To help you decide which camp is right for your kids, we've rounded up eight new and exciting camp offerings throughout NYC. This summer, kids can surf, belt their Broadway best, learn to code and maybe even make their own monster. Let the summer fun begin.
Steve & Kate's Camp Expands — Multiple Locations
Locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey
June 20 through August 26
Ages 4-12
Summer Membership $2800, 20-Day Pass $80 a day, Day Pass $100.
Originally founded in the San Francisco Bay Area more than 35 years ago, Steve & Kate's is now in nine states coast-to-coast. After debuting in NYC last year with an East Village location, Steve & Kate’s has expanded its options to uptown and Brooklyn this year, offering astounding programs and incredible flexibility to fit your needs. Themed activities abound, from film and animation to computer coding, cooking, theater and dance. Want summer options without the commitment? Choose single day passes, a 20-day pack or even a summer-long membership. Lunch and snacks are included and definitely not an afterthought. Added bonus: Refunds for unused days are given at the end of the summer. Sold!
New York Kids Club (Summer Olympics) — Multiple Locations
June 6 through September 4
Ages 2.5-6
$590 full week, half-day sessions; $760 for full-week full-day sessions; 2 or 3 day sessions are also available for lower fees
NYC mainstay New York Kids Club offers year-long classes, preschool, play space and activities throughout the city. This year, for the first time, all of its locations are adopting one unifying summer camp theme shaking up its generalist format of the past with a Summer Olympics-themed camp for wee ones ages 2-6. This program focuses on exploring the globe and its nations through art, cooking, dance, sports, music and brain-building activities like chess and science projects. There’s a two-week minimum, with sessions from 9am-12pm or 2pm for two, three or five-day weeks.
Brooklyn Robot Foundry Adds New Options — Tribeca, Park Slope
72 Warren Street in Tribeca or 303 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn
June 13 through September 2
Ages 6 to 13
$875 a week
Got a maker in your brood? This super-cool, hands-on summer camp from Brooklyn Robot Foundry is a no-brainer, offering firsthand experience with electronics, engineering and robotics. Each week, kids tackle exciting engineering concepts as they make (and take home) their own inventions. This summer, the Foundry has two new offerings. Robot Programmer teaches kids to program using CREATE Lab’s new Hummingbird Robotics Kit. This program is for rising fourth through seventh graders and does not require any programming experience. Robot Inventor, on the other hand, requires at least two prior weeks of summer sessions at the school or a semester of their afterschool program in the 2015/2016 year. Here, rising second graders and above can build any robotic thing they choose over the course of their program. One other highlight worth mentioning: Last year, the Foundry's Brooklyn location offered a "girls only week" and it was so popular, it's now being offered at both locations this summer! The projects are the same as the coed group, just all girls. How’s that for an awesome summer adventure?
Camp Broadway (Center Court Weekends) – Times Square
226 W. 47th Street (between 7th Avenue and Broadway)
July 11 through July 29
Ages 6 to 17
$695 for one week, $995 for two
If your baby is Broadway bound, then this camp, run by theater pros, will put them right on the Great White Way, learning how things work onstage and off. With weeklong programs catering to little kids, middle kids and teens, the camp focuses on putting on an age-appropriate show from start to finish and includes memorizing music, creating choreography, building sets and making costumes. Think your kid is ready for Madison Square Garden? So does Camp Broadway! This year, they’re offering the experience of a lifetime—a weekend session for ages 10-17 called Center Court. Kids will learn music and choreography for a special performance in August at a New York Liberty Game in Madison Square Garden.
BAM Youth Summer (Art Studio) – Fort Greene
Dates from July 5 through July 29
Ages 6 to 16
Single weeks for $425, two-week workshops for $725
Now in its fourth year, Brooklyn Academy of Music's summer program for kids ages 6-16 continues to offer intensive workshops in animation, Shakespearean creative writing, musical drama and dance. This year, in tandem with the School for Poetic Computation, the Brooklyn bastion for the arts is adding a new weeklong digital art studio program that explores the way technology and hands-on creativity meld to form a new medium. Kids ages 8-11 will learn to incorporate electricity, coding, audio and other elements while building their own handmade computer. Sign us up already!
i2 Camp at the UN International School – Kips Bay
2450 FDR Drive New York, NY 10010
Dates from June 27 through July 29
Ages 9 to 14
Single week for $850, $750 per week for two or more weeks; after-care provided at additional cost
The UN International School has been running fun and educational camps for years, but this year, they’re partnering with MIT, Harvard and the American Museum of Natural History to introduce the i2 Camp, a STEM program for kids from fifth to eighth grade, developed by scientists from those renowned institutions and taught by licensed STEM teachers. With weeklong, full-day sessions, your kid will learn how to create an app or design a video game one week, and investigate a crime scene the next. Plus, there’s even a workshop on how to build your own (friendly!) monster. While transportation is not provided, lunch and snacks are included.
Locals Kid Surf Camp – Rockaway Beach
Dates from June 27 through September 2
Ages 5 and up
Single week for $400, day rate available
If your kids want a real summer adventure without leaving New York City, then Locals Surf Camp might just be the ideal getaway. Set at the newly revamped and revitalized Rockaway Beach, these week-long, half-day sessions will have your kid catching waves in no time. The best part: wetsuits, rash guards, boards and snacks are all provided! Just bring the kids and their surfer spirit! With a 3-to-1 student/teacher ratio and lifeguard-trained instructors, this will be one of the most attentive, hands-on summer camp experiences your kid can score in the city.
LAUNCH Math & Science Centers – Multiple Locations
Dates from June 20 through September 2
Ages 4 to 14
Single weeks for $425, two-week workshops for $725
Run by a rocket scientist, Manhattan-based Launch has been doing year-round programs and summer camps for several years, offering classes in coding, gaming, robotics, engineering and electronics. This year, they’ve added a new program for the littlest scientists. Preschoolers and kindergartners spend a week learning about specific dream careers. “I Wanna Be A…” programs explore being a coder, an astronaut, a physicist and an engineer.
Find more summer and holiday camp options in our Camp Guide.
