A decades-old national program does local summer camps from Capitol Hill to the Eastside. The flexibility is bonkers, both for you and your kids: You can buy a pass for individual days and get refunded for any days you don’t use. Kids set their own schedule, wandering between activities like sewing, baking, stop-motion animation, even the occasional bounce house. Steve & Kate’s also offers the holy grail of summer camps: lunch included.

Ages 4–12

With five locations (plus some summer satellites) and tons of flexibility (full days, half days, single days, partial weeks), Arena Sports can be a vital summer camp safety net, especially to fill in gaps in your family’s schedule. Days here are filled with games like soccer and dodgeball.

Ages 3–12

Even kids who don’t necessarily love to cook enjoy the hands-on action of prepping a menu, then eating it (with lots of breaks and fun in between). You can sign up for the full week or individual days. And yes, lunch is included.

Ages 4–14

Some of the best parks in the city and region become training grounds for identifying animals or plants and general exploration—not to mention classic camp stuff like songs and games. Older kids can graduate to specialized camps for fishing, wilderness survival, even how to tie knots and use knives safely.

Ages 6–13

Dust off (or don’t) your kid’s oldest, rattiest clothes for three-day camps dedicated to abstract art, upcycling, clay, or even glue guns. In 2020, Art Nest moved camps into a big white tent (the kind with lights and heaters that people use for weddings) and kids liked it so much, it’s become a fixture of these hands-on camps.

Kindergarten–School age

Coding is great, but can it match the satisfaction of wielding your own saw? Half-day camps teach kids woodworking and carpentry skills; everyone comes home with wooden figures—like vehicles or tic-tac-toe sets—that they cut, assembled, and painted themselves.

Ages 6–10

It’s unclear what sorcery happens after drop-off, but even bike-timid kids end the week here proudly pedaling without training wheels. More advanced levels practice road safety skills and trail riding, and the organization has dozens of camp locations in the area. If only they did driver’s ed, too.

Ages 3 and up

Juggling, static trapeze, tumbling, aerial feats, and tightwire walking confer confidence and physical skills—plus they’re really really fun. The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts divides its camps into three levels, from newbies to experienced circus practitioners who can float through the air with the greatest of ease.

Ages 6–15

Kids with an itch to perform will spend a week putting on a play or musical, even working on their improv chops. The camp has two locations—north and south end— and a range of shows for campers of different ages and varying opinions on the dramatic merit of Stephen Sondheim vs. Harry Potter. All rehearsals and activities happen outdoors.

Ages 5–16

Low-key sessions emphasize the outdoors, letting kids dig into gardening or geology, dinos or dragons—even geocaching. Older kids can sign up for a counselor-in-training camp, an investment that could turn the tides of your summer cash flow.

1st–9th grade

The city-led summer camps open for registration on the later side, in April—depending on your enthusiasm for planning, this can be exciting or frustrating. But the catalog of offerings is as vast and rad as Seattle’s public outdoor spaces, from tide pool camp to Lego builds to comic books, sports, and pottery.

Ages 4–14

Aspiring (and experienced) young sailors spend the week rigging and navigating small single-handed sailing dinghies—and learning all the lingo required to do these things. Older kids can branch off into specialized camps for racing, keelboats, even “sailing into STEM.”

Ages 8–17

A local powerhouse for girls-only STEAM experiences (with locations allll over town) finds the math that hides in plain sight in crafts, drama, dress-up, magic, even fairy games or storybooks. Middle school–age girls can sign up for leadership roles with younger campers.

1st–8th Grades

Parkour advocates say it supports social-emotional learning. Parents appreciate an outlet for all that energy. Campers report to one of two great local parks (Seward and Carkeek) to spend the day doing a series of “quests.” The Japanese Cultural Center and the International Ninja Research Center (yes, it’s real) contributed input to this summer’s theme: ninja adventure.

Ages 6–12

Hiking! Kayaking! Rock climbing! Stand-up paddleboards. At the end of this week of outdoor adventures, kids will be ready for a Mountain Dew commercial audition…or at the very least, a chill weekend. Avid4 Adventure transports kids to activities all over the Eastside; signing up for multiple sessions is welcome.

Pre k–7th Grade

A tiny gem of an art studio organizes its four-day camps into themes that resonate with kids: fairies, ocean explorers, Harry Potter. Kids get gloriously hands-on with their projects, then break for lunch in the park at Madrona Playfield just across the street. 

Ages 5.5–12

Kids spend the week paddling, kayaking, and sailing Lake Union. The busy waterways offer lots to explore, and most kids end up in the lake at some point (usually by choice). The camp now uses a lottery system to deal with its high demand in a more orderly fashion.

Ages 7–12

A pair of gyms offer legit climbing skills, like safety measures and calculated risk- taking. Doses of games and crafts balance out time on the climbing wall.

Ages 6–15