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It’s that time of year again. As soon as the holidays are over, every parent has “Register for Summer Camp” on the top of their to-do list. Ugh! We hear you! And so, we put together a Summer Camp Guide to make finding the perfect camp for your little camper this year super easy.
Check out our spotlighted camps, general tips, and comprehensive list!
Littlest Angels Preschool
Come join us for enrichment and fun at Little Angels Preschool’s Summer Program. Our camps are three weeks long and each offers and exciting theme. Each session will give you little one the opportunity to experience theme related vocabulary words and facts, music, science, pretend play, creative art experiences, cooking, counting, color, shape, and letter recognition! Ages 2-5 years.
Summer Sessions: June 11th – 29th Animal Antics! July 9th-27th Growing up Global! July 30th- August 17th All Aboard! Registration starting SOON!
1095 Cloud Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-854-4973
TechKnowHow
Our week-long Summer camps offer a variety of fun and enriching hands-on projects which teach students how to use technology creatively; available to students, ages 5-15, at over 20 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Camps include building projects with LEGO® gears and motors, Robotics with MINDSTORMS® EV3® and LEGO® WeDo®, Pokémon Game Design with Scratch®, Minecrafter’s Lab, Girls Technology Camp, and Programming with Java® and Python®.
Peninsula locations: Burlingame, Foster City, Menlo Park/Atherton, Palo Alto/Los Altos, San Mateo
650-638-0500
MVCode
Week long camps run all summer teaching coding, robotics, Minecraft plugins, and web and game development for students in 1st-10th grade. Campers also participate in daily outdoor play – fun team building activities and games. Prepare your child for the future – while having fun!
928 Woodside Road, Redwood City, CA and a brand NEW San Mateo location, 154 West 25th Ave. San Mateo, CA
415-569-2112
Amigos de Palo Alto
Amigos de Palo Alto is committed to serve you and provide a professional child carer. We offer parents a safe, loving, and trustworthy environment where they may leave their children, both for childcare and to begin learning Spanish. As an immersion school, students learn to speak Spanish from bilingual instructors the same way their native language was learned naturally.
Summer camps include: Summer Preschool, Kindergarten Readiness Camp, and First Grade Preparation Camp.
1611 Stanford Ave. Palo Alto, CA
650-493-4300
Menlo Park Legends
Our unique skill-building philosophies and Legendary games make it the perfect camp for baseball-loving kids to develop their skills, build self-confidence and develop new friendships… all in a safe, motivating, and fun environment! Our 5:1 Camper-to-Coach ratio promotes the most individualized learning environment possible, where each camper benefits from private & small group instruction, along with team-building experiences!
9-3pm for kids 6-12yrs. After care available.
Menlo Park and Redwood City locations
Galileo Innovation Camp
Multiple camp locations! Pre-K-8th Grades. At Galileo, we mix day camp fun with hands-on projects in fields from science and engineering to the visual and culinary arts. *Sign up by February 28 to save $25 per week. Learn more at www.galileo-camps.com or 800-854-3684
GrowFit Sports Camp
GrowFit camps are designed to provide a safe and exciting environment for children to discover new passions and engage in a variety of sports and games. Indoors at SportsHouse, 3151 Edison Way, Redwood City, CA 94063 (650) 394-6176 Ages: 4 – 13 years (campers grouped by age) Camp hours: 9:00am – 4:00pm, Complimentary care: 8:00am – 9:00am & 4:00pm – 6:00pm Visit www.growfitpe.com/camps for more information!
Summer Camp Tips From Our Writers:
Don’t over schedule your children, especially if they are super young and this is their first time at camp/ away from you. It’s summer time, and you don’t want your kids exhausted from too many things. Let them be kids and have down time too.
If your child is starting preschool in the fall, do a “little” camp. This will help with the preschool transition and may help with school separation anxiety. That way, if your child freaks out and doesn’t really make it to camp that much, you didn’t waste money on a whole semester.
Try something new. This is a great chance to try something before registering for it for an entire semester. Does your child like dance, basketball, or computers? Who knows? Summer allows you to give it a try. Exposure to different activities allows children to really find what they are interested in.
Take advantage of the area we live in. Maybe your child will want to do coding or circus acrobats? These camps aren’t offered other places in the country like they are here. If you have an older child, camps like these stand out on college applications because they are unique.
If your are trying to get into a particular school, register for their camp. It doesn’t hurt to get your family’s name out there and let the school get to know your child. It can only help!
Don’t just do what your friends are doing. Do what’s best for your child. Use this guide to find something special for your child.
Plan your camps around your vacations. It’s hard to plan in advance, but try to plan what you might be doing this summer from little day trips to maybe some bigger vacations (woo hoo!). You don’t want to pay for camp and then realize your child is going to miss a whole week for your cousin’s wedding on the East Coast.
