This week, I paid for Summer Camps and now I’ll be poor until forever. hahha. But seriously, we reserved a little late this year due to travels and other things, but still got our top two camps! Thank god because explaining to my kid that I procrastinated too long so now she can’t go to camp would be absolutely devastating – for both of us!
Isn’t it crazy that you have to book summer camps in February?! It’s like wtf man!? I am still recovering from Christmas at that time!! There may or may not be toys still looking for their new homes and a Christmas tree s/till up… #nojudgementzone
SUMMER CAMP
But we did it…
We made it…
And here’s what we are doing…
DAY CAMP ESSENTIALS
When we try to decide what camps to do, we sit down the three of us… Ella, Mike & I… and let her tell us what ones she’d like to do. We tell her that she will get to pick 2-3 camps and then we kind of wing the rest of the summer. If we can pick up more, then we do because it’s an easy fill for the weeks, but I also don’t like my kid to be overscheduled. There have been plenty of times of the last two summers when she’s had to go to camp and would rather play outside in the neighborhood all day with her friends. AND now that summer break is only eight weeks long, you have to be careful to leave free time!
This year our top two summer camps are Conner Prairie & Franke Park and one more…
Franke Park
This will be our 3rd year at Franke Park too! This is a camp that both my husband and I went to as kids. It’s legendary. The mudslide and arrowhead beach… And the pow wow! Ells has loved this one as much as we’d hoped! We send her to the grandparents for the week and they take care of getting her to and from. The hours are kinda funky – Wednesday’s start later and end later – but still 1000% worth the $93 for the week!
From their website: “Since its inception in 1946, Franke Park Day Camp has provided unforgettable childhood experiences for thousands of Fort Wayne area youth. With its strong emphasis on nature education, basic camping skills, and Native American lore, this popular camp provides an environment that fosters cooperation, problem solving and socialization as well as the dirty, muddy, outdoor fun kids of all ages enjoy! For more information or to sign up, visit www.fortwayneparks.org or stop by the Parks and Recreation Department.”
Conner Prairie Adventure Camp
*This video is 5 years old, but still is a perfect expression of what Conner Prairie Camp is. And don’t laugh, but I’m all teary-eyed now.
This is a family fave. This summer camp makes me smile every time I drop off and pick up my kid. The counselor kids are so nerdy cool, sweet, and funny. They all have great attitudes and it’s just super refreshing to see (mostly) teenagers act respectful and situated as great mentors!
This is will be our 3rd year at this camp and Ella always asks to go back! I think she’d go all summer if she could. But she can’t because (1) I’m a procrastinator and (2) budget restraints. Another thing that I love about this camp is that they offer photos for purchase of activities that happened throughout the day. Yes, it’s another upsell, but sometimes you just want a picture of your kid in a canoe rowing down the white river, or in my case, falling out! hahah. Or a picture of them shooting bows and arrows and hitting the bullseye! And since we can’t always be there… this is the next best thing!
Conner Prairie adventure camp is $265/camper for non-members and $225/camper for members.
I think there’s still a couple of spots on certain weeks… hurry!
Mixed Media Art Camp at Caravan Classes
We quickly fell into love with Caravan Classes while visiting Fairyville last weekend. I’d been wanting to sign Ella up for an art camp but hadn’t found the right place. Well, after participating in Fairy Crafts and meeting both Erin & Deanna, I was sold. Both Erin & Deanna have calm creativeness to them and I felt like my girls would progress, learn and be able to create freely here! So we signed up! They are offering June camps right now and possibly more in July! They have so many options outside of camps that you MUST look them up! You may see their mobile art studio out and about sometimes too!
Do you guys fall into this Summer Camp Madness? It’s hard anymore because we only have 8 weeks of summer and some of the camps go into the first and even second weeks of school here! While I’d love to fill the entire summer, I do think that kids need downtime — days they can sleep in, days they can just play with their friends, and days where they can just chill. I don’t like to over-schedule our summers, so we are stopping at 3 camps, BUT if I could… or if I changed my mind on that, we would love to add these other great camp options!
Other Summer Camp Options
Kids Cooking with Sprouts
We did a sprouts cooking class a few years back and Ella loved it. It was before Sprouts moved into its new home. But I love that there are themed camps and I just love the look of the kitchen. They seem to have it all figured out and kids who participate in classes at Sprouts really do love it!
Kids + Cooking = Shared Love in the Kitchen and what can be better than that?!
Soccer camp with Indy Premier
We’ve been getting more into sports at our house….I should say mostly soccer. We are currently in our second round with the Indy Premier and are very impressed with the program. It seems pretty well organized. But we are wanting Ella to learn teamwork and more skills. She did a FREE soccer camp through her school last summer and loved it. So if we can fit one of these in, we would probably try pretty hard to make it work! There’s nothing like summer sports camps!
Coding with Code Ninjas
Full disclosure – I haven’t been here. I heard about it a little while back through social media and I’ve always wanted to get Ella into coding, STEM, or engineering classes/camps. According to their website, “kids learn to code through our engaging game-based curriculum that teaches teamwork, logic, math, and problem-solving. They gain vital skills while having a blast.” I wish you could pick this based on the weather so you aren’t inside, BUT with that being said, I still thing classes and camps like this are beyond beneficial for kids these days!
With all that being said, what are you plans for the summer?!
Do you spend days at the lake?! Participate in camps? Or just chill? Travel?!
We like to do a good mix of these things…
Just remember, it’s not too late! There are so many great camp options out there! And maybe we will see you around this summer too!