For the 2021 Camps & Classes directory, please click here!
Note: this is the camp guide from 2020: Looking for a great camp for your child this summer? The Do512 Family Summer Camp Guide can help you discover the perfect fit for your kids. Whether they want nature adventures, art activities, the chance to build robots, try science experiments, or dance, sing and act on stage — there’s so many varied options to explore in the Austin area. Browse listings below to help you find the best summer camp experience for your family.
Please note that as camps make any decisions about their programs in relation to COVID-19, we’ll be updating that info as we get it over the coming weeks. If you run a camp that you’d like to see included here, please reach out to [email protected].
WHAT KIND OF CAMP ARE YOU INTERESTED IN?
Jump to: Virtual Camps, Art Camps, Outdoor Adventure Camps, Science & Technology Camps, Sports Camps, Miscellaneous Camps or Camps That Keep Austin Weird.
As things are ever-changing in regards to COVID-19, many camps are now offering virtual programming. Whether you’re more comfortable having your child engage in camp activities from home or simply want to add in some additional virtual camp sessions to weave into your summer schedule, there are many new choices to choose from. You can click the button below to browse a page of virtual camp listings available in variety of subjects for a wide range of age groups.
Let their creativity shine! From music lessons to theatre, dance, art, filmmaking, claymation, improv and more, there’s definitely a great camp in the area where you kids can express their artistic side…
ZACH Theatre – ZACH camps are offered for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade. Your kids and teens can fill some of their summer hours with music, dancing, acting, storytelling and laughter at online sessions offered by ZACH’s top-notch education department all via Zoom. Read more about ZACH’s Virtual Summer Camps.
Creative Action – Creative Action has cancelled in-person camps for 2020, but will offer a variety of virtual opportunities. Stay tuned to creativeaction.org for details as these programs are developed.
UT School of Design and Creative Technologies — Enroll your high school students in a variety of interesting camps that are designed and taught by UT faculty entirely online! Students will learn about game design, graphic design, and animation. Through each program, students have the unique opportunity to create a portfolio piece as they prepare to apply for college. No need to have any prior game, graphic, or animation design experience to attend. Click here to read more about these online camps.
Austin Film Festival’s Summer Film Camp — This popular camp for ages 9-18 offers screenwriting, filmmaking and claymation workshops. The critically-acclaimed program promises to teach, inspire and help kids and young adults create their very own fabulous, funny, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking short films. Campers turn their stories into films guided by professional instructors who help ignite their creativity, inspiration, and skill sets. Full day and half day programs are offered in Downtown Austin. Read all about it this film camp including the details of their new safety procedures.
Cordovan Art School — Kids can spend summer in a creative way at a Cordovan Art School camp! Choose from multiple locations in Round Rock, NW Austin, Georgetown, and Cedar Park. All camps are designed for ages 5-16, and young artists are divided into small groups based on age. Taught by professional artists, these weekly camps offer diverse topics, mediums, and themes all finishing with a student art show on Fridays. Choose from full day or half day programs. Click here to read more about the different camp themes.
The Art Garage — Enroll your young artists ages 5-14 in camps taught by certified art educators and degreed artists. Weekly day camps offer a variety of art projects such as ceramics, hand building with clay, drawing, painting, crafts, fused glass, jewelry, tie-dye and more. Please note that for June, The Art Garage will be bringing that environment into your homes with our Online Summer Sessions! Supplies are picked up the week prior and items to be fired are dropped off back at the Art Garage the Friday or Saturday after camp is complete for that week. Read about the awesome camps at The Art Garage, including the online program.
Paramount Theatre — Take part in virtual two-week performing arts camps with a professional team of teaching artists that you know and love will engage your kids in guided classes and activities. Campers will participate in acting, singing, and dancing, as well as theatre tech and design classes. All camps will provide a final professionally-edited video performance celebrating the students’ hard work.
620 Art Gallery & Studio — Young artists ages 5-12 can take part in weekly camps in a real fine art gallery this summer. They will create their own masterpieces during camp while exploring a variety of art processes such as painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and sculpture. Morning, afternoon, or full day sessions are available. 620 Art Gallery & Studio offers a fun, safe and comfortable environment where children can let their creativity flow, led by certified teachers and professional artists. Read more about the summer camps offered in this new Gallery & Studio.
