The days of kids staying home all summer watching “Days of Our Lives” and eating popsicles are over. Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean students should stop learning. You don’t have send your kid to a camp far away. Here are details for some of the summer camps available in our neighborhood.
For the artsy kid:
Photo by Can Türkyilmaz
Studio Arts Dallas
Dates: June-August
Location: 10051 Shoreview
For Ages: 4-teens
Tuition: $195-$395
Sign up: studioartsdallas.com
Studio Arts Dallas offers weeklong classes in art, wildlife, drawing animation and more. Horse camp includes horse-themed art projects, and at the end, students get to paint on a horse.
Artzy-Smartzy
Dates: June-August
Location: 9102 Locarno Drive
For ages: 5 and older
Tuition: $135-$145
Sign up: artzysmartzy.com, 214.384.2780
Enroll early because classes are restricted to 4-6 students per session. Weeklong classes include mosaics, art history, nature painting and more.
For the nature lover:
Dallas Arboretum
Dates: June-July
Location: 8525 Garland Rd.
For ages: 3-12
Tuition: $99-$250
Sign up: dallasarboretum.org
Many of the arboretum’s half-day and full-day camps sell out, so sign up early. “Little Critters,” for 3- to 4-year-olds, explores squirrels, spiders, frogs and toads. Fossils, garden investigation and the connection between art and nature are among topics for 4- to 6-year-olds. Dale Chihuly’s glass art is one subject for kids 5-7 and 7-10. Campers explore the life and times of Texas pioneers while studying native plants and animals at Lone Star Overnight Adventure Camp, open to 8- to 12-year-olds. That weeklong camp culminates in an overnight trip to the Trinity River Audubon Center.
For the well rounded kid:
Lakehill Preparatory School
Dates: June 4-Aug. 10
Location: 2720 Hillside and 7401 Ferguson
For ages: 4-18
Tuition: $220-$295 per week
Sign up: lakehillprep.org
Almost anything your kid wants to try, this camp teaches. The kiddos can dabble in chemistry, engineering, hiking and survival, wildlife, arts and crafts, puppets, photography, volleyball, disc golf and too many subjects to mention. Childcare before and after camp is included. Some camps are held at the school’s main campus, and some are at the Alice and Erle Nye Family Environmental Science Center.
YMCA
Dates: May-August
Location: 8920 Stults Road
For ages: 5-12
Tuition: $125-$200
Sign up: whiterockymca.org
Our neighborhood YMCA offers Camp Maranatha for 5- to 12-year-olds. Swim lessons for 6- to 12-year olds are offered at various times. And Camp on the Lake at Lake Lewisville is open to neighborhood residents.
For the musician & thespian:
Dallas Children’s Theater
Dates: June-August
Location: 5938 Skillman
For ages: 4-18
Tuition: $70-$400
Sign up: dct.org
“Showbiz Summer and Teen Conservancy” has to be the greatest name for a camp. Kids as young as 3-and-a-half can enroll in the mid-morning Pre-K Drama Days for $70. Acting, improv, musical theater, movie-making for teens and technical theater are among the offerings in the $250 range. Slappy’s Circus Camp is a weeklong clown class for $265. The two-week musical theater camp costs $400.
Junior Players
Dates: July 9-20
Location: Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, 9940 White Rock Trail
For ages: 7-14
Tuition: Free
Sign up: 214.670.7793
Our neighborhood rec center offers a two-week theater camp, and classes are limited to 25 on a first-come, first-served basis. Instruction includes performing and theater arts. Classes culminate in the Festival of Plays, uniting rec centers all over Dallas.
