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Once upon a time, camp meant coming home at the end of a day with a friendship bracelet and a sunburn. Now, campers are returning home with, as the folks at Camp Kids ‘N Comedy like to say, punchlines.
They’re also coming home with robots they programmed and art projects aplenty. Ahead, eight unique camp offerings for your pint-sized people in and around NYC.
208 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
Celebrating 30 years as a New York comedy institution, Kids ‘N Comedy provides a summer camp for budding Seinfelds ages 10 to 18.
During a two-week session, your youngster will learn everything from joke writing to improv to stage presence. He or she will also be put to the test with a live graduation show at Gotham Comedy Club, where kids perform their best material in front of an audience (this famed venue is also where the camp takes place). Laughter, of course, is priceless, but each session costs $1,600; though you can save if you bring a friend or a sibling, or sign up for a second session.
Email [email protected] with your phone number to learn more about its three sessions in July and August this summer.
11 locations in the tri-state area
Have a promising artist on your hands? Enroll them in One River School’s week-long camps (from $365-$395; all materials included), serving ages five through 18.
Class topics include street art, animation, fashion art, manga, digital art, and much, much more, with all lessons taught by professional artists and designers in nice studio environments. Your fridge gallery star will cap off his or her time here with a gallery-style student exhibition so you can ooh and ahh at their work in a setting that matches the professionalism of a grown-up art show.
Camps run from June 15 to August 28 (dates may vary by location), so get your arts-and-crafts all-star enrolled pronto.
Primary location is CD Lane Park in Windham, NY
The Adaptive Sports Foundation will host two camps this summer in the bucolic Catskill town of Windham for people of all ages with physical, cognitive, and neurodevelopmental disabilities.
First, there’s the Adaptive Skateboard Camp (from $125 for a single-day session), where campers will learn to board under the counsel of pro-level instructors and enjoy a barbecue lunch. Or, check out the foundation’s multi-sport camp, where enrollees can enjoy hiking, kayaking, soccer, basketball, wiffle ball, golf, and mountain biking with adaptive equipment available.
The four-day jaunt ($275; or go for the weekend only for $125) is capped off with a trip to Rhuelmann’s Alpaca Farm, to feed the animals before returning to the Adaptive Sports Foundation’s HQ for a BBQ. The multisport camp will take place on August 13 through 16, and the skateboarding camps will take place on July 11, July 25, August 8, and September 26.
19 locations in the tri-state area
Raising a future robotics engineer? Welcome to the camp for machine masterminds, where every day means making a new robot to take home. A week-long session runs from $400 to $975, depending on the location (single days for around $200 are also available at select locations) and is screen-free, hands-on bliss complete with themes.
This year’s weekly guiding concepts? “Monster Mayhem,” “Snack Attack,” “Swamp Stomp,” and “Construction Junction.” Even better, these kindergarten through 5th-grade programs run June 29 through September 4, so if you’re looking for an add-on camp in the final weeks of summer recess, you’ve got options.
75 Colonial Springs Road, Wheatley Heights, NY 11798
A mix of old school traditions with some new school flavors awaits at this Long Island reprieve, boasting an impressive roster of sports (lacrosse, tennis, and archery, to name a few), instructional and recreational swim time, and specialty programming like robotics, cooking, and outdoor adventure classes.
Depending on your kid’s cup of tea, there’s also yoga, karate, ceramics, climbing ropes courses, trapeze and circus arts, an Ultimate Ninja Warrior course, and theater productions aplenty.
All this and more from $5,250 for day-camp programs of four-, five-, six-, seven-, or eight-week durations for young’uns six weeks through grade 10.
520 8th Ave, New York, NY 10018
Has your kid pretty much taken over the living room as their Broadway stage? With rehearsals fittingly taking place in midtown Manhattan, this musical theatre camp runs from August 3 through 14 and is open to children ages eight through 18 who live and breathe all things performance arts.
During their time at Summer Stock Junior, guys and dolls (pun intended) will work with professional directors, choreographers, and musicians to hone their craft on either “The Lion King Jr.” (ages 8-13; currently fully enrolled, so email [email protected] to join the waitlist) or “Beetlejuice Jr.” (ages 13-18). Bonus: Little Shakespeares will participate in a Q&A with a Broadway actor and get a matinee ticket to “& Juliet” to attend a hit show when they aren’t starring in their own at the camp’s final showcase at The Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater on the UWS.
The two-week session costs $850.
The Harlem Armory, 40 W. 143rd Street, New York, NY 10037
Founded by USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer Wendy Hilliard, the Harlem-based foundation is entering its 30th year and ready to keep flipping up the smiles.
This summer, sessions will run from July 6 to July 31 and give participants lessons in rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, as well as plenty of trampoline and tumbling time. For athletes of all levels, ages six through 17, early drop-off (at Frederick Samuel Community Center) and late pickup (at Harlem Armory) are also available.
Beyond gymnastics, campers can look forward to enrichment activities like guest speakers and dance classes, plus rock climbing, games, and more. Leap in for $424 for single-week enrollment (discounts available for three- and four-week bundles).
106 Vernon Valley Road, East Northport, NY 11731
Serving 18 months to the eighth grade, Northport Adventure Camp bills itself as the only camp where all six weeks (from $750 per week) are dedicated to America’s Semiquincentennia. It also promotes itself to be the sole camp in the Empire State staffed entirely by educators, not counselors.
Each week celebrates America’s 250th birthday in a new way — think “Pioneer Camp” one week where campers learn to sew, churn butter, garden and tie knots or a five-day stretch of “Rough Rider Camp” that puts the spotlight on Teddy Roosevelt, arrow making, geography and playing with horses.
And you thought saying the Pledge of Allegiance at camp was cool.
