Overnight camps for kids in california: Best Overnight Summer Camps in California for Kids and Teens

Sleepaway Summer Camps in California

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At Mountain Meadow Ranch you will…

Connect

Our small culture (camp family) makes it easy for everyone to feel included and genuinely bonded to one another. Making friends is easy when you are in a culture that celebrates uniqueness and authenticity.
Come to connect.
 

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Explore

We believe a connection to nature is crucial for all children and our program provides the opportunity to fall in love with the great outdoors. The nature surrounding the ranch beckons exploration and adventure.
Come to explore.

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Grow

Vast is the opportunity to grow at Mountain Meadow Ranch. The means to our growth is an ancient Maidu word, Aj Yepekanbe, meaning “serve-all”. This is the very heart of MMR and the guiding principle of all that we do.
Come to grow.

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Unplug

In today’s techno-saturated, high-pressure world we all need a chance to take a step back and really rest. Time for just the quiet, for the sounds of nature and time to process. As we unplug from technology, we find joy. We plug back into life authentic.
Come to unplug.

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Mountain Meadow Ranch is a co-ed, sleepaway summer camp for ages 7 to 16, uniquely located on a spacious 900 acre ranch in the Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe.  We offer a traditional camp program, where our philosophy of Servant Leadership fosters character development and camp community bonding through the many activities we provide. Family-owned and operated since 1956, a true legacy of camping excellence. 

Latest News

Thanks for a great summer!

August 12, 2021

We had another amazing summer at Mountain Meadow Ranch It was so good to have everyone back at the ranch laughing, playing and exploring We unfortunately had to cancel

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Summer Photos

August 6, 2021

Dear MMR Families,

At MMR, our main goal is to provide our campers with an exceptional camp experience where they connect, explore,

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Summer camps for kids in California: what will change in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed annual traditions, including summer camps for kids. But this year, camping is back across California, writes CapRadio.

“We’ve had an unprecedented level of interest in camp this year,” said Kendal Scott, education manager at the Tahoe Institute of Natural Sciences (TINS), who runs the Tahoe Basin camp for children ages 4-17. – We even opened two new sections. I think people are really excited about the start of the season.”

Scott said that there are now more excursions in the summer camp schedule, such as night trips to remote areas. They were canceled last year due to COVID-19.

But expanding camps isn’t the only issue on the minds of some in the industry. There is a new trend towards making this childhood tradition more open to different races, cultures and LGBT communities.

Liz Kimmelman, owner of Tumbleweed Day Camp in Los Angeles and a member of the American Camp Association, says creating a more diverse and inclusive camp culture is about more than providing scholarships to underprivileged children. It is important to reconsider some longstanding traditions, such as the use of native words and images of wigwams.

“We borrow a lot of indigenous culture,” Kimmelman said. “I admit it, and we’re going to do something about it.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which the State of California uses to model its regulations, recommend vaccination for people 12 years of age and older. Vaccines for children under 12 years of age are not currently approved, although trials are ongoing.

They also say that youth day and night camps, where everyone is fully vaccinated before the start of the season, can operate at full capacity without masks and without physical distancing, unless required by local regulations.

With children starting to socialize with many other children after more than a year of physical distancing, experts say camps could use this summer’s reset to focus on children’s mental well-being.

Camp can be fun for kids, but it can also be stressful or anxiety-inducing, says Dr. Heather Bernstein, a clinical psychologist at the Bay Area Children’s Mind Institute. According to her, children worry about how they will communicate, what others will think of them, whether everything will be all right with them. Camp staff and parents need to recognize this by giving children the opportunity to express their feelings.

Recently, while walking with a dozen young children on a trail near Donner Lake in the Sierra Nevada, a group of TINS ​​day camp children were distracted to see an insect resting on a boulder that one of the children spotted.

Camp leader Kendal Scott helped the children focus on this.

“If I don’t really care about the spider or anything like that, I like to ask kids specific questions about what they’re looking at; what colors are on the spider’s body, what things they think the spider might be eating, whether it has eggs nearby, and similar questions, Scott says. “Practical questions like this help take your mind off instinctive fear responses and usually encourage kids to explore more, even if it’s just the area around the spider. ”

Scott practices what she preaches. With her questions, she interested the children, and did not frighten them.

7 classic American camp activities

Scavenger hunt, detective stories and other fun that came to summer camps from elite US universities.

1. Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt is a student game that became popular in American universities in the late 1980s. According to the rules, participants are divided into teams and go to search for items around the campus. Since all tasks in Scavenger Hunt require ingenuity, erudition and teamwork, the game quickly migrated from the Ivy League to summer camps.

For example, in the academic program at Harvard University , “scavenger hunting” is perhaps the most favorite pastime. Students explore the legendary campus on a map of Cambridge, get acquainted with the history of Harvard University and try to solve problems in non-standard ways. Such a game fits perfectly into the Leadership and Innovation program, which starts at Harvard University on June 20th.

Harvard University, Massachusetts

14-18 years
June 20 – July 8, 2017 (3 weeks)

2. Quiz Night

Quiz night is a favorite quiz night among Americans. Boston, as the capital of New England, was one of the first American cities to host the pub quiz. And if adults still gather for Friday games in Irish pubs, then for schoolchildren the ideal option is a quiz at a summer camp with lemonade and pizza.

At language school OISE Boston campus Tufts University children not only improve their English (30 lessons per week), but also develop a general level of erudition. Evening gatherings with questions on history, geography and American culture help to instantly transfer English skills from a liability to an asset. The mood of the participants is raised by the team spirit, excitement and atmosphere of academic America with centers in Harvard University and MIT .

OISE Boston, MA

14 – 17 years
July 9 – August 5, 2017 (2,3,4 weeks)

3. Ultimate Frisbee

90 002 Ultimate is a team sport with a flying disc, most commonly referred to as just a frisbee. According to the rules of the game, participants in the ultimate pass the disc to another player on their team when he is in the opponent’s zone. The game was first invented by students at Amherst College in the 1960s, based on the rules of American football and basketball. Since then, the ultimate frisbee has become incredibly popular with students, especially when they have the green spaces of a university campus at their disposal.

Take, for example, University of California, Berkeley . During the year, the women’s and men’s Berkeley frisbee teams train here, and in the summer the lawns are occupied by foreign students. Especially for teenagers UC Berkeley provides summer courses in architecture, law, medicine and technology. In addition to activities, the program also includes sports, entertainment, excursions and surfing.

UC Berkeley, California

14 – 18
June 25 — July 22, 2017 (4 weeks)

4. Talent Show

The talent show is a traditional summer school performance consisting of musical numbers, dance battles, magic tricks and acting sketches. One of the most spectacular spectacles takes place annually at Yale University , the alma mater of such Hollywood “stars” as Meryl Streep, Judy Foster and Edward Norton.

Summer Talent Program, Yale University offers not only courses in the humanities and exact sciences, but also in creative areas, from photography and filming to musicals and improvisation. An evening talent show is a great opportunity to showcase what a child can do best. Sing a song, play a piano sonata, perform a stand up comedy or perform an acrobatic stunt, there’s a place for everyone on the Yale University stage.

Yale University, CT

13 – 17 years old
June 24 – July 14, July 16 – August 5, 2017 (3 weeks)

5. Murder Mystery Night

Game genre Murder Mystery appeared in England after a mysterious murder that took place in a country mansion on Road Hill in 1860. This case was the most unusual investigation in the history of Scotland Yard. According to the rules of the Murder Mystery game, one of the participants plays the role of a killer, and the rest are trying to determine who among them is the criminal. Logic, quick reaction and ingenuity come into play.

An evening of detective stories is perhaps the most long-awaited event in the American camp. Especially if this camp is located on the campus of the oldest US university – Tufts University . After a busy day of medicine, psychology and law classes, teenagers gather in the living room of the student residence in order to try on the role of a detective and test their deductive method in action.

Tufts University, Massachusetts

14 – 18 years old
July 2 – 14, July 16 – 28, 2017 (2 weeks), July 2 – 28 (4 weeks) 9 0005

6th Brain Bowl

Brain Bowl is the most popular game among university students, the progenitor of the show “The Smartest” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. Brain Bowl is a competition of speed, intelligence and erudition, during which participants will have to answer questions in the field of art, history, geography, literature and technology in time.

One of the busiest brain-rings will take place this summer at Princeton University , the same Ivy League university where Albert Einstein taught and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, studied. Princeton’s academic program is different in that it allows children to choose subjects that are not available to ordinary students – for example, DNA diagnostics, astrobiology, bioinformatics, crime investigation.