Summer Camp Ideas for Kids

Kids' summer camps provide entertaining adventures for children who attend and a vacation for parents who stay home. Summer camps can help kids pursue an interest, learn independence, make friends and participate in new activities. Although summer camps are usually for a week, they can last anywhere from one day to the entire summer in length.

  1. Art Summer Camp

    • Inspire future artists with an arts-and-crafts camp. It can be located anywhere, from a college to a ranch, as long as there is plenty of room for different projects. The camp may offer day programs only, or it may provide lodging and meals for overnight programs.

      Basic activities might include introduction classes to drawing, shading, perspective, color, oil paint, water paint, acrylic paint, charcoal and chalk. Projects in craft classes may range from teaching children how to sculpt an alien from clay to making a mud-cloth painting or fancy paper.

    Dance Summer Camp

    • Expose kids to many different styles and techniques at a dance camp that will help familiarize them with the wide world of dancing. Longer-term camps likely will provide small dorm rooms with bunk beds and personal bathrooms and offer cafeteria-style and occasional restaurant food.

      Classes may include lessons in hip-hop, jazz, ballet and swing, or practice for a group performance. Other activities might include instruction in general nutrition, personal presentation, muscle stretching and dance history. Depending on the camp location, kids also may be able to attend a professional dance performance.

    Science Summer Camp

    • Let kids explore the fun side of science with a hands-on, project-filled, general science camp. The college-based camp takes advantage of the empty campus and uses the dorms, bathrooms, cafeteria, gym, lawn and labs for the basic setting. Snacks may include astronaut-packaged meals and "Meals Ready to Eat," or MREs, to allow kids to explore the science of food.

      Activities might include team-building projects such as developing a working rocket, making a balloon-powered toy car, creating a chain-reaction machine or building a cotton-ball catapult. Individual projects may be a volcano, a tornado in a bottle, a potato battery or a cradle to protect an egg dropped from the top of a building. A mock archaeological dig---complete with buried "artifact" fragments---and trips to local science museums and attractions are possible group activities.

    Wilderness Summer Camp

    • Help kids get active at a wilderness-themed camp, a classic choice for parents. Overnight programs often provide one-room log cabins with rustic bunk beds and bathrooms. Campers might eat in a mess hall with picnic tables and cafeteria-style food.

      Day activities at wilderness camps may include swimming, horseback riding, hiking, biking, archery, fishing, boating and exploring. Night activities might include bonfires with marshmallow roasts, ghost stories and sing-alongs. Pottery making, leather stamping, basket weaving, woodcarving, woodworking, pinecone art and rock painting are possible craft activities.

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