The University of Wisconsin in Green Bay hosts an art camp for students in middle school and high school (uwgb.edu/camps). Class options include cartooning and comic book illustration, photography in black and white, human portrait painting and a ceramics class that teaches Raku firing, a style of ceramics that began in the 16th century in Japan, according to the website Ceramics Today. At the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan (camp.interlochen.org), kids in grades 6 through 9 can sign up for courses in book arts and printmaking while those in grades 9 to 12 can study digital design and drawing. At The Farm (summer-arts-camp.com), kids from 8 to 16 can take classes in painting, drawing and photography and then go horseback riding on the camp's 200 acres.
Budding thespians can attend the All Children's Theatre Performing Arts Camp (allchildrenstheatre.org) in various locations throughout New Jersey. At these camps, students learn about scenery design, dancing, singing and how to put on a musical revue. At the Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech (ferstcenter.gatech.edu/dramacamp), campers have the option of attending the musical theater or a drama camp. The musical theater camp focuses on helping kids work on both choreography and vocal skills while the drama camp lets them improvise with comedy and try a hand at directing.
For the curious kid, Mad Science (madscience.org) has numerous camp locations. Some are at local YMCAs or community centers. Activities that campers might participate in are digging up dinosaur bones, building bridges or learning about robots. Those interested in space can attend Space Camp (spacecamp.com) in Alabama. In addition to offering classes that talk about missions to Mars and the history of space flight, Space Camp also lets campers climb into a Multi-Axis Trainer so they can feel what it's like to travel in space and sit on a 1/6 Gravity Chair so they know what it's like to walk on the moon.
Summer is a great time for kids to challenge themselves by taking adventures in the great outdoors. The Sanborn Western Camp in Colorado (sanbornwesterncamps.com) is for kids 7 to 16. The High Trails Ranch is for girls, the Big Spring Ranch for boys and the Sanborn Junior for both genders from 7 to 10 years old. At the camp, kids learn about backpacking, canoeing, rock climbing and how to ride horses. At the Smoky Mountain Adventure Camp in Tennessee (smacamp.com), campers from 8 to 18 camp at the edge of the Smoky Mountains and participate in activities such as rafting, inner tubing, rappelling and rock climbing. They also can opt for overnight canoe or backpacking trips.
Kids 14 and under can sail to the British Virgin Islands with the ActionQuest camp program (actionquest.com). For kids who sign up for the Quest program, attendees will earn CPR certification and go snorkeling, windsurfing and water skiing, while those in the Carina program learn how to handle a dinghy, a small boat often used to race. For a touch of the exotic, there is the Costa Rica Outward Bound Camp (costaricaoutwardbound.org). Campers 14 and older can embark on 15- or 32-day surf intensive courses or sign up for the Summer Course Combo, where they learn how to go whitewater rafting and take hikes in the rainforest.