4 Summer Camps That Turn DC into One Big Playground
At Capital Cycle Camp, kids explore the city on two wheels, biking to museums, parks, and service projects. Photograph courtesy of Capital Cycle Camp.
Forget popsicle crafts and canoeing. Letting your kids roam city streets—with supervision, of course—is the new summer camp.
Let’s call them urban camps. But by that we don’t mean camps that just happen to be within city limits. Rather, these are programs that, instead of hosting kids at a specific site, take them out to enjoy and learn from all the free and accessible resources Washington has to offer. Your children can spend the summer exploring local parks, museums, and businesses, plus participating in community projects—while riding Metro and getting to know their city in a new way.
The following are a few day camps whose boundaries are limited only by the hours of the day and the ends of the Metro lines. Each blends outdoor education, community immersion, and fun.
Capital Cycle Camp
This is summer on wheels—two, to be exact. Kids pedal from activity to activity throughout DC. A week might include biking around the Mall, visiting the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, watching planes at Gravelly Point, climbing through the summer exhibit at the National Building Museum, or working on community-service projects.
The camp has been run for the past six years by Ben Berkow, a former DC Public Schools teacher who recently started working as a research analyst in information systems focused on education.
Cycling is merely the mode of transportation, but kids do learn how to fix and maintain their bikes. Campers range from first grade through middle school and need to be proficient at riding a two-wheeled bicycle without training wheels. In any given week, 16 to 30 kids are in the program, with a camper/staff ratio of six to one.
The day starts and ends at a church in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The camp works with churches and nonprofits on service projects, which have included volunteering at a food pantry and helping with anti-erosion efforts along the Anacostia River. Among the other activities are visits to libraries, pools, parks, and businesses—and there’s always a rainy-day plan. Middle-schoolers get an overnight excursion on the C&O Canal.
While the activities are plentiful, Berkow doesn’t pack the schedule—there’s usually one activity in the morning and one in the afternoon. “I intentionally don’t overprogram,” he says. “When parents realize the simplicity, they appreciate it.” He also mixes up the activities each week, though some are popular enough that kids love going back.
The camp runs from 9 to 6, a rarity and a blessing for working parents. If a child doesn’t own a bike, Berkow can loan one.
For more information, click here. Cost for a five-day week: $430.
Mr. Tony’s Adventure Camp
Tony Hurst, a librarian at DC’s Beauvoir school, created his camp 13 years ago after he couldn’t find an educational, affordable city camp for his own child. That first summer, he had five campers over two weeks. Last year, 453 attended across seven weeks.
Among the many outings at Mr. Tony’s Adventure Camp are spray parks. Photograph courtesy of Mr. Tony’s Adventure Staff.
Mr. Tony’s camp takes kids on outings throughout the District. In a given week, the schedule incorporates two days in nature, two water-play days, and a day of culture. One day the kids might go to Capital Candy Jar to learn about making sweets, then head to a spray fountain at the Wharf. Another time, they’ll hike around the National Arboretum and take in a show at Discovery Theater. Destinations might also include Fort Dupont Park, Meridian Hill Park, Anacostia Park, the National Zoo, or the National Museum of the American Indian.
Camp begins and ends at Miner Elementary School on Capitol Hill—the dropoff and pickup spot—before everyone sets off for the daily excursion via subway, bus, or foot.
The camp accepts ages three through eight. Those nine and up can attend as counselors in training. Kids can participate for a single week or the entire summer—Hurst switches up activities to avoid repetition.
“I think parents are a little tired of their kids being cloistered behind a fence doing the same art project,” he says, “especially when there are so many amazing things, often free, happening around the city.”
For more information, click here. Cost for a five-day week: $250.
Urban Adventure Squad
What started as an educational option for kids and working parents when DCPS was closed for holidays or professional days has turned into a year-round outdoor urban program with a summer camp.
Designed for first grade through middle school, Urban Adventure Squad partners with organizations in the District and nearby suburbs to come up with educational programming. Kids spend much of their days outdoors with a low emphasis on electronics, although sometimes technology is incorporated into the learning.
A program with Temple Micah—dubbed “restaurant week”—focused on creating an eco-conscious eatery that minimized food waste and emphasized local ingredients. It included a guest educator on food waste; cooking projects; and a final pop-up restaurant challenge, as well as visits to the Macomb Recreation Center’s spray park and a hike to Tregaron Conservancy for a community cleanup. UAS also partners with Gallaudet University, Embassy Church, Mosaic Church, and Stokes School for programs where the camp is centralized for the week.
Campers might ride public transportation to visit businesses, nonprofits, parks, and other destinations, and they bring their own brown-bag lunch each day. Programs focus on environmental science, architecture, theater arts, history, design, and more. UAS recently received a grant from the DC Department of Energy and Environment for a curriculum about the Anacostia River.
