2020 Denver Summer Camp Guide

By Mile High Mamas on March 2, 2020 No Comments

Believe it or not, summer camp season is here!

To help you navigate the many wonderful camps in Denver, we have compiled a Colorado Summer Camp Guide for 2020. In addition to this directory, we will be featuring a variety of Denver camps over the next few months that give a more in-depth glimpse of camp life so keep checking in. Also, don’t procrastinate–many spots are filling up quickly! There have been some closures due to COVID; be sure to read the governor’s directives on the matter.

Camp Categories

Arts Camps (music, dance, etc.)

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Featured Summer Camps

Pedalheads Bike and Trail Camps

Pedalheads offers learn-to-ride bike programs in over 140 cities across Canada and the USA. Parents love the small class sizes so they can get individualized instruction and ultimately, we want the kids to gain confidence and have fun! Our program is reputed for helping kids ages 3-12 get off training wheels and safely ride on the road. Our program includes:

Beginner to advanced levels
3-hour half-day camps and 7-hour full-day camps
Private lessons
Before and aftercare options

Bike camp locations: Hampden South, Stapleton, Washington Park, and Highlands Ranch. Pedalheads is planning to run camps this summer albeit they may look a bit different. There are inherent safeties of our camps being outdoors and done on bikes that create additional social distancing. Register at https://pedalheads.com/camp

Keystone Science School

Keystone Science School hosts a wide variety of programs including overnight, adventure, and day camps which all combine Science, Adventure, & FUN! Our flagship program is our traditional overnight camp known as Discovery Camp. Every Discovery Camp session includes a backpacking overnight, challenge hike, team-building activities, and traditional songs by the campfire. Campers can also choose from two Adventure based programs known as Keystone Voyagers or Keystone Mountain Adventures. As a Keystone Voyager, campers mountain bike, rock climb, day hike, or whitewater raft before finishing their night around the campfire. Keystone Mountain Adventures is our wildest adventure program where campers spend the majority of their time in the backcountry while backpacking and exploring National Parks around the mountain west. Our Day Camp programs are all based in Keystone, Colorado and each week-long session has it’s own programmatic theme. We incorporate creative activities, team-building, and investigative learning into each day. keystonescienceschool.org

Avid4 Adventure

With a focus on the health and safety of campers and staff, we have been working incredibly hard over the past several weeks to create three adapted summer programs that dramatically reduce large group contact. Programs available for the summer of 202 include Small Group Outdoor Adventures and Camp at Home for Pre K – 7th graders M-F 9 am to 3 pm plus weeklong AM & PM Online Camp sessions. We’re also offering our existing small group Expedition Overnight Camps in Colorado and the Bay Area of California These programs will all deliver the same outdoor focused, professional, and empowering experiences that you are used to receiving from Avid4 Adventure with help from our experienced, health and background screened instructors. Learn more about our new programs and sign up at https://avid4.com/programs-overview. Plus, we’ve got a special promotion for Online Camp! Register here and use this code at checkout for a $10 registration ($89 off) for any week in May: ONLINE10

Iliff Adventure Day Camp

Iliff’s Post-Kindergarten Adventure Summer Camp is designed to provide experiences for everyone to build lasting relationships that encourage healthy development, positive risk-taking and a sense of belonging and security. Campers spend their days with professionally trained counselors who focus entirely on the success of the children, encouraging them to explore and play, swim, participate in sports, and experience activities in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and music). In addition, campers explore all that Denver offers in privately- owned school buses. Enrollment forms and Weekly Themes (Post kindergarten-Age 12) available online or by calling the center. Ask any camper and they will tell you….it all adds up to a super fun summer. iliffpreschool.com

Denver Kent School

Have the best summer ever at Kent Denver School! We offer 100+ camps for kids ages 3–18 in arts, athletics, tech, academics & more! Partners offering camps at KDS this year include Eurekus, Central City Opera, Denver Children’s Choir, Lighthouse Writers & TriVelo.

