Beyond bug spray
Education summer camps abound

by Laura Bland

Used to be, if you were a kid, going to summer camp meant toasted marshmallows and mosquito bites, musty-smelling sleeping bags, bug spray and strange sounds in the night. Nowadays, however, the camp concept has taken on new meaning as busy and ambitious parents look for opportunities to keep their childrens' brains working throughout the summer.

While educational camps might not rank as high as CD burners on a kid's list, they've moved out of the woods and onto family radar screens. "A lot of parents are looking for ways to expand their children's educational opportunities throughout the summertime. They don't want them sitting and watching television or PlayStation all summer," says Vikki Barth, youth and family programs coordinator for the Children's Museum of Richmond, which has a summer calendar full of camps planned for kids as young as three years old. "They don't realize they're learning. They just think they're having fun."
Summer might seem far away, but with so many choices and limited camp space, it pays to start thinking about camp now. And in Virginia, there's a camp for everybody. Music. Theater. Sports. Cooking. History. Science. At the Children's Museum in Richmond, children between the ages of 7 to 10 can explore everything from the James River watershed to comedy, the history of money and sculpture during the museum's City Slickers one-week camps, which run from June 24 through Aug. 16. The camps cost $170 for members and $180 for nonmembers, with prices increasing somewhat for people who register after April 15. Fourth-graders can learn about the etiquette practices of their Civil War-era counterparts during camp at the Virginia Museum of the Confederacy. And young musicians from age 9 on up to seniors in high school can play their instruments in a chamber group during the Richmond Symphony's summer camp in cooperation with Richmond public schools.

Richmond's program offers the chance for more than 100 children from around the area to study and play music under the tutelage of professional musicians, says Marta Weldon, education director for the Richmond Symphony, who is on leave as the symphony's second clarinetist. "From our point of view, they're getting training with professional musicians, mentoring from professional musicians and intensive music study, which they don't normally get. They'll participate in chamber music groups, which is something they never have the chance to experience in school." Typically, students are assigned to a quartet, where they perform by themselves without the direction of a conductor. "You can translate all of those skills into self-esteem, leadership and teamwork," says Weldon.

If the great outdoors is more your child's style, opportunities abound at week-long field adventure camps sponsored by the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. For instance, middle-school kids can explore marine habitats on North Carolina's Outer Banks or take surveys of flying squirrels in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Accommodations include cabins or tents. The cost of the camp is $495 for nonmembers and $450 for museum members.

Young history buffs might enjoy traveling back in time with the Virginia Museum of the Confederacy's Explorer's Camp the week of July 22. During the week, rising fifth- through seventh-graders visit battlefields and historic sites around Richmond. Before July 1, the cost for members is $130 and $150 for nonmembers. For fourth- through sixth-graders, the museum also offers a series of three, day-long camps in August that explore subjects such as Civil War naval inventions, what kids were wearing and doing in the 1860s and technological innovations during the Industrial Revolution. Each camp costs $25 for members before Aug. 1 and $35 for nonmembers.
Many organizations, such as the YMCA, continue to offer traditional craft and activity-based day camps or "sleep away" camps for kids who want that experience. For those kids who want to go beyond the bug spray, the opportunities are almost limitless.

Contact information:
Children's Museum of Richmond, Vikki Barth, (804) 