Mother Falcon Music Lab — Now in its 9th year, MFML offers multimedia online programming for both youth and adults! These Virtual Summer courses provide up-to-date instruction on relevant topics as developed and led by a diverse collective of acclaimed Artist Instructors. In this virtual experience, you can join the MFML community to celebrate our voices, collaborate, and create our world! Classes range from How to Write a Protest Song and Decolonizing the Music Industry, to Album Art to Podcasting. Classes run from early July into August. Read more about Mother Falcon Music Lab’s summer courses.
Enjoy the great outdoors with some nature-focused adventure camps! Go kakaying, hiking, horseback riding, swimming, bird-watching, crafting and more…
Earth Native Wilderness School Camps — Get your kids out into NATURE this summer with Earth Native Wilderness School! Your kids will explore secret spots, track animals, play nature games, splash around in onion creek, and learn cool outdoor and wilderness survival skills! Choose from 3 themed day camps at McKinney Falls State Park for ages 3.5 – 12, or experience one of the exciting overnight camps in Bastrop for ages 9-16. Earth Native Wilderness has canceled day camps at McKinney Falls State Park for the weeks of June 1-5 and June 8-12, as well as their Wildlife Summer Camp at the Bastrop Campus. At this time they have also paused all new summer camp enrollments. Please see to their Summer Camp Update page for more information on the status of camps. Read our feature story on Earth Native Wilderness School camps.
Camp 512 — Kids get to explore Austin through adventure and fun at this week-long day camp for grades K – 8. Campers get to learn about Austin’s rich history, cultural diversity, and plethora of natural wonders with exciting field trips every day! Camps are held June 8 – August 7 with a variety of themes such as ATX Foodies, Wet and Wild, Brushes and Beats, and more. Read our feature story on Camp 512.
Rio Vista Farm’s Horseback Riding Camp — Animal-lovers ages 7-16 can learn the basics of true horsemanship and establish a good horseback riding foundation. No prior riding experience is necessary, and campers are divided into riding groups based on their skill level from beginner on up. With a maximum of 20 campers per week, small groups give kids the opportunity for a more personalized instruction from well-qualified staff in a safe environment. Read our feature on Rio Vista Farm’s Camps.
YMCA Camp Twin Lakes – Featuring a wide variety of both water and land activities, Camp Twin Lakes has something to excite everyone with both day camp and overnight camp options in the heart of Hill Country just minutes from Austin. Camp Twin Lakes is THE popular Camp in Cedar Park. Situated on 55 acres of park land featuring 2 lakes, the Wet Willie Water Slide, canoeing, kayaking, swim beach, Aqua Park, pools, archery range, paintball field, sports complex, covered pavilions and 3 indoor lodges. Please note that YMCA Camp Twin Lakes is postponing the opening of overnight camps until June 21. Read our feature story on Camp Twin Lakes.
Camp Doublecreek — With a variety of classic and exciting activities for children aged 4-14, campers can make summer memories spending their days swimming, playing soccer, volleyball, basketball or mini golf, trying archery, a ropes course, or horseback riding, as well as making arts and crafts projects and new friends, too! Located in Round Rock, Camp Doublecreek provides free transportation to and from a wide range of Austin area locations. Read our feature on Camp Doublecreek to learn more!
Summer Nature Days at Bastrop County Parks – LCRA Parks is now offering Nature Days, new half-day programs at LCRA parks in Matagorda and Bastrop counties. The four-hour sessions will include nature-based education and recreation such as fly fishing and learning survival skills at three parks in Bastrop County (McKinney Roughs Nature Park, Lake Bastrop North Shore Park and Lake Bastrop South Shore Park). All sessions will be from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. LCRA Parks Nature Days are offered three days a week. Read all about this new small-group program at LCRA Parks.
Build rockets, robots and video games. Learn the basics of programming, engineering. Tinker and create. Learn about ocean exploration, space, chemistry, and more…
Thinkery – Perfect for Pre-K–5th grade campers, Thinkery Camps spark curiosity and inspire creative learning through hands-on fun and discovery. Kids can build a robot circus or explore the creative side of coding. Or choose from a variety of other innovative camp themes to challenge and inspire kids. Take note that the first two June sessions have been cancelled, but Thinkery has added virtual camp options. Read on about all of the 2020 camp info including this year’s At-Home Camp Kits.
My Coding Place — Summer is the perfect time to learn a new skill and to be exposed to technology in a fun environment. Kids ages 7-18 get to be creative problem solvers with digital solutions. Sessions include Python Party, Rockin Robots, Minecraft Mania, Wonderful Web, and more. Camps run from June 1 – Aug 14, covering 11 topics over 11 weeks, with no more than 12 students per week. $100 early-bird discount through March 1. Read all about My Coding Place camp offerings for 2020.
