2012 Summer Camps Reviews and Recommendations (rebuilt)

[Anonymous]

(The original thread was accidentally deleted. Here is a copy/paste of the thread.)


Hoping people will provide reviews and recommendations (or camps to avoid) for 2012. The threads in previous years have helped me out but sometimes worry that the info is dated. I will start with our experience so far:

DPR Camp - Sports camp at a Rec center - well run and organized, my child enjoyed it but with the high temps activities indoors are limited due to space constraints.

Congo Camp - my child enjoyed it but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I would be.

[Anonymous]

AFYP drama camp...sensational! Well organized, professional, and the best week my dc has had all summer!

[Anonymous]

Zoo Camp - fantastic. Big hit with my 6-year old.

[Anonymous]

Bar-T. DS loves (loves!) it. The caveat is that they are outside all day, which isn't for every kid, but it seems to be a great place!

[Anonymous]

Montgomery County Parks nature camps are fantastic so far (we're finishing up our first week at Brookside nature center). My child comes home talking a mile a minute about her day, and they do really cool activities--yesterday they went catch-and-release fishing, and today they are panning for gold.

I was actually thinking of starting a thread about these camps, since I haven't seen them mentioned on here, and I think they deserve more publicity (though I may live to regret that if registration is harder next year!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Congo Camp - my child enjoyed it but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I would be.

We've had the same reaction to Congo Camp. I don't get the feeling that my child really cares if he's there or not. For that kind of money, I want him to LOVE it. Also, 8 days in and he has yet to ride a horse, which disappoints me. It's one of the things that I thought would be special and that he would enjoy.

[Anonymous]

Levine Camp-- a total thumbs up!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AFYP drama camp...sensational! Well organized, professional, and the best week my dc has had all summer!

My 5 year old is there this week, too. He's really enjoying it! And, I agree, they are very well organized.

[Anonymous]

I'll join the AFYP lovefest. Great staff, great programing, great overall experience. We were there the first week and there were two performances scheduled for Saturday, which turned out to be the day after the storm. GMU lost power, but the AFYP staff moved heaven and earth to keep us informed and they managed to pull off the second show that night. They have us for life.

[Anonymous]

Camp Sonshine - kids LOVE it. I knew DD would (she's been there several years already) but this was DS's first year, and he has been very vocal about disliking any new classes/camps/experiences. He has told us repeatedly that he loves it and can't wait to go each day. And kudos to them for remaining open and keeping the kids as cool as possible and having fun despite losing power all of last week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Hoping people will provide reviews and recommendations (or camps to avoid) for 2012. The threads in previous years have helped me out but sometimes worry that the info is dated. I will start with our experience so far:

DPR Camp - Sports camp at a Rec center - well run and organized, my child enjoyed it but with the high temps activities indoors are limited due to space constraints.

Congo Camp - my child enjoyed it but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I would be.

I can't seem to find detailed information about the DPR Camp. What are the activities? Is it a structured program? What time does it start and end each day?

[Anonymous]

TIC Camp -- absolutely wonderful! Exceptionally well organized, constant communication through the power outages, still devoted a great amount of time to technology projects, have posted updates and project information to their website. Both of my kids loved it and will return!

Fairfax RECenter basketball camp -- much better than I thought it was going to be. Basketball in the mornings and swimming in the afternoons; the counselors are working with the campers on basketball drills and grouping the kids based on ages; nice mix of extra activities (including Slurpee Day yesterday and a pizza party tomorrow). We'll likely return if the timing works with our schedule next summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Hoping people will provide reviews and recommendations (or camps to avoid) for 2012. The threads in previous years have helped me out but sometimes worry that the info is dated. I will start with our experience so far:

DPR Camp - Sports camp at a Rec center - well run and organized, my child enjoyed it but with the high temps activities indoors are limited due to space constraints.

Congo Camp - my child enjoyed it but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I would be.

I can't seem to find detailed information about the DPR Camp. What are the activities? Is it a structured program? What time does it start and end each day?

The info is on their website (District Parks and Rec). For kids over 6, they have sports type camps - some with a specific focus-others just general. For the one my child attended, there was a schedule each day and they did a variety of sports as well as some other activities thrown in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll join the AFYP lovefest. Great staff, great programing, great overall experience. We were there the first week and there were two performances scheduled for Saturday, which turned out to be the day after the storm. GMU lost power, but the AFYP staff moved heaven and earth to keep us informed and they managed to pull off the second show that night. They have us for life.

Sorry - can you share what AFYP stands for? thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Congo Camp - my child enjoyed it but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I would be.

We've had the same reaction to Congo Camp. I don't get the feeling that my child really cares if he's there or not. For that kind of money, I want him to LOVE it. Also, 8 days in and he has yet to ride a horse, which disappoints me. It's one of the things that I thought would be special and that he would enjoy.

Yeah, I was under the impression that the horses were an everyday thing but after a week of camp my child only went and visited once but never rode.