Community Corner
Updated: 2012 Silicon Valley Summer Camp Guide
Patch readers weighed in on their favorite local summer camps for kids. Have more to add?
From horseback riding to creating short films, there are many choices for kids in Santa Clara County to stay busy—and entertained—this summer.
Last week, we asked you for your suggestions on local camps, and the following are what you wanted us to include in our guide. If you see a favorite camp that's not included, let us know! Email Associate Local Editor Rachel Stern at rachel.stern@patch.com, or leave us a comment, and we'll put it in the guide.
Science/Technology
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NEW: Camp Edmo & Camp EdTech (Los Altos) - Held at Oak School, Camp Edmo has themed camps for Grades K-4, and Camp EdTech has camps for Grades 5-9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pre- and after-camp care available, including a Lego after-camp option.
Camp Galileo With Silicon Valley locations in Palo Alto, Los Altos and Sunnyvale, this camp, which utilizes a local parent advisory board in each location, encourages kids to brainstorm and think like innovators through a variety of hands-on projects and activities. It's not only science, it's arts and music. Camp Galileo at Almond School is for pre-K to 5th graders; Galileo Summer Quest in Palo Alto High School is 5th-8th graders; plus two specialty camps held at The Tech Museum in San Jose and the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.
iD Tech Camp Set at Stanford, students 7-17 can learn to create iPhone apps, video games, C++/Java Programs, 3D models, websites, movies, and more.
AwesomEngineering (Cupertino) Kids 6-13 learn fundamental construction and enginnering concepts using instructional toys.
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Arts
Muse Company A five-day performing arts summer camp based at Foothill College, Lohman Theater. Students will work with professional directors, choreographers, vocal directors and theater professionals to mount a full scale theater production in two weeks! Productions include full sound, lighting, extensive sets, costumes and publicity, with performances on August 10 and August 11.
Hogwarts Camp (Cupertino) Wave a wand and like magic campers are transported to Hogwarts School where they will learn how to cast spells, create magic potions and learn the art of wizard duels.
Community School of Music and Arts (Mountain View) CSMA camps and workshops provide children with the opportunity to express, explore, create and enjoy the arts in a relaxing, safe and fun environment.
LosAltos Kidz Adventures (Los Altos) From Beginning Spanish to pottery, this camp offers a variety of enrichment classes for kids.
DesignKidz (Los Altos and Mountain View) Hosted out of local schools, children entering grades 2 through 8 learn the ins-and-outs of fashion design, accessory design and interior design.
DigiQuest (Mountain View and Palo Alto) From advanced animation to digital studio production, this camp provides hands-on workshops on all things film-related.
Peninsula Youth Theater (Mountain View) With age appropriate programs for kids ages 6 to 14, children prepare for the popular “Theater in the Park” program held throughout Mountain View and Los Altos.
Musical Revue (Cupertino) Learn character building, stage presence and movement in this camp that focuses on different elements of group production and performing skills.
Community School of Music and Arts (Mountain View) CSMA camps and workshops provide children with the opportunity to express, explore, create music in a relaxing, safe and fun environment.
General Recreation
Added: Imagineerz. This program, aimed at Grades 1-4, expands from its pilot version last year into Los Altos. Children use stories and characters to learn problem-solving techniques, fueled by their own imagination and creativity. (Los Altos and Mountain View)
Steve and Kate’s Camp With several camps across the Peninsula and South Bay, including Los Altos and Campbell, this camp boasts a variety of different fun-filled activities everyday from film-making to water-sliding.
JCC Summer Camp (Palo Alto) From specialty camps like archery to teen leadership training, there’s a lot going on this summer at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center.
Kwan Academy (Cupertino) From building environmentally friendly robots to learning chess, children have a variety of activities they can sign up for.
Horses
Summer Riding Camp - Los Altos Hills Recreation offers weeklong sessions for ages 6-13 at . Each rider, 6-13, is assigned his or her own horse for the week to get the feel for the responsibility and fun of horse ownership. Contact Jane Kawasaki at (650) 492-1620 or janekawa@gmail.com
Horseback Riding (Saratoga) A Cupertino Parks and Recreation camp taught by Garrod Farms staff, students will learn all about horses including how to groom, mount/dismount, saddle, navigate trails and more.
Language Immersion
German-American School of Palo Alto Children ages 3 to 12 participate in a variety of fun outdoor activities, all conducted in German.
Let’s Play in Spanish / Juguemos en Español Children 3 to 8 years old are fully immersed in the Spanish language through a variety of activities.
LanguageArts (Palo Alto) Children ages 6 to 17 can immerse themselves in Spanish, French, Hindi, Mandarin or German through a variety of engaging, hands-on activities at this language school in downtown Palo Alto.
Yew-Chung International School (Mountain View) No prior Chinese is necessary for these Mandarin-immersion summer camps.
Mandarin Culture Camp (Mountain View) Offered through Mountain View Recreation, by i-Immersion, this three-hour morning camp for one week in August features cooking, holiday lessons and more, in Mandarin Chinese. Aimed at children 4-8 years old.
Spanish Culture Camp (Mountain View) Offered through Mountain View Recreation, by i-Immersion, this three-hour morning camp for one week in July also features cooking and holiday lessons, in Spanish. Aimed at children 4-8 years old.
This Chinese language immersion camp is designed for elementary age children with no experience in Chinese language.
International School of the Peninsula (Palo Alto) This camp offers two-week sessions in Chinese, French, Spanish and ESL (English as a Second Language).
Nature
Hidden Villa Summer Camps - For 60 years, Hidden Villa's summer camps have educated children about living in and about nature, for kids 1st -4th grade for day camp, and sleepaway camps for 5th graders and up.
Green Bean Kidz - This is a a nature exploration education program for children and their accompanying adult; preschool, ages 2 - 5. The focus is on ecology, preservation, and environmental awareness. Children explore, climb trees, walk in creeks, look for animals, bugs, and birds and learn about plants, animals and ecosystems.
Sports
Decathlon Sports Club. (Los Altos) Established in 1981, the camp held at Blach Intermediate School has been around long enough for campers to become counselors themselves. It is a combination of structure to teach a sport, but also plenty of summertime recreation of water fights, swimming, treasure hunts, trivia, arts & crafts, hide and seek, tug-of-war, kick-the-can, board games, card-trading, prizes.... that makes summer feel like summer.
Above and Beyond Basketball (Los Altos) A summer camp for budding basketball players.
Golden Eagle Sports Camp – Based at both Los Altos High School and Homestead High School in Cupertino, this camp allows kids to try out a plethora of sports. Children ages 5-13 can get instruction in swimming, tennis, golf, softball, badminton, as well as indulge in summer pleasure such as a slip and slide and barbeques. Its core strength is its swimming program that turn non-swimmers into swimmers with water-safe capabilities.
Spartan Sports This camp offers coaching from the Mountain View High School athletic staff and student athletes, and is new for 2012. It is running basketball clinics for kids, Grades 3-9 on April 21, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Additional listings
Los Altos Recreation Summer 2012
- Los Altos Patch Editor L.A. Chung contributed to this report
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