VIRGINIA BEACH — Summer brings with it higher temperatures, sunblock, and outdoor fun. With kids out of school, summer camps are a seasonal and fun necessity found in many towns, including Virginia Beach.
We’ve compiled a sample of the smorgasbord of summer camps that Virginia Beach has to offer. Whether at a museum or a farm, there are camps throughout the city for kids of ages.
The art of summer
The Museum of Contemporary Art has creative art camp classes for children ages 2-17. The camps encourage children and teens to exercise their imaginations and express themselves through art classes designed “specifically to challenge and inspire,” according to the MOCA website. Campers can explore a variety of media including glass, animation, clay, and paint.
Information on camps, by age group
Visit the MOCA website for details on payment and registration process.
Summer in the city
The Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation also hosts specialized summer camps for toddlers through teenagers. Children younger than 5 years old can attend one of their early childhood camps. According to the city, each week will be a different theme including age appropriate activities, crafts, swimming, on site special events and field trips such as the Children’s Museum, and the Petting Zoo.
The city’s school age camps are for rising first through sixth graders. The camps provide fun and energetic recreational activities, according to the city’s website, as well as sports and age-appropriate field trips to Dave & Buster’s, Bowling, Sky Zone and Ocean Breeze.
The city offers camp selections for middle schoolers as well. The camps include field trips such as Top Golf, Adventure Park, Ocean Breeze and Busch Gardens. Campers will need a morning and afternoon snack and lunch daily, according to the city’s website. (Sneakers are required to participate).
Farming for fun
Hunt Club Farm provides children the opportunity to learn about life on a farm. The farm’s camp program offers hands on experience with petting farm animals, including horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, llamas, alpacas and rabbits. Campers learn the responsibility of daily feeding, cleaning, grooming and animal care activities.
Each session includes horseback-riding experiences, farm games, participate in a pony obstacle courses, a goat rodeo, and more.
Camp is limited to children 6 to 12 years old, according to the farm. Pricing and registration information is available on Hunt Club Farm’s website.
Camping on campus
Tidewater Community College’s week-long camp programs are located on the Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach campuses, and at the Center for Workforce Solutions in Suffolk. Limited enrollment size ensures students receive personalized attention, according to the TCC website. And, every camper will receive a free career interest assessment using the Virginia Wizard.
The college’s camp program focuses on career exploration, with highly specialized topics. In Virginia Beach, TCC offers an engineering camp called “Robotics 101 for Girls.” There are 14 different week-long camps to chose from in Virginia Beach, most focusing on technology and engineering. Check out the TCC website for information on registration, rules, ages, pricing, and availability.
Tumble into summer
Excalibur Gymnastics offers full day summer camps for kids ages 6 to 13. The camps are all weekly, full-day programs,
Camps run Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. — 4 p.m., according Excalibur’s website. Every week is themed, and each week there are field trips tied to that theme. Gymnasts receive instruction throughout the week on each Olympic event, as well as our 20-foot tumble track and two in-ground foam pits. The program also includes arts and crafts activities, dance, and games.
For information on pricing and registration, visit Excalibur’s website.
