Summer vacation will be here in about 8 weeks. Every spring I get anxious wondering what will I do with my four kids over the summer? How do I keep them entertained? How can I keep their brains from going mush from watching too much TV, or playing on their IPads, Kindles, Xbox’s or phones? When they were younger, it was easy. The zoo, the beach, camping and theme parks were always favorites. Now that our children are older, it is harder to keep them on task and focused. We want them to have a break from school, but we also want them to be productive individuals. Summer camps are a great opportunity to meet other kids as well as discover new adventures.
I have several friends who send their children to “sleep away camps” for several weeks. There are many great camps to chose from in the state of Texas. Our children tried a sleep away camp for one week, but did not like it. Secretly, I was very grateful! Although I wanted them to have the opportunity to get out of the valley and experience something different, I missed them terribly!
Pink Sherbet Photography / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
This year, we are taking a different approach to summer camp. I took on the daunting task of finding an educational camp for our three older children. Our criteria was:
a) something challenging but fun
b) preferably one to two weeks long
c) a day camp
d) in the state of Texas
I was pleasantly surprised to find (GOOGLE) many educational camps through out the state. Our own university, UTPA, has several camps on engineering and sciences. The list below range in ages from 6-17 years old. Please visit the websites to get more information.
1. Aquatic Sciences Adventure Camp
www.eardc.txstate.edu/education-center
2. ID Tech Camp
3. Education in Action (Lone Star Leadership Academy)
4. TexPrep at UTPA
5. Archaeology Camp at Crow Canyon
6. Armand Bayou Nature Summer Eco Camp
7. Badgerdog Creative Writing Summer Camp
8. Baylor’s University for Young People (UYP)
9. Science: It’s a Girl Thing
10. Bricks 4 Kidz
Let us hear from you! Send us a quick comment if you know of other educational camps in Texas that your kids have loved!
COMING SOON!
Summer Camps in the Rio Grande Valley
I manage Camps on The RIo …I am very interested in starting educational camps here in the RGV. I am looking for other interested folks to look into plans for the fall and winter months.