New York is one of the most renowned cities in the world, with lots of attractions such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
By population, Brooklyn is the largest borough in this city, with 2.59 million people living here as per the 2020 census. Children make up 33.3% of this population.
Summer is here, and parents everywhere are wondering how to entertain their children during this long holiday.
One of the most common ways to occupy them is by taking them to summer camp.
At these camps, kids enjoy benefits such as learning social skills, promoting independence through decision-making, gaining new life skills like coding or sports, and intellectual engagement.
It is important that parents carefully decide on the summer camp to take their children to maximize these benefits.
In this article, I will be highlighting my top recommendations for the best summer camps in Brooklyn.
Best Summer Camps In Brooklyn
1. Aviator Sports Summer Camp
- 3159 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234, United States
- Phone: 718-758-7500
- Visit Website
Aviator Sports and Events Center is the largest sports complex in New York City, and one of the biggest in the country.
It is located at the Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn, where the center repurposed airport hangars into sports complexes.
The facilities available here include a gymnastics center, studios for dancing, rooms for arts and crafts, pools, and space for pedal karting.
During the summer, your kids can attend either the summer day camp or the summer sports camp.
The summer day camp runs daily from 9 am to 5 pm and is divided into three categories. Kids aged between 4 and 7 are in the Younger Division, those aged between 8 and 11 years are in the Older Division, while the Teen Division includes teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15.
Some of the activities that your child will engage in include arts and crafts, field trips, soccer, basketball, rock-wall climbing, and mini-golf.
If your child has a specific interest in a sport, they can attend the summer sports camp, which also runs between 9 am and 5 pm.
Coaches are available to train the children by giving directions on how they can improve their game.
You can register for the camp online through the website or manually by mailing the application form.
2. Trail Blazers Brooklyn Bridge Park Camp
- 394 Rogers Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225
- Phone: 212-529-5113
- Visit Website
According to a global survey that was conducted, 60% of young people aged between 16 and 25 reported that they were extremely or very worried about the effects of climate change.
The Trail Blazers Brooklyn Bridge Park Day Camp understands these concerns and has developed a camp program that brings awareness to the environment and how humans affect it.
This program came about as a result of collaboration between Trailblazer, a non-profit, and the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The themes explored during the program are focused on the environment, and some examples are “Call of the Wild”, “Camp ROCKS” and “Make Waves”.
They complement the activities the children are involved in, which include taking part in training on survival skills, being taught how to identify plants and animals, and knot-tying.
Programs are designed for kids entering kindergarten through grade 3 and are run in small groups that the campers will be part of till the end of the 8-week program. This year, the camp runs from July 5th to August 25th, 2022.
3. Aegir Hybrid Skate and Art Camp
- 99 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
- Phone: 347-987-3825
- Visit Website
Aegir Hybrid Skate and Art Camp is a combination of two programs offered by two different companies.
Skating lessons are offered by Aegir all year round and include after-school, weekend, spring, and summer camp lessons.
On the other hand, the art camp is offered by the Creatively Wild Art Studio located at 98 Water Street, Brooklyn.
This hybrid camp runs between 9 am and 4 pm. In the morning, the campers are at Golconda Part where they are taught how to skate.
Skating lessons are offered to beginners and skilled campers and done in groups of between 1 to 4 children.
A typical group will have 1 to 2 instructors. If your child does not have skating gear like wrist and knee pads, you can borrow them at Aegir, but they will be required to come with their helmet.
The kids will then have lunch between 12 pm to 1 pm, after which they go to the Creatively Wild Art Studio.
Here, they will be exposed to learning techniques and real-world applications for recycled art materials and non-traditional media.
The fee for both the skating and art lessons is $170, and the camp is open for children aged between 5 and 16 years.
If you would like for your child to attend it this year, the camp will run on weekdays from June 20th to September 9th.
4. CAMBA’s Summer Camps
- Location: Multiple, check here.
- Phone: Multiple, check here.
- Visit Website
CAMBA is a nonprofit organization that is based in New York and is concerned with providing educational and recreational programs for young people.
These programs include after-school sessions and summer camps, and they are primarily concerned with training in STEM subjects.
The summer camps are offered in multiple locations around Brooklyn, including Rugby Road, Remsen Avenue, Albany Avenue, and Marlborough Road. You can check out all their locations through this link.
During the camp, kids are involved in hands-on activities, field trips, dancing, arts and crafts, sports, and visual arts. On top of intellectual engagement, campers get a chance to form friendships through socialization.
Some of CAMBA’s partners include Brooklyn Conservatory of Music which provides a Music Therapy program, as well as the National Book Foundation which has collaborated with CAMBA on a program named “BookUp.”
5. Brooklyn Nets Basketball Academy Summer Camp
- Aviator Sports and Events Center – 3159 Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11234
- Email: bknba@brooklynnets.com
- Visit Website
Just as the name suggests, Brooklyn Nets Basketball Academy Summer Camp is concerned with fostering your child’s basketball skills.
The program is open to children between the ages of 6 and 14 and involves one-on-one instruction from trainers. It is divided into three categories depending on age and ability.
The Rookie category includes kids between the ages of 6 to 8, Sophomore is for those between 9 to 11 years of age, and Veterans are between 12 and 14 years old.
The academy accepts players of all skill levels and provides an opportunity for them to learn about the game, improved their physical and tactical skills, and get involved in the Brooklyn basketball culture. The sessions run from 9 am to 2 pm, and the camp fee is $400.
6. BASIS Independent Brooklyn Summer Camp
- 556 Columbia St, Brooklyn, NY 11231, United States
- Phone: 917-473-1615
- Visit Website
BASIS offers several summer programs, including the Day Camp and Specialty Camps.
