouraged them to stay curious, take initiative, and use entrepreneurship to make a lasting local impact.
Guest speaker
Raymond Munch
City Director of Finance
“Finance Fuels Innovation”
About the talk
He showed students how budgeting, planning, and smart financial strategy power both cities and startups alike. He connected real-world finance to their Fish Tank projects, emphasizing how numbers can tell the story behind every great idea.
2025 Session 7: Pitch Rehearsal & Preparation
Biz, Buzz, Build! Students spent the day fully immersed in their Fish Tank projects, perfecting business plans, building prototypes, and running mock pitches with instructors. The session focused entirely on preparation, teamwork, and refining every detail to get ready for the big day.
Then came Fish Tank 2025
Camp ends with Fish Tank, where students pitch the businesses they built to a panel of judges.
Summer 2027 registration is open. Free for grades 3 to 8 in Naperville.
Register for 2027 (opens in a new tab)