Play-Well TEKnologies — Dream it, build it, wreck it, repeat in Play-Well’s LEGO-inspired summer camps for children ages 5 – 12! Kids will engineer interesting projects, engage in critical thinking, work collaboratively and learn STEM concepts all while playing with over 20,000 LEGO bricks! Choose from different themes like Star Wars, Minecraft, Harry Potter, Animal Architects, Girl Power, Robotics and Stop Motion. Morning, afternoon or full day camps are offered in multiple locations in the Austin area. Play-Well is now also offering a number of online programs. Read all about Play-Well LEGO-inspired summer camp programs.
Neuron Garage — In this award-winning summer building camp, kids ages 5 to 12 repurpose recycled materials to solve fun, weekly engineering challenges such as building a roller-coaster for a marble or fortifying cardboard castles against invasion. Campers practice and build creative thinking, collaboration, resilience — and the foundation for a vibrant future. Sign up for weekly sessions at 12 Austin locations. Please note that in-person camps for June have been cancelled, but you can sign up for virtual programs. Click here to read more about Neuron Garage and all of the various weekly themes to choose from.
Mad Science — Mad Science Summer Camps allow children ages 4-12 to uncover the secrets of spies, step into the shoes of an engineer, blast off rockets like an astronaut, rewire robots and so much more. Mad Science offers 11 different summer camps to choose from at location all over Austin! Each week-long day camp, includes a combination of in-class discovery, outdoor games, and hands-on applications of the scientific principles presented. Read our feature story on Mad Science & Imagine Arts Academy Camps.
Code Galaxy — Virtual Summer Camps at Code Galaxy are the perfect way to get started with coding or dive-in deep on a topic your child loves. Kids ages 7-14 can choose from app design, game development, robotics topics, and more. They can create an Obby in Roblox, design their own world in Minecraft, learn to code, and even learn to create their own animations. The possibilities are endless at Code Galaxy! 2-hour camp sessions are offered a variety of flexible times. Read all the details about Code Galaxy’s Online Camps.
Camp YouTuber — Does your child or teen dream of being the next big YouTube star? Fantastic Magic Camp is working with Chad Johnson, a full-time YouTuber with over 1 million subscribers, to offer a new program for ages 12-17 and runs from July 27-31 in North Austin. Campers will create their own YouTube channel and then script, shoot, edit, publish, and promote their own videos. Click here for all of the details!
From basketball to cheerleading, bmx biking, surfing, martial arts, parkour, indoor rock climbing, gymnastics and much more — there are plenty of camps to keep the kids active all summer long.
All-Star Sports Camp — Kids ages 5-12 have the opportunity to learn teamwork and sportsmanship through a variety of fun team-based games & activities. Under the guidance of trained coaching staff, your child will be able to develop their athletic skills, discover new interests, and make lots of friends during their time at camp! All abilities welcome to play We play soccer, kickball, basketball, flag football, dodgeball, floor hockey, whiffleball, capture the flag, battleship, ultimate frisbee and more! Choose from South and North Austin locations. (Note, the All-Star Sports Camp is on schedule to start May 18 and go throughout the end of the summer with increased cleaning and safety procedures.) Read all about the activities included in All-Star Sports Camp in our feature story.
Avila Creative Soccer offers indoor, air-conditioned soccer training to help players, ages 4-18 play brilliantly. Kids and teens of all levels will have the opportunity to learn or enhance their soccer skills through an assortment of specialized soccer classes. The camp focuses on technical soccer skills training with over 30+ soccer skills from beginner topics like shooting mechanics, dribbling, juggling and passing to more advanced soccer topics like penalty kicks, speed dribbling, possession play and more. Read our feature on Avila Creative Soccer and find out about their many locations and skill classes.
Topgolf Summer Academy — This weekly half-day camp program for ages 6-12 offers five days of entertainment, play, learning all of the components that make up the great game of golf. From chipping, putting and full swing, to the rules and etiquette, kids will learn everything they need to know to improve their game. Each week of Topgolf Summer Academy takes place from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Monday – Friday, running from July 6 – August 7, and includes lunch each day. You can choose from one week or plan for many weeks of camp! Topgolf has canceled the first session of the Topgolf Summer Academy scheduled for June 8-26. Though Topgolf Austin remains temporarily closed, they plan to have their venue open just in time for the second session of the Summer Academy beginning July 6. Read more info about the Topgolf Summer Camp.
