Top Summer Camps in Washington for 2017
The Best Summer Camps for Kids in the Pacific Northwest
With school out in a matter of days, and summer just around the corner, many families are faced with the task of choosing a camp for their children that will make everyone happy.
Luckily, there are a lot to choose from!
Several websites offer comprehensive lists of camps, including descriptions and links to the relevant organization, and/or the ability to run a customized search.
Here are a few:
- 40+ Summer Camps for Seattle Area Kids
- 26 Summer Camps for Kids in the South Sound
- Seattle Summer Camps
- Summer Camps Around Thurston County
- 427 Summer Camps in Washington State
No time to sift through all of those options?
Browse some of our Top Summer Camp picks:
Summer Camps in the Olympia Area
Arts and Craft Summer Camps
Hand stitching, making puppets, or real clothes.
Options for kids and teens ages 6 1/2 to 19.
Perfecting fine motor skills and powering imagination, for budding designers, and fashionistas!
Teen options include a 3-day workshop on sewing tricks for babysitters.
Disney Cuisine at Bayview Cooking School
When you wish upon a star, you can make and eat food from Disney movies such as Frozen and Ratatouille.
For happily-ever-after chefs ages 8 to 13.
Performing Arts Summer Camps
Programs and workshops cater for various tastes, levels, and ages.
Includes ballet, tap, modern jazz, and hip-hop.
Taught in the dedicated studio, The Beat Box.
For developing and experienced dancers! 7-week intensive ballet programs available for ballet levels 1 to 6. Kids’ workshops start from age 4.
12-weeks of theater camps for kids and teens ages 5 to 18.
Kids’ themes include Superheroes and Dr. Seuss (with the Cat in the Hat in Spanish, too.)
Teens’ themes include improv.
For future thespians and stage hands!
Sports Summer Camps
On the Evergreen State College campus.
Full day basketball, volleyball, and soccer camps for kids and teens ages 8 to 15.
‘Elite’ volleyball and soccer options for experienced players ages 14 to 18.
For future Geoducks!
Sail away!
Camps for kids and teens ages 6 to 18 offered by the Olympia Yacht Club in partnership with Olympia Parks and Recreation & Gig Harbor Junior Sailing.
Anchors away!
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Summer Camps
And young women without limits!
YMCA programs that offer workshops, field trips, and hands-on activities such as investigating nature, computer programming, coding, app designing, filming, and video editing.
Programs also promise to promote confidence, skill building, and career awareness.
For middle and high school age girls.
Summer Camps in the Seattle Area
Performing Arts Summer Camps
From fairy tales to Shakespeare, children as young as 4 and teens through 12th grade can experience the art of acting both on stage and for the camera.
Final performances include hit musical Hamilton.
School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA)
Trampoline, juggling, flying trapeze, tight wire, acrobatics, and aerial arts are some of the specialties explored in the camps.
Programs promise to help students get more confident and physically fit.
5-day full-day or half-day camps for kids and teens ages 6 to 17.
No previous experience required for circus art camps.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Summer Camps
DigiPen ProjectFUN Summer Workshops
Programs include video game programming, art and animation, game design, engineering, and sound & music design.
For kids and tens grades 1 to 12+.
1 to 4 week options depending on grade.
All programs reinforce the students’ knowledge of core academic subjects like math, physics, art, and writing.
Summer Camps in the Everett Area
Performing Arts Summer Camps
Acting and musical theater camps for grades Pre-K to 12th.
Productions including Star Wars, The Jungle Book, and Comedy Improv.
Sports Summer Camps
“The most fun on the water this side of Hawaii”
Offering a broad range of water sports including kayaking, paddleboarding, wakeboarding, sailing, skim boarding, and innertubing – plus, knowledge and respect of the marine ecosystem.
Eight, 1-week, camps for campers divided into four groups based on their school grade in the fall of 2017.
Leaders in Training (LIT), outdoor leadership course offered in weeks 4 and 8 for grades 11 to 12.
Multi-Activity Summer Camps
A broad range of activities on Killogua’s 185-acre site.
Ten, 1-week, sessions with weekly themes, such as, Superheros, Pirates, Wild West, Space, and Science.