For more information, click here. Cost for a five-day week: $335 ($268 for siblings) before March 1; $385 (and $310) after.
Smithsonian Summer Camp
One of DC’s best attractions, of course, is the Smithsonian, with its excellent free museums, but kids usually must rely on their parents’ availability to take them. However, at the Smithsonian Summer Camp, now in its 50th year, children can explore the museums at their own pace, with an educator beside them, for an entire week or more.
The camp is designed for rising kindergartners through ninth-graders; ages 15 and up can be teaching assistants for the younger kids. Each of the weeklong programs has an age-appropriate theme. For example, the youngest campers can observe and record the “ABCs” of the Smithsonian by journeying through its museums and the National Zoo, while older kids might pursue a week of digital photography using the Smithsonian grounds as backdrops. Other programs focus on space travel; Native American history and culture; painting; TV production; and US history.
Campers aren’t restricted to a single museum—they travel about the Mall with their group, each of which is about 16 to 21 kids with two instructors. Camp starts in mid-June and lasts through mid-August, with before- and after-care options.
For more information, click here. Cost for a five-day week: $460 nonmembers; $395 members.
This article appears in the February 2019 issue of Washingtonian.
More: Anacostia RiverCapitol HillKidsNational Building MuseumNational ZooParentingSmithsonianSummer Camps
S.H.E. Can STEAM Camp | National Air and Space Museum
S.H.E. Can
STEAM Camp
S.H.E. can fly. S.H.E. can engineer. S.H.E. can build. S.H.E. can soar.
Applications for summer 2023 camps are closed!
Women and minorities remain underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) fields. With the support of the Walton Family Foundation and the DaRin Butz Foundation, we hope to change that by engaging and empowering our Soaring High Explorers to seek out and succeed in STEAM fields. In Summer 2023, we’ll hold our fifth annual S.H.E. Can STEAM Summer Camp, serving local and underrepresented communities in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and Arkansas.
Learn About
What to Expect
Where and When
How to Participate
Contact Us
Ninety middle school Explorers will participate in this one-of-a-kind camp introducing them to the science of flight and exposing them to diverse careers in aviation.
By The Numbers: Women in Flight
Data from FAA’s U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics for 2021
1,247
Female Flight Engineers
4.4% of all Flight Engineers
8,231
Females Mechanics
2.6% of all Mechanics
8%
Of Commercial Pilots Identify as Female
What to Expect
Aimed at building lifelong relationships with local students, our camp consists of a whirlwind of activities. At this camp, S.H.E. Can:
Learn to Fly
- Receive hands-on flight instruction on FAA certified simulators
- Take off on a 30-minute discovery flight with a local flight school
- Complete all of the checks necessary to finish the “Pilot” program
Dive Into STEAM
- Test aerodynamics in indoor skydiving or outdoor ziplining experiences
- Get in the engineering mindset with daily design challenges
- Launch a high-altitude weather balloon
Explore Careers
- Visit Air Traffic Control facilities like Dulles Tower, Potomac TRACON, and the Air Traffic Control Center
- Explore an aircraft mechanical school
- Speak to experts in the commercial airspace and cyber security fields
Build Confidence
- Track progress and capture milestones in a personalized flight log book
- Work in teams to solve real-world problems
- Connect with Museum staff, female aviation professionals, and our iconic artifacts to build lifelong relationships
When and Where
Students can participate in one of three sessions, two hosted at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, and one hosted by Har-Ber High School in Springdale, Arkansas.
In Chantilly, Virginia
Session One (New Campers) – Full
June 19-June 30
8:00 am – 3:00 pm ET
Session Two (New Campers)
July 31-August 11
8:00 am – 3:00 pm ET
In Springdale, Arkansas
Har-Ber High School
July 17-July 28
9:00 am – 4:00 pm CT
Each session will consist of 30 students. Lunch, snacks, and transportation to activities are provided.
How to Participate
Applications for summer 2023 camps are closed.
All Explorers with a passion for learning and aviation are asked to submit an application. Campers should live in DC, Maryland, Virginia, or Arkansas and must attend a Title I school or Title I eligible school or qualify for free or reduced lunches.
For New Explorers, campers must be in grades six through eight.
For Returning Explorers, campers must be in grades seven through nine.