Round Rock Express Summer Camps — Kids can get out of the house and into the ballpark at the Dell Diamond, and choose from half-day, full-day, elite and even a softball camp, open to ages 6-14. All camps will be limited to ensure quality instruction as well as follow social distancing guidelines as outlined by the State of Texas. Several policies and procedures have been put in place for the safety of all campers, coaches and staff. Kids can count on big league quality instruction on the fundamentals of the game of baseball and softball for all skill levels. Read more about the summer camp options.
Flying Fish Swim Academy — It’s a great time to improve your child’s swimming skills! Flying Fish Swim Academy provides the highest quality lessons for children 6 months and older in their year-round indoor swim school. You can sign up for parent/tot, group, private and adult swim lessons. They even offer a swim team technique and endurance introduction class for children. Trained instructors offer a 3:1 student to teacher ratio for all group lessons. A variety of class times are offered so you find the right fit for your schedule. Click here to read more about their summer swim classes.
There’s many unique hands-on opportunities — try cooking classes, build with LEGOs, learn a new language, try gardening, or keep up with math, reading and school studies over the summer months at an educational camp…
Austin Waldorf School – Give your children, ages 6-12, the gift of a classic hill country summer. The 19 acre campus in southwest Austin provides campers with trees to climb, trails to explore, an art studio, gymnasium, and performing arts center. Earth friendly crafts, field trips, science experiments, and time in nature help children make the most of their summer vacation. Austin Waldorf School has canceled camps from June 8 – July 3. Read our feature story on Austin Waldorf School camps.
Indigo Play — Indigo Play is temporarily closed for Play, Parties, & Child Care due to the Coronavirus. Their educational books are available for online purchase, with curbside pickup Tuesday and Saturday, between 1 – 3pm. Read much more about Camps at Indigo Play.
Cool Kids Do Cook — Kids ages 5-14 can try different weekly cooking sessions where they will learn about seasonal foods, recipes, history and traditions, and enjoy craft time, too. Camps run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Pinny and Trowel Cooking School. Kids will be grouped by age and will work on kitchen skills and food safety. Choose from a variety of Summer Camp cooking categories such as baking, candy making, preparing an English afternoon tea, or explore the cuisines of England, France, Italy, Scotland, Ireland or Spain. (Note camps are on as scheduled with more Covid procedures implemented.) Read more about Cook Kids Do Cook Camps.
Extend-A-Care YMCA — Extend-A-Care and YMCA of Austin are coming together to offer a great summer program. Campers ages 4-14 can experience a variety of enriching activities such as basketball, soccer, baseball, flag football, arts & crafts, cooking, painting and much more! The summer curriculum is based on weekly themes, which are developed from children’s literature books introduced to students during the camp. Choose from 30+ locations in Travis, Hays & Bastrop counties with swimming, field trips, arts & crafts and enrichment activities. Affordable rates and financial assistance available. The YMCA of Austin will delay the start of summer camp to June 15th. Camp sessions 1-3 (May 26-June 12) are canceled for all camp types. They are not currently accepting new applications. Please stay tuned for updates here. Read more about the Extend-A-Care YMCA summer programs…
In Austin, we embrace the “weird”, non-traditional, fun aspects of life. Of course, there’s camps that keep to the classic Austin vibe. Try beekeeping, learn magic tricks, be a farmer for a week, camp overnight in a Renaissance castle, or even let the kids take your dog to camp with them…
Fantastic Magic Camp – Add a little magic to your children’s summer plans! You can enroll them in a one or two-week session of Fantastic Magic Camp, teaching life skills and confidence through magic in Austin since 1993, where they’ll learn tricks, juggling, jokes, puppetry and more. Kids ages 5-12 can enjoy this special time where they’ll make new friends and engage in fun hands-on activities. Read our feature story on Magic Camp.
Sherwood Forest Summer Camp — Update: Unfortunately Sherwood Forest Camp has been cancelled this summer. Kids can learn sword fighting, archery, blacksmithing, chainmaille making, leatherworking, theatre, woodworking, and more at this medieval-themed overnight summer camp. Campers will be transported back in time to a world of knights, ladies, and a simpler way of life (away from modern entertainment devices) and get to sleep in the in Sherwood Castle or one of the Merry Folks’ Pavilions.
Want to see your camp included in this Summer Camp Guide?
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