Perform in Lion King, Beauty & The Beast, Fame, Seussical, Hairspray, or Magic Treehouse. Explore Hogwarts, sing with Denver Children’s Choir or Central City Opera, and more!
Sports camps with Kent Denver’s legendary coaches: basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, volleyball, strength/conditioning, plus bike camp with TriVelo!
Arts classes in painting, sculpture, photography, cooking, ceramics, fabric, paper mache and more for kids of all ages!
Tech classes in VEX robotics, coding, architecture, plus amazing STEAM classes from Eurekus!
Academic opportunities speech & debate, transitioning to middle and high school, creative writing with Lighthouse Writers, SCUBA certification, outdoor survival, future doctors, young architects and more!

Go to kentdenver.org/about/summeratkds

Play-Well TEKnologies

Dream it, build it, wreck it, repeat in these LEGO-inspired engineering summer camps! Your kid will engineer interesting projects, engage in critical thinking, work collaboratively and learn STEM concepts through playing with LEGO. Play-Well staff have backgrounds in engineering, astrophysics, mathematics, education and more. Their love of LEGO® and STEM create a unique and vibrant learning environment. The kids have an absolute blast playing with LEGO® while also exploring new ideas, gaining knowledge and making friends.

Each Play-Well camp includes over 20,000 LEGO pieces! Kids can choose from different themes like Star Wars, Minecraft, Harry Potter, Robotics and Stop Motion. Campers ages 5 – 12 get to travel into their favorite worlds where they can build with LEGO-like never before. Play-Well has camps all over the Denver area as well as many other cities in Colorado including Fort Collins, Boulder, Colorado Springs and more. play-well.org

Blue Mountain Ranch

Blue Mountain Ranch as made the difficult decision to not open this summer. There are many factors that led us to make this decision. Between the guidelines from the American Camp Association and the Environmental Heath and Engineering and the pace at which information is coming from the state and local governments surrounding Covid-19, we realized that the joy and discovery of the Blue Mountain Ranch experience could not be achieved this summer. This decision was made with the goal of protecting the safety, health and wellness of campers, staff and families. When you break it down, social distancing and summer camps just do not go hand and hand. We will be back next summer for our 75^th anniversary! bluemountainranch.com

Dinosaur Ridge Summer Day Camp

Dinosaur Ridge Summer Day Camps are an unforgettable adventure! We offer 9-weeks of day camps for campers ages 6-13. Each weekly camp offers an exploration of the Dinosaur Ridge fossil sites, hands-on science projects, as well as expert guest presenters in the fields of paleontology, geology, art, earth science, or local plants and animals. These experiences are designed to foster excitement and wonder for science, art, and the outdoors while engaging in our hands-on educational curriculum. Our weekly camps keep kids moving and discovering in the incredible setting of our National Natural Landmark. The small group sizes give every camper the opportunity to play, explore, and expand their knowledge. Camps run weekly from June through early August, learn more and register at dinoridge.org/summercamps or email [email protected].

Denver Fencing Center

Denver Fencing Center will allow kids to have fun this summer. Their coaches will work with 10 students safely, everyone will wear face masks and they will follow CDC, state, and local guidelines.

They will perform temperature checks on staff and students daily, require frequent handwashing and no shared equipment. Campers will be required to have their own gear/rent and take the gear home nightly. Their Center is located next to Ruby Hill Park which creates outdoor training opportunities. Coaches will rotate between indoor and outdoor activities. All lunches will be held outdoors at Ruby Hill park pavilion with social distancing. Their facility uses make-up air units and large swamp coolers to bring fresh outdoor air to all of the fencing rooms. They will open their large garage doors in their rooms to allow the fresh air to flow. Register @ denverfencingcenter.com or call (303)922-7288

Lighthouse Writers Workshop

Lighthouse Writers is holding summer writing camps virtually, through Zoom or their online platform, Wet Ink. Zoom camps will meet for two hours daily, five days a week, to explore a specific genre or topic. Campers will have the opportunity to schedule a 15-minute, one-on-one meeting with their instructor through Zoom during the week to discuss their specific writing goals. Online studios through Wet Ink are perfect for the camera-shy and will offer an asynchronous opportunity to sample lots of genres and topics anytime throughout the class, as well as an online community to give feedback and support. And our full-day, week-long intensives are application based and meant for young writers of all levels who want to dig into the craft of writing. Free virtual open mics will offer the chance to share writing in front of an audience each Friday afternoon. Check lighthousewriters.org for more information.