Applications should include the following:
- A few sentences about why you’d like to participate
- A recommendation from a teacher or community leader that speaks to your interest in aviation
- Whether you attend a Title I school or qualify for free or reduced lunch
S.H.E. Can STEAM Summer Camp Sponsors
Walton Family Foundation, recommended by Steuart Walton
DaRin Butz Foundation
SUMMER OF VICTORIES – children’s city club
July 07, 2019
Natalya Kiryakina
Thank you very much to all counselors, organizers, management of the Museum of Victory, for your work, for the Summer of Victories, for helping our children become better and happier!!! Such rich and interesting leisure activities, meetings and excursions with the guys. The counselors tell a lot of exciting facts about the history of our country, about the Great Patriotic War – this finds a great response in the souls of children, brings up patriotism and pride for the Motherland. Read more>>
Thank you very much to all the counselors, organizers, management of the Museum of Victory, for your work, for the Summer of Victories, for helping our children become better and happier!!! Such rich and interesting leisure activities, meetings and excursions with the guys. The counselors tell a lot of exciting facts about the history of our country, about the Great Patriotic War – this finds a great response in the souls of children, brings up patriotism and pride for the Motherland. Thank you very much, good luck to you and your families!!!!!Hide>>
June 24, 2019
Veronika Berezkina
I want to share my impressions of the Summer of Victory camp, since there is very little information about it anywhere, and this is a big omission in my opinion. When the question arose this year which city camp to send the child to, I considered different options, I already have 3 years of experience. But this year we were looking for a fairly budget option and decided to try a change in this camp. The main critic is of course the daughter: she really liked it… Read more>>
I want to share my impressions of the Summer of Victory camp, as there is very little information about it anywhere, and this is a big omission in my opinion. When the question arose this year which city camp to send the child to, I considered different options, I already have 3 years of experience. But this year we were looking for a fairly budget option and decided to try a change in this camp. The main critic is of course the daughter: she really liked it, it was fun, not boring, varied. Feeding her is a problem, but she didn’t go hungry. Never called! And for us, this is the main indicator that the child does not call, does not ask to pick him up, does not complain that he is bored. In the evening, the problem is to pick up – give another 5 minutes))). From the metro to the camp they take minibuses, the children are outdoors all day. They give out T-shirts and baseball caps with the symbols of the camp, go to the museum, cinema. Counselors are young and active! As a result: we are going to another shift! And next year, I know exactly which camp we will be in.Hide>>
07 June 2019
Elena b.
An excellent camp, it differs from other similar offers by the convenient time of the child’s stay: from 08-15 to 19 hours, price. At the same time, the quality of services is at its best: 3 meals a day, and all kinds of entertainment, quests, and events. The staff is very attentive, sincere, responsible. Plus, security is also at the level – the children are in a fenced area, the daughter says that they are not even allowed to go to the toilet alone. Daughter 8… Read more>>
An excellent camp, differs from other similar offers by the convenient time of the child’s stay: from 08-15 to 19 hours, price. At the same time, the quality of services is at its best: 3 meals a day, and all kinds of entertainment, quests, and events. The staff is very attentive, sincere, responsible. Plus, security is also at the level – the children are in a fenced area, the daughter says that they are not even allowed to go to the toilet alone. Daughter 8 years old, very happy, she goes for a week and will still stay for 3 shiftsCollapse>>
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Natalia Solovey will take part in the round table “Safe and healthy summer holidays”
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“Singing with the “Ocean”!”: Anniversary rubric about ocean songs
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Senior counselors of “Ocean” participate in the competition “The best teacher of the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” – 2023″
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Counselors of the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” became excellent students of the campaign “Vozhatsky dictation”
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The Far East Gathering of Childhood Navigators has come to an end in the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean”!
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Year of a teacher and mentor: the leaders of the Eagles of Russia delegations completed a professional development program
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An off-site meeting of the Federation Council for Science, Education and Culture was held at the Okean All-Russian Center
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Employees of the Ocean All-Russian Center spoke at the All-Russian conference dedicated to the patriotic education of children and youth
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All-Russian Center “Ocean” – participant of MMSO. EXPO-2023
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Specialists of the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” took part in the methodological bridge “Working with gifted children in educational and recreational centers”
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“Dreams come true”: participants of the third shift get acquainted with the amazing stories of mentors and pupils of the Center
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Ocean counselors shared their professional experience with students of the Sozvezdie center
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Okean All-Russian Center introduced children and teenagers to the ideas and creativity of Konstantin Ushinsky
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All-Russian children’s center “Ocean” celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of K.D. Ushinsky
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The Government approved the action plan for holding the Year of the Teacher and Mentor in Russia
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All-Russian Center “Ocean” signed a cooperation agreement with the Far Eastern State Academy of Physical Culture
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All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” became a participant in the Forum of organizers of children’s recreation and RDDM “Movement of the First” in the Moscow Region
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As part of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor, Ocean welcomed guests from the Sosnovy Bor Center
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Ocean continues a series of open classes as part of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor
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Participants of educational sessions of the All-Russian Children’s Center “Ocean” joined the project “Teacher is a long-range profession”
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The All-Russian Children’s Center conducts a training program for children’s recreation specialists in the Sverdlovsk Region
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As part of the Year of Teacher and Mentor, All-Russian Center “Ocean” conducted an educational expedition for undergraduates of the Far Eastern Federal University
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