General camp activities include swimming, boating, outdoor cooking, and crafts.
Specialty camps include Horse Camp and Robotics.
For grades K to 8. Day Camp Assistant program available for grades 8 and up.
Summer Camps in the Tacoma Area
Performing Arts Summer Camps
Camps hone skills of students ages 3 to 106 by having them prepare a play.
Options depend on age/school grade and include Winnie the Pooh, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Sherlock Holmes, with Charlotte’s Web as a multi-generational experience.
Multi-Activity Summer Camps
Comprehensive range of options across the board.
Ages 4 to 18.
Arts and crafts include sculpting classes (ages 9 to 15) and food truck classes (ages 11 to 18).
Theater camps include Slam Poetry (ages 11+).
Sports camps include Ninja Martial Arts (ages 7 to 12), Skateboarding (ages 6 to 12), and Cheerleading (ages 5 to 11).
STEM camps include Lego (ages 5 to 14).
In addition there are Nature camps, Adventure camps, and Marina camps.
Summer Camps with Multiple Locations
Arts and Crafts Summer Camps
Clay Animation Network (CAN) hosts programs that teach how to create animated movies with clay or Lego pieces.
Students learn about set, character, and story construction and use ipads to edit video and sound.
Options for grades K to 9.
Sports Summer Camps
Very comprehensive range of sports, including, basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, golf, and lacrosse.
For ages 4 to 12.
Offers vary by location and age.
Skill-focused basketball, soccer, and volleyball camps that aim at helping participants excel on and off the court.
Full-day, extended-day, and overnight options are available, depending on location.
Age options vary by location.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Summer Camps
ID Tech Camps
Offerings include game design, web design, coding, programming in Java and C++, Minecraft modding, filmmaking, robotics, and photography.
For ages 6 to 18. Maximum 8 students per instructor.
Customized teaching and learning experiences.
One all-girls program for ages 10 to 15.
Summer Camps in Washington for Adults
Pacific Northwest Adult Summer Camps for 2017
Children and teens have more than enough to choose from.
And what about adults?
Here are some finds for parents who need a break from their kids, couples who need some time apart, singles ready to mingle, new-in-towns looking to connect, and any adults looking to find inspiration, fun, or…. themselves!
Adult Summer Camps in the Olympia Area
Weekend camp (Friday, June 23rd to Sunday, June 25th) for women.
Includes daily riding lessons, polo lessons (taught by Polo Pro, Ernie Darquea), catered meals, and wine.
Takes place at the Manor at South Bay in Olympia, WA.
For horse crazy girls!
Adult Summer Camps in the Seattle Area
Camp NoCounselors
Offering sports, such as archery, basketball, softball, canoeing, and kayaking; crafts such as painting, tie-dye, bracelet making; and games such as capture the flag and color war.
Plenty of opportunities to just lay back, sunbathe, and relax.
This camp also promises well kept, clean cabins, mouthwatering chef-made food, and open bar at meal times with cocktails at breakfast, wine and beer at lunch, and everything from happy hour onward!
An all-inclusive 4-day weekend packed full of activities such as kayaking, horseback riding, rock-wall climbing, and silent disco dancing.
Live concerts at sunset and 4-course alcohol-free meals.
Yoga and wellness retreat organized by Seattle-based Via Yago and hosted at the Inn at Langley Resort and Spa on Whidbey Island.
Enjoy group wellness activities or solo-time.
Take in the 180-degree view of Saratoga Passage, or close your eyes.
Breath in, breath out.
Adult Summer Camps in the Tacoma Area
Offering an audition mastering weekend (July 21st to 23rd) and a skill building week for actors of all levels of experience (July 31st to August 4th).
For ages 18 and over.
Adult Summer Camps with Various Locations in the Northwest
Offering a range of courses from beginners to advanced, with certifications available.
The basic course combines a theory/knowledge part online and part in the classroom, to learn the fundamentals, with 2 days of sailing practice on the water.
The advanced program provided extended offshore training (1 to 2 weeks) on catamarans, between exotic ports.
All courses offer personalized small-group instruction by highly experienced sailors and captains.
