Summer Camp Guide 2013
By Jane Smith
Summer camp selections abound this year for coastal kids with a range of activities to keep them healthy, channel their creative energy and hone their theater skills.
Digi-Camp is capitalizing on the popularity of the computer video game called Minecraft. The game captivates kids as they play it on their Xboxes, PCs, and android and Apple devices. Kids especially like working to build things they imagine, battle things that go bump in the night, and then travel to the Nether, where surprising things happen.
Digi-Camp will offer two camp sessions on Minecraft/video game programming, for students ages 8-15, at the Don Estridge High Tech Middle School in Boca Raton.
“The Minecraft games will be very popular,” predicts Mark Stansell, owner of Digi-Camp. “Kids will learn how to modify the games.” He knows of teachers in other states who are building imaginary worlds with their students in Minecraft.
Digi-Camp now also offers computer programming for younger kids, ages 6-8, at Poinciana Elementary School in Boynton Beach. In its primary Lego camp, offered July 1-5, those youngsters will build simple robots and learn simple programming techniques.
If your kids are more outdoorsy types who can swim, they might prefer surfing camps held at the Omphoy Ocean Resort in Palm Beach, the Hula Surf and Paddle Summer in Ocean Ridge, the Delray Water Sports surf camp in Delray Beach and the Boca surf camp in Boca Raton.
Campers ages 6-14 spend the day on the beach. “It’s a lot of fun,” says Julia Pinkocze, a recreation supervisor for the city of Boca Raton.
The vendor, Island Water Sports, supplies the surfboards; the campers need to bring towels, hats and sunblock. “They even have sunblock breaks,” Pinkocze says.
The Boca surf camp has 10 weekly sessions. Every Friday, the camp has a beach party with pizza for lunch, followed by a surfing competition where parents can come between 1 to 3 p.m. to watch their children show off their newly learned skills.
If your kids are budding actors or want-to-be singers, they may be interested in performing arts camps held at the Dreyfoos School in West Palm Beach, the arts or musical theater camps at the Arts Garage or the Kickin’ Arts Camp at the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach, the Summer Performance Camp in Lake Worth, the performing arts camp at the Sol Children’s Theater at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Conservatory in Manalapan, the progressive arts and theater camps at St. Ann School in West Palm Beach, the School of Rock — Rockin’ Through the Summer in Lake Worth, the Showtime Performing Arts theater camp in Boca Raton and the dance and musical theatre camps in Boynton Beach.
This summer, the Showtime Performing Arts camp will produce Alice in Wonderland for grades K-5 and the musical Grease with middle- and high-schoolers. That session runs from June 10 to July 5.
During the second session (July 8-Aug. 10), where The Wiz will be produced, and during the Glee weeks, campers will be grouped by age during the day and then perform together in the production.
The Glee weeks appeal to “families who have been traveling during the summer,” says Marilyn Perry, executive director and producer at Showtime. “They return to the area in August and are looking for something fun and creative to do before school begins.”
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