2015 Summer Camp Reviews and Recommendations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved Kids After Hours at Rock view ES. $285 per week with a field trip each week, water activity every day, themed weeks, lots of snacks and breakfast every morning. The cost is flat for all hours and they are open from 7-6:30.

And another successful year at KAH Barnsley. My son loves it as much this year as he did 4 years ago. And a large fraction of the counselors are repeats from previous years, which gives it the feel of old friends. No better value in my book.

[Anonymous]

Love, love, love creative summer. easy year seems better and better - this is our 3rd year at the little camp (for ages 3-7); my daughter is a "6" and has daily swim and tennis instruction - also gets to try cooking, yoga, and has tons of arts and crafts.

My 4 year old does not get tennis or swim, but is enjoying sports, cooking, art class, water play (they have 2 huge inflatable waterslides and a rain room).

In Little Camp (Creative campers), there are 3 instructors per room - 1 head counselor and 2 CITs; in addition, at every activity, there are additional teachers, so at "Sportsastic," they are joined by 2 sports teachers and their 3 counselors stay with them.

Pizza is served at no additional cost on Thursdays,

There are several buses - including one that goes up to burning tree to avoid the carpool line.

There is aftercare, but we have never used it - 2 of my 6 year old's friends have done the aftercare and disliked it - last year, it was all indoors and all movies.

[Anonymous]

Loved Imagination Stage Creating Characters. Could not believe how much they got accomplished in such a short period of time. The kids really seemed to "get" stagecraft and enjoyed their week. The aftercare on the other hand I could really have done without. The kids are basically sitting in a bare room with two teens making sure they don't get into trouble, for which they charge an additional $95. Certainly not worth it, but the only thing to do since the class gets out at 3:30.

[Anonymous]

Montgomery County Outdoor Adventure Camp - both children really liked 4 out of 5 days. Unfortunately, after we signed them up they put a "mountain biking" 1/2 day in place, and my kids have so far refused to learn to bike. Instead of allowing them to do 2 sessions of archery that day, they were told to sit and wait for the kids to come back from biking. Originally, they were going to be driven to the stopping place for the bikers, but the counselor was "too tired" to do that, so they sat and read for 2 1/2 hours. Otherwise, the rafting and climbing were excellent. Not sure how go-carts and laser tag fits in with Outdoor Adventure (last year they did kayaking but dropped that). Also, they don't offer aftercare at Cabin John, so we likely won't be doing this next year.

[Anonymous]

Great Adventure Lab (lego robotice, coding) had been fantastic. They also do water play and play outside. My son loves it.

[Anonymous]

We just finished up 3 weeks at Beauvoir Summer - my rising kindergartener LOVED it!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great Adventure Lab (lego robotice, coding) had been fantastic. They also do water play and play outside. My son loves it.

Never heard of this one...where is it?

[Anonymous]

http://thegreatadventurelab.com/camps/stem-summer-camps/

Montgomery county, Potomac and silver spring.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell Summer is going very well. I was also pleased with its cost. You won't like it if you want a strong swimming component for little kids, but we don't care about that and the water play suits us fine. We love it!

[Anonymous]

Hank Harris Tennis Camp at Episcopal High School was excellent. My child learned a lot and he didn't really enjoy tennis all that much before he attended. He just went because his friends were going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell Summer is going very well. I was also pleased with its cost. You won't like it if you want a strong swimming component for little kids, but we don't care about that and the water play suits us fine. We love it!

This is our 3rd summer and will stick with it for the forseeable future. The cost can't be beat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell Summer is going very well. I was also pleased with its cost. You won't like it if you want a strong swimming component for little kids, but we don't care about that and the water play suits us fine. We love it!

This is our 3rd summer and will stick with it for the forseeable future. The cost can't be beat.

This is our first summer at Sidwell Summer Camp - we're generally a St. Columba's family, but that camp was closed this summer for building renovations. I chose Sidwell because 1)it seemed like a fun and basic day-camp (my kids are 4 and 6) and 2)in January, the price was really good - 100$ off per kid, per week, plus a sibling discount.

My kids have been LOVING it this summer! They have water play, moon bounce, music, art, science, cooking, yoga, even Chinese class. On Friday the kids get a pizza and ice cream party (no extra cost) which is a bonus because I don't have to pack lunch. Next year we will be back for sure.

[Anonymous]

This is 6yo DS's 1st time at Valley Mill, and he loves it. The bus ride, bus parties, camp songs, swimming daily, pioneering, canoeing, archery, and air rifles have all been big hits!

[Anonymous]

We're wrapping up the week at Best Youth Hoops at the Fairfax location and it's been outstanding. They have half and full day options (we did full) and my daughter has loved every minute of it. It's very bare bones and it's basketball all day long (so a kid who isn't REALLY into basketball probably won't love it), but the coach is that right mix of fun and serious and the kids are having a blast and learning a lot. And the price is great, really not much more than I would have probably spent keeping her entertained for the last week.

http://www.bestyouthhoops.com/summer-camp/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sidwell Summer is going very well. I was also pleased with its cost. You won't like it if you want a strong swimming component for little kids, but we don't care about that and the water play suits us fine. We love it!

This is our 3rd summer and will stick with it for the forseeable future. The cost can't be beat.

This is our first summer at Sidwell Summer Camp - we're generally a St. Columba's family, but that camp was closed this summer for building renovations. I chose Sidwell because 1)it seemed like a fun and basic day-camp (my kids are 4 and 6) and 2)in January, the price was really good - 100$ off per kid, per week, plus a sibling discount.

My kids have been LOVING it this summer! They have water play, moon bounce, music, art, science, cooking, yoga, even Chinese class. On Friday the kids get a pizza and ice cream party (no extra cost) which is a bonus because I don't have to pack lunch. Next year we will be back for sure.

This is good to hear. I am considering if for my preschooler next summer. Did you go to the DC or Bethesda campus.