Los Angeles Zoo Camp

Love animals? Consider L.A. Zoo camp. They have winter, spring and summer camp programs for kids ages 4 to 9 in Los Angeles. Check it out.

Los Angeles Fencing Camps

We're always on the lookout for new and unique summer camps in Los Angeles. Ever considered fencing camp?

Los Angeles Golf Camps

Wow, we were just looking at the statistics for this blog and it seems cheer camps in Los Angeles is a popular camp idea.You know what else seems to be gaining steam from (summer camp standpoint) among L.A. area kids? Golf camps!

Years ago summer golf camps were quite popular among kids, then their popularity died off some. Now they're back with a vengeance. In fact two camp directors we know have already reported record enrollment for the upcoming summer and it's only December now!

L.A. Magazine lists Tregnan Golf Academy as L.A.'s best golf camp so check it out.

Many country clubs and public courses also offer summer golf camps for kids as listed in Southland Golf Magazine.com.

US Golf School Guide is also a nice resource.

Los Angeles Overnight Camps

No matter what you call them -- sleepaway camps, overnight camps, residential camps, etc. -- there's no shortage of overnight summer camps in L.A. where kids can leave home for a period of weeks or months to live at camp all summer...What a blast!

Here is a link to various overnight camps in Los Angeles for your convenience.

Don't forget, one of the differences between day camps (where kids attend camp during the day but return home each afternoon) and sleepaway camps is the potential for homesickness.

Campers not prone to homesickness, or those who are used to sleeping over at friends' houses from time to time, may fare better at sleepaway camps. This is one reason many day camps begin accepting campers as young as 3, but many overnight camps have a minimum age requirement of 6, 8 or more.

Los Angeles Secret Agent Summer Camps

In the past few years, Secret Agent Camps have grown as fast as any other type of specialty summer camp for kids in Los Angeles. If you are considering several different camps this summer, make sure secret agent camp is in the mix. Pali Adventures, an overnight camp just outside Los Angeles in the San Bernadino Mountains, is among the pioneers of secret agent summer programs. Be sure to check them out!

Los Angeles Acting Camps

Has your son expressed interest in the performing arts? Does you daughter want to be a famous actress? Sign your kids up for summer acting camp!

L.A. is the movie industry's home, so you're already ahead of the game. Two of the more notable acting camps in L.A. are:

1. Young Actors Camp; and
2. Kids on Stage

These aren't your only acting camp options, not by a long shot, but they're two good places to start.

Are Non-Accredited Camps Bad Camps?

Well it looks like our recent post about the value and importance of choosing an Accredited summer camp stirred up a hornet's next of anger among non-accredited camps. Many directors of non-accredited camps who read this blog emailed us with accusations of being biased towards accredited summer programs, and asking us to tell you their camps are just as good. (Why they emailed their thoughts without publicly commenting, who knows?)

Anyway, to an extent these camp directors may be right; there are many non-accredited summer camps for kids here in L.A. that are very good camps. Just because a camp is not accredited doesn't mean it's not a great camp. But if a camp is accredited, then you'll know it meets or exceeds certain best-practice industry standards, whereas non-accredited camps may not be required to do so, that's all we're saying.

Should You Choose an Accredited Summer Camp?

When you pick a summer camp in Los Angeles for your child, one of your selection criteria might be to make sure you choose an accredited summer camp. The American Camp Association is the accrediting body you're looking for. You probably wouldn't send your child to a non-accredited school, so why send them to a non-accredited camp? Camp accreditation is the best way to go if you want to be sure the camp meets industry-best safety standards, staff hiring and supervision practices and more.

Los Angeles Hockey Camps

We discussed finding Los Angeles sports camps in an earlier post. One unique kind of sports camps are hockey camps. Hockey is becoming extremely popular among L.A. kids -- it's a very fast growing sport. Check out the Rink Time website to find a Los Angeles hockey camp in your area.

Los Angeles Jewish Camps

Many Los Angeles families favor sending their kids to religious-based summer camps. Jewish summer camp programs rank high on the list. If you're looking for something like that, here are two websites to try:

http://www.mysummercamps.com/camps/Religious_Camps/Jewish/index.html

http://judaism.about.com/od/jewishsummercamps/a/summercamps.htm

How to Choose an Extreme Sports Camp

Looking for an "Extreme" summer camp in Los Angeles? Check out this article comparing and contrasting extreme summer camps with traditional ones.

Los Angeles Cheerleading Camps

Looking for a Los Angeles summer camp that focuses on cheerleading? Many gymnastics camps also offer cheerleading summer programs, so you might look into those. Cheer Mania is another cheer camp to condsider.

Los Angeles Volleyball Camps

We discussed L.A summer sports camps in a previous post, and briefly mentioned summer volleyball camps therein. Just a few minutes ago, we received an email from Ellen Baker, a website vistor in Chatsworth:

"Dear LA Summer Camps, 

Can you recommend any volleyball summer camps in the los angeles area? My 13 year old daughter is interested in attending one."

Thanks for your question, Ellen. There's a number of volleyball summer camp opportunities for your daughter. We recommend visiting the Local Sports Camp website, then scrolling down the page to the volleyball section. You will find girls volleyball camps in Northridge, at UCLA, and at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester (near LAX). Hope this helps.

Los Angeles Sports Camps

If the summer camper in your life can't get enough football, baseball, basketball, or even other sports like surfing or volleyball, try a sports camp.

For a surf camp, Aloha Beach Camp is a good choice.

For general sports camp, Sports Plus is a well-known day camp, and Canyon Creek is a prominent overnight camp.

There are many others...just to go google, yahoo or bing and type in, "Los Angeles Sports Camps." You'll be pleasantly surprised how many there are to choose from!

Los Angeles Arts and Crafts Camps

Arts and Crafts Summer Camps are a very popular choice among L.A. area children. There's a number of opportunities available. You might try Summer Art Academy as a starting point. From what we understand, this camp has a good reputation and several locations for your convenience.

Los Angeles Swimming Camps

Many Los Angeles summer camps offer swimming lessons and activities. In fact swimming is a core activity at most camps. When you sign up, your child will probably have swimming incorporated into his or her daily activity schedule on a regular basis. If you are looking for a more dedicated L.A. swimming summer camp experience, here's a good place to start.

Free Los Angeles Summer Camps

From time to time we get asked about free summer camp opportunities in L.A. We don't have any free camps (that we're aware of) listed on the site right now. The best way to find them is probably just to Google "free los angeles summer camps" and see what comes up. There's probably a bunch of nice alternatives out there for you :)

Are Accredited Summer Camps Better Than Non-Accredited Camps?

We commented recently about the importance of picking a summer camp accredited by the American Camp Association. This prompted a few emails from parents wanting to know if accredited camps are "better" than non-accredited ones. The answer is by all means no, it doesn't mean that at all.

When you pick a summer camp that has earned accreditation, you get the peace of mind of knowing that camp is complying with up to 300 best practice industry standards from activity programming to staff hiring to child-to-counselor ratios to safety and more in the summer camp field.

Perhaps many non-accredited camps meet these standards too, but you will never know unless you ask the camp director why his or her camp has not achieved accreditation.
If the answer is unsatisfactory to you, you can always find another camp.

But getting back to our original question, it is important to note that many non-accredited camps may be just as "good" (a subjective term for sure) as those which are accredited.