Location, location, location. Don’t sign up for a camp too far away. Just because this isn’t your child’s every day school, don’t forget you still might find it super inconvenient to drive a long distance every day over the summer to a camp.
Dress your child in T-shirts that can be conversation starters. It’s hard to make new friends in a new environment. Maybe a SF Giants shirt, 49ers shirt, or an Elsa Frozen shirt (you get the idea) will help the kids realize they might like something in common and help them begin to chat.
If you have a child that is just too young for camp make sure and carve out some “summer experiences” just for them so they don’t feel left out seeing their older siblings go to camp.
If your child is independent, don’t be afraid of sleep-away camps. The goal is to raise children who will one day be capable of leaving us, right?
Label EVERYTHING! Here are some of our favorite labels.
Don’t let your child bring their “favorite” anything (water bottle, hat, whatever), even if it’s labeled. Items tend to go to home with the wrong camper and sometimes never make their way back. All kids have different schedules, and you may not see the same kids every day like you do in regular preschool.
2018 Camp Favorites
Keep your camper styling with our top picks:
JP DOoDLES® Shark On Kids Trucker Hat
JP DOoDLES® Seahorse On Kids Trucker Hat
Camelbak Eddy (comes in multiple designs!)
Under Armour Girls’ Favorite Backpack
Comprehensive Summer Camp List
Alpine Strikers Soccer Camp, 6-10yrs
Amigos de Palo Alto, Preschoolers
Andy Harader Tennis Camp, 7-16yrs
BandWorks Summer Camp, 8yrs and up
Bay Area Chess Camp, PreK-8th grade
Bing, Preschoolers
BrainVyne, 4-11yrs
Bricks4Kidz, 3-13yrs
California Riding Academy, 5-14yrs
Camp Argo, 4-16yrs
Camp Edmo, K- 8th grade
Camp EdTech, 5th-9th grade
Camp Galileo, PreK-8th grade
Camp Shoreline, 5-11yrs
Captivating Dance Summer Camp, 4-18yrs
Castilleja Summer Day Camp, 2nd-9th grade
Child and Family Institute, 3-5yrs
Creative Art for Young Children, 3-8yrs
Dance Connection, 4-18yrs
Dance Expressions, 4yrs and up
Destination Science, 5-11yrs
El Camino Youth Symphony, 6-14yrs
Embark Labs, All ages
German-American Camp, 3-12yrs
Glenoaks Stables, 6 to 14yrs
Growfit Sports Camp, 4-13yrs
Harker Summer Camp, K-12th grade
Hi-Five Sports Camp, PreK-5th grade
Hiller Aviation Camp, K-8th grade
Hope Musical Theatre, 2nd-8th grade
iD Tech, 6-18yrs
India Community Center Camps, K-5th grade
J-Camp at the Oshman Family JCC, K-12th grade
Jeff Arons’ Youth Tennis Camps, 1st-12th grade
Jefunira Camp, 4-14yrs
Jim Heebner’s Tennis Camp, 5-14yrs
Kado Baseball Camp, 6-18yrs
Kelly Coding and Creation Camp, 4th-6th grade
Kidizens, K-6th grade
Kuk Sool Won Martial Arts Camp, 7-12yrs
Legarza Basketball Camp, 5-14yrs
Littlest Angels, preschoolers
Living Spanish Summer Camp, 1st-6th grade
Marine Science Institute, K-12th grade
Menlo Madness and Mini Madness, 4.5-13yrs
Menlo Park Legends Baseball , 6-12yrs
Menlo Swim and Sport, 4.5-14yrs
Mountain Camp Woodside, 5-14yrs
MV Code Camp, K-5th grade
Norcal Crew Learn to Row Camp, 11-18yrs
Omega Teaching Writing Camps, 5th-12th grade
Pacific Art League, 5-18yrs
Pacific Coast Kids, K-6th grade
Pacific Tech Camps, 5th-8th grade
Panthers Camp, 1st-7th grade
Peninsula Music Camp, 6-18yrs
Peninsula Young Writers Workshops, 8-18yrs
Peninsula Youth Theatre, 5-15yrs
Playschool Summer Camp, 3-6yrs
Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory, 1st-8th grade
Shoestring Farm Riding Camp, 7-14yrs
Spring Down Horsmanship Camp, 6yrs and up
Stanford Boys Basketball Camp, 1st-7th grade
Steve and Kate’s Camp, K-7th grade
Summer Rock Camp, 7-18yrs
Talking Playhouse, 12yrs+
Team Esface Hoops Camp, 6-16yrs
TechKnowHow 5-14yrs
The Foundry Volleyball Camps, 6-18yrs
Western Ballet Summer Programs, 4yrs+
Wizbots Robotics, 7-14yrs
Click here for our Sleep-Away Camps!