The Day Camp is for young children who are in kindergarten through the 5th grade and is divided into two groups depending on age; that is, Pre-School and School-Age Camps.
The day campers participate in activities such as art adventures, playing games, making music, and exploring science and nature.
In the Specialty Summer Camp, the kids narrow down on an interest or talent that they would like to explore further.
Their activities include building video game characters, making a ukulele and learning the fundamentals of playing it and using clay to make movie characters.
There is also a LitCamp for campers interested in writing, as well as a robotics program that allows kids to explore the real-world application of robots.
Specialty camps are available in three sessions: the AM session is from 8.30 am to 11.30 am, Lunch is from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm, and the PM session is from 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm.
Extension hours are also available, with the Early bird between 7.30 am and 8.30 am, and the Late bird between 3.30 pm and 5.30 pm.
This year, the camps start on June 27th and end on September 2nd, during the weekdays.
7. New York Aquarium School Break Camps
- 602 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224, United States
- Phone: 718-265-3474
- Visit Website
During the long summer holidays, the New York Aquarium runs a camp for children from kindergarten through the 8th grade.
The camp is environmentally themed, and it aims to foster children’s curiosity and critical thinking skills in scientific themes.
The campers are divided according to age, starting with prekindergarten and kindergarten kids.
This group gets to see super sea creatures, visit exhibits, and work on hands-on science activities. 1st and 2nd graders learn about sharks’ anatomy, habitats, and behaviors.
They are also taught how to use materials from nature to make art, for instance, by making sand sculptures and using seaweed to paint.
3rd through 5th graders will enjoy being ecology detectives by investigating mysteries of the ocean through exploration and experiments.
They are also taught about what goes into making an aquarium habitat by the designers and get involved in designing, building, and testing out such aquariums hands-on.
Finally, campers in 6th grade through 8th grade are involved in an activity named Seavengers. Here, they investigate and come up with solutions to the problems occurring in the oceans.
This year, the camp will run from June 27th to September 7th between 9 am and 3 pm. You can see the schedule of activities on this link here.
Extended care is also available from 3 pm to 5 pm and during this time, your child will engage in free play and visit exhibits if the weather permits.
8. Kim’s Kids Summer Camp
- 378 3rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11215, United States
- Phone: 718-768-6419
- Visit Website
Kim’s Kids Summer Camp is located in Park Slope and is for children between the ages of 4.5 to 12 years.
The activities offered here include going on hiking trails, climbing rocks, running, exploring nature, and visiting sites across the city.
What is most attractive about this camp is the novelty the kids experience every day by doing something new or visiting somewhere they have not been before.
Expect your child to come home with stories of how they rode a camel at the Bronx Zoo or walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to have lunch in Chinatown.
The drop-off for children is at Park Slope – PS 321 on weekday mornings at 9 am, although there is an early bird option for 8 am. Pick up is at the same location at 3 pm, but there is a late option at 5 pm.
Extra hours are charged at $8 per hour. You can enroll your kid for the one, two, three, four, five, or six-week sessions. Check out their schedule of activities for 2022 here on their website
9. Child’s Play NY Camp
- 81 Prospect St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, United States
- Phone: 347-759-6313
- Visit Website
This summer camp is for children who have an interest in theatre and is offered to campers between the ages of 3 and 11.
The camp is divided into three groups according to their age: Adventure Series for kids between 3 to 4, Player Series for those aged 5 and 6, and the Showmakers Series for older children aged between 7 and 11.
The Adventure Series involves themes such as animal adventures, superheroes on stage, and unicorns plus dragons.
Activities are done between 9 am and 12 pm, and at the end of each session, parents are invited to a movie showcasing the theatre games, stories, and music videos that were played throughout the week. This series costs $400 per child per week.
The Player Series allows the kids to explore fantasy realms that flex their imaginative muscles.
Examples of themes for this series include Pride Rock, Frozen Adventures, Magic Tree House, and Wizard of Oz.
The Showmakers Series, on the other hand, is where kids get hands-on acting experience through creating original stories, rehearsing, and performing them.
All the camp sessions are taught by expert theatre artists and performers, and kids of all skill levels are welcome.
The Player and Showmakers Series each cost $700 per child and run between 9 am and 3 pm. This year the camp will be running between 1st August and 2nd September.
10. Brooklyn Game Lab Day Camp
- 310 7th Ave floor 1, Brooklyn, NY 11215, United States
- Phone: 718-788-1122
- Visit Website
If your child has an interest in gaming, you can consider taking them to the Brooklyn Game Lab Day Camp. Here, children are taught how to play and analyze games as well as how to modify them.
They play games such as Code Names, Unstable Unicorns, King of Tokyo, and Carcassone. Battle Lab is another outdoor game where the kids create characters and use foam weapons to play with each other.
The camp is divided into small groups of six kids who are supervised by one adult. Here, they learn teamwork, communication skills, and how to think logically.
The camp is open weekdays between 9 am and 3 pm, but extra hours are available. Early drop-off is done at 8 am, and late pickup is done at 6 pm.
Conclusion
If you are considering taking your child to a summer camp in Brooklyn this holiday, I hope that this list has been helpful to you.
Choosing a good summer camp means that your child will explore and learn new skills, make new friends, and have fun in the process.
Please let us know what you think of this article in the comments, and if you liked it, please share it with your community of parent friends.
Consider also summer camps at Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club in Dumbo!
All the gear is provided.
https://brooklynbridgefencing.com/summer-camp/