Half Day & Partial Week Camps
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Half Day & Partial Week Camps
Question
March 2012
I am looking for a camp with a lot of schedule flexibility. I only work
part-time, so a full-time camp doesn't necessarily work. I end up paying
for days that I don't need and sometimes I really want to do things with my
kids on my days off. Ideally, the camp would allow them to attend 2-3
days/week. I know Adventure Time has such a camp, but was hoping to find
other options as well.
camp mama
We are in the same situation - my husband works from home some days each week. After
throwing money away on all-week camps, we switched to
Steve and Kate's. You can go
any days you want, in any location you want. You pre pay based on the number of days
you think you'll need in the summer - and at the end of the summer they refund any
days you didn't use at the full rate.
Steve and Kate's fan
I asked this question on my school listserv and got several recommendations for
Steve
& Kate's camp. They have many locations throughout the bay area, you can drop in any
day, and it looks like great fun! My kids will be going there for several partial
weeks this month. I attended an info night at the new Oakland location a couple weeks
ago and was very impressed.
Head Over Heels Gymnastics
in Emeryville also has a daily rate of $70/day (9-4 PM)
but you may have to register in advance.
frequent camper
Hi Camp Mama,
We've had a lot of luck with
Sarah's Science summer camp. Although each of their
sessions runs for a whole week at a time, they are happy to accommodate families who
decide to send their kid for just a few days at a time. They charge $80 per day and
while it often helps to register in advance, we've done walk-in registrations on
the day-of and it's been fine. If you do register in advance, you can't do it
online for individual days; you'll have to call their office at (510) 581-3739.
If you decide to do a walk-in registration (either for individual days or the whole
week), my one recommendation is to fill out the paperwork from www.sarahscience.com
and bring it with you to speed up the whole drop-off process.
Jeanie
Feb 2008
I'd like to send my 7 year old boy to one or two camps or classes to break up the
summer, but I mostly see all-day schedules. I'd rather have him go fewer hours in the
day so he can have more weeks of the fun (and so we can afford it). Can anyone
recommend fun classes/camps that are half day? (preferably Berkeley and north)
jenny
The Cal Strawberry Canyon camps all have half day options (9-1). My 7-year-old
had a great time at this camp last year, met a lot of new
friends. http://calbears.berkeley.edu/
The Lawrence Hall of Science offers many half day summer camps.
There are morning and afternoon camps, multiple topics from
chemistry to biology and physics and super great teachers. And
you get to run around the exhibits every day as well and
participate in the Wednesday Fundays! I wholeheartedly endorse
these camps and know them well as I work there (but not in the
summer camp realm). You can sign up online at
http://lhs.berkeley.edu/ .
Sue Guevara
the ones I'm aware of are: 1. Lakeridge athletic club in El
Sobrante has half-day tennis camps and I think half day general
day camp with a really nice swimming pool with huge 2 foot depth
shallow area. 2. RAC richmond art center art camps are 3 hours
am or pm, 4 days a week. They do great projects with excellent
materials.
chris
Aurora School www.auroraschool.org has wonderful half day
summer camps that are open to all kids ages 5-12. My kids have
taken these classes for several years, they have always been
terrific. Usually about half the kids taking them do not
attend Aurora during the year. In June and August they offer a
variety of half-day week long camps--sports, arts and crafts,
Lego engineering, Spanish. The half day classes are
particularly great for younger kids as they are small classes,
and 5-7 year olds are together. In July there is a Theater
Arts camp, where they will put on a production of Mary
Poppins. It runs from 9-3. I know many of the teachers for
this summer and they are all wonderful, creative people who are
great with kids. You can be there for as little as 3 hours or
take both am and pm classes, with extended care which runs from
7:30-6.
Aurora is located off of Broadway Terrace near highways 13 and
24, also close to Broadway and 51st.
Lori
See my advice above for Alameda Park and Rec Department and also
Lawrence Hall of Science. There's also a 3/4 day option at Park
Day Summer Camp - My kiddo's all time favorite camp.
Summer Camp Mom
Bay Island Gymnastics has half day summer camps for ages up to 6. They also
have full
day for the older kids. They do a lot more then gymnastics and have cute
themes for
each of the weeks. All the information is on their website -
www.bayislandgymnastics.com
Camper
Aurora School hosts many half-day camps (9am - 12pm and 1pm -
4pm) offered by a variety of children's programs that bring their
expertise to Aurora School. MONART Drawing and Art Camps, TEK
for Legos, Fiber Arts, Design and Build Architecture, 3-D
Wonderland, Intro to Tennis, Basketball and Spanish are just a
few of the camps offered. Most sessions are offered twice, once
for 5-7 year olds, and once for 7-12 year olds. All camps
include an outdoor snack break and all morning campers can stay
through lunch or afternoon campers can come early and join in the
lunch break with others. You can download the all camp
descriptions with registration matrix at
http://www.auroraschool.org/docs/AuroraCamps2008-Brochure.pdf or
view it all on their website at http://www.auroraschool.org.
My children have been going to Aurora Camps for years. They like
the variety of activities in a full-day combo, and I like the
intimacy of their programs. Their sessions are never too large,
it is always experienced and creative adults leading the camp. I
really like the half-day option, so that when we have swimming
lessons in the afternoons, our day is not jammed packed with too
many activities. It makes for a nice balance.
MONART Drawing Studio also has half-day morning art camps from
9am to 12:30pm for children 6+ years old. They include a morning
MONART drawing lesson, an active break with a healthy snack and
engaging projects that all complement a weekly theme. All camps
incorporate age appropriate academic material and the camp ends
with a small art reception where the campers showcase their
week's work. MONART's Cartoons & Clay and Ocean Exploration
camps are very popular. For more details go to
http://oakland.monart.com/camps/summercamps.html or
http://alameda.monart.com/camps/summercamps.html
Jana
Feb 2008
I am looking for a summer camp in the East Bay with a short day,
3-4 hours, for my six year old son. He's not crafty, and not
into competitive sports, but he does love to race around and
play games. Basically, I want to get him outside and socializing
in moderately organized activities. The goal is for him to be
active and have fun.
Mom of a fun loving kid
Sunbirds camp at Sheffield Village Rec Center (through the Oakland Office
of Parks and
Recs) is a great camp for kids his age. MWF, 9-3. My son loves it.
Camp Mom
Have you considered one of the Adventure Time locations? If your son
likes to run around outdoors, I'd specifically recommend the Roberts
Park Explorers (they meet in Roberts Park in the Oakland Hills 3 days
a week, and in Montclair the other 2). My son loves it -- they have
plenty of time to run around in the woods, they swim once a week, play
sports on the fields there, take occasional field trips, and generally
have a great time. He's never required to do ''crafty'' stuff which
is good, from his point of view. What I like about it is that parents
have a very wide choice of days and hours, and it's considerably less
expensive than some of the other camps. Less structured too -- and
for my son, that's part of what is good about it. After all, this is
summer vacation we're talking about!
Karen
Two things come to mind. Alameda Park and Recreation Department
has some great 2 - 4 hour classes for your son's age group and
best of all they're held at the park. My son took the Lego class
last year - there were also science classes and playground type
game classes.
Also, Lawrence Hall of Science has some really fun 3 and 4 hour
classes broken down by age group.
Summer Camp Mom
Bay Island Gymnastics has summer camps for all ages. They recently posted
the camp
schedule on their website: www.bayislandgymnastics.com . The camps run
every week
of the summer, have fun themes, include tons of activities and are very
reasonably
priced.
Camper
March 2007
I've signed up our 6-year old to summer camps for most of the
summer. There are a few weeks we only need camp for 2 days of
the week. The progams we have looked into all run on a weekly
basis. Does anyone know and recommend any camp that accept a 6-
year old for a partial week?
anonymous
Sunbirds camp at Sheffield Village Rec Center
is partial - M,W,F 10-2.
And, it's only
$55 a week. Check it out on the Oakland Parks and Recs website. My
son goes every
summer for a couple of weeks and has fun.
~Alison
Try East Bay Dance Center
in the Glenview District of Oakland.
The director, Bonnie Sita, is great with kids and offers camp on
a ''per day'' basis. I believe camp is $40 per day from 9 - 3 and
before and after care is available at $5 per hour.
No need to worry about ballet, tap or jazz shoes, Bonnie has
them available for use (free). No dance experience is necessary
and the chidlren (both boys and girls) are grouped by
age/ability.
My daughter has been attending since she was 5 1/2 and loves it.
Mom of a dancing girl
Feb 2007
I am looking for afternoon-only camps for my daughter (age 6,
will be entering 2nd grade in the fall) and possibly my son as
well (age 5, will be entering kindergarten in the fall). They
both have swim team in the morning from 9 to 10, which knocks out
virtually everything I have found! Somehow I need to work 3-4
hours/day, and I would like to find something more fun than just
sitting around our house with a baby sitter for the summer. I
know the Junior Center for Arts and Science usually has afternoon
programs, but is there anything else out there?
Emma
Lawrence Hall of ScienceLawrence Hall of Science offers half-day summer camp sessions,
some of them in the afternoons. My son attended a couple weeks
last summer, when he was an entering kindergartener, and we
thought it was a great program.
Oh, gosh, is it time to think about this again already?!
My children enjoyed (for several years now) the afternoon
session of the
Oakland Fine Arts Summer School (OFASS) offered
as a collaboration b/w OUSD and Oakland Parks and Rec. MOCHA
teachers teach the afternoon sessions, each afternoon
consisting of 4 classes for each child (many classes overall
but each child gets enrolled in 4), such as sculpture,
pantomime, theater, drawing, instrumental music, movie
production, dance, . .
Some kids enroll for morning and afternoon session, making it a
long day with about 7 classes, but many kids come for just
afternoon. You can register for this camp on-line at
www.oaklandnet.com (Parks and Rec), starting March 1.
Maria
Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of ScienceLawrence Hall of Science has excellent afternoon only
camps during the summer. They offer a variety of options, too.
We've loved every class/camp we've participated in there and
have been impressed by the instructors and the quality of the
material presented.
These camps fill up quick though, so you may want to become a
member to take advantage of eary sign-up dates.
Berkeley mom
My children have been to Berkeley Academics (click for full review)
May 2006
My 12-year-old son doesn't like to be too busy in the summer, but
I'd like him to be busy some of the time! He would prefer to do
just half-day camps, preferably one week long. So far, he's
enrolled in Double Diamond (baseball) and Camp Sweetie (cooking).
He also enjoys acting (though I know there are unlikely to be
half-day options for this), fantasy games (Dungeons and Dragons),
and might like to try a martial art. He's not into any other
sports or swimming. Any ideas?
R.K.
For half-day camps try the Julia MOrgan Center. There are Lego
Engineering Camps being held there (also check Play-Well
Teknology's website - not sure if my spelling is correct - for
other sites where they hold classes). Julia Morgan also was
hosting some half-day drama and dance camps.
Tracey
this page was last updated: May 5, 2012
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