Spring Break is over or almost over for most Kansas City families.  You survived!  The trees are starting to bud, the bulbs are popping up.  Spring soccer is starting.  It’s time, parents.  Time to start thinking about what to do to keep your kids busy over the summer.  Some families need child care and full-time camps due to parent work schedules.  Others just need a week of out-of-the-house fun here and there during the hot and sticky months.  We’ve all been faced with the mopey kid dragging around the house after school has been out for a few weeks, saying the thing we love to hear the most:  “I’m booooooooored…” 

At KC Kids Fun, we thought we’d bring you a series on the day camps available around Kansas City this summer, for kids of all ages and all interests.  Check back over the next few days to see what’s coming up next!

Today, we’re covering the general day camps - camps with no theme, no purpose, just fun OR camps with many themes, many purposes, many choices and lots of fun.

• Check out your local parks and recreation and the YMCA.  We can’t tell you enough what a blessing the Kansas City area parks and rec departments and the Y are to parents and kids across the metro.  Take a look at their summer catalogs - lots of offerings for every interest.  You can find their websites by clicking the Classes link on the right side of this page - or just click here.
• Barstow School Summer Program (south Kansas City, MO) - week-long sessions for kids from preschool through high school age.  Barstow has academic classes, sports clinics, Fun Factor day camp and great weekly themed camps.  My oldest kids have been to this one - and loved it!
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO/Kansas City, KS/Independence, MO) has programs for kids from 5-18.  I’m not sure that they update their website very often - so give your closest club location a call!
• Brookside Charter School (Kansas City, MO) offers academic and fun day camps to elementary age kids.  As of March 23, 2008, they didn’t have any camp info on their website - so you may have to give them a call.
• Clay-Platte Montessori School (Northland) offers camps for ages 3 - 10 including sports, science, art, cooking, computers, language, crafts and more.
• Cub Scouts of Heart of America Council (various locations) sponsors three to five day long day camps for Cub Scouts.  BB guns, bows and arrows, nature, crafts and games. 
• The Field Trip Club (Olathe, KS) - I don’t know (and can’t find) much about this one other than what is printed in the Kansas City Star’s annual camp listing.  The Star says this is a summer day camp for ages 5-14, with 15 fun field trips each week - including laser tag, bowling, drama, music and movement, sports, horseback riding, arts and crafts, cultural arts, science and nature, children’s museums, computers, skating, children’s theater, athletic games, library programs, educational enrichment activities, friendship skills and team building games, petting zoos, parks and playgrounds. Sounds fun but I don’t know who sponsors it. Call 913-780-6171 or 913-221-BEST for information.
• Gymboree Play & Music (various locations) usually has special play and music offerings during the summer for babies through age 5.
• Heartland Presbyterian Center (Parkville, MO) hosts a day camp program for 1st through 4th graders (they have overnight camps for older kids).  They have the typical sports, swimming, music, crafts and games of most day camps as well as regular Bible study.
• Johnson County  Community College (Overland Park, KS) has academic enrichment and sports camps for kindergarten through 9th graders.
• The Little School House (Smithville, MO) caters to ages 4 - 14 with academic and themed offerings throughout the summer.
• Metropolitan Community College - Longview (Lee’s Summit, MO) sponsors programs for ages 3 -15 including horsemanship, American Girl, cartooning, robotics, stacking, Hannah Montana, dance, study skills, martial arts, painting and more.  As of March 23, 2008, the website still has Spring 2008 offerings posted.  Check back for summer offerings or call 816-672-2030.
• Metropolitan Community College - Maple Woods (Northland) offers classes and camps for ages 8-14, covering topics such as art, drama, science, writing, animal care and sports.
• North Kansas City Schools Community Education Services (North Kansas City, MO) has camps for ballet, dance, art, computer and drama - ages 4 through 18.  We’ve jumped the gun again!  As of March 23, 2008, NKC doesn’t have their summer offerings available through the website.  Call them at 816-413-5494.
• Notre Dame de Sion Elementary (Kansas City, MO) hosts Camp Renaissance for preschool through grade 8.  The camp has academic, sports, arts, technology and regular old FUN components.
• Notre Dame de Sion High School (south Kansas City, MO) hosts Coterie Theatre camps and sports camps for grades 3 - 12.
• Oakhill Day School (Northland) offers many different sessions for age 2 through 7th grade.  The sessions include cooking, computers, karate, academics, sports, swimming and more.
• Paradise Park (Lee’s Summit, MO) hosts Adventure Summer Camps for kids 4-7 years old - a different theme every week!  For those 48″ tall and over, Paradise Park hosts the Go-Kart Driving Experience, a 4 day, one hour long camp.
• Pembroke Hill School (Kansas City, MO) sponsors a summer program, similar in breadth to the Barstow program, for kids ages 2-18.  They have fun day camps, sports camps and academic courses.  There are some really fun offerings here!
• Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO) offers various day camps for kids of all ages, including academics, computers, music and sports. 
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School (Kansas City, MO) offers morning and afternoon classes in art, music, theater, soccer, basketball, academics, cooking and more!
• St. Teresa’s Academy (Kansas City, MO) has summer camps for girls in grades 4-9, including sports, dance, art and drama.  As of March 23, 2008, their website doesn’t list anything for this summer.  But the Star says they’ll have camps!  So, give them a call at 816-501-0011 for more info.
• St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Overland Park, KS) sponsors day camps for kids in kindergarten through grade 8.  They are mostly sports camps with some sewing and cooking thrown in too!
• Shawnee Mission School District (Johnson County, KS) offers their Summer Enrichment Program for students in preschool through 8th grade.  They have a variety of programs ranging from science and nature to art and drama to photography and sign language.  What a fantastic resource!
• Swope Park Exploration Camp (Kansas City, MO) does include two overnights - it includes acting at Starlight, checking out the zoo, playing soccer and swimming with Parks & Rec and exploring the Lakeside Nature Center.  The website gives information not only about the Swope Park camp but also about all of the zoo’s summer day camp offerings.

Stay tuned for more in this series - including art camps, dance/gymnastics camps, sports camps, science and nature camps, special needs camps, academic enrichment/readiness camps, theater camps and a potpourri (to use a Jeopardy term) of impossible to categorize camps!

Tags: camp, johnson county, kansas city, lee's summit, north kansas city, northland, overland park, parkville, smithville

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 12:15 am and is filed under Lessons/Camps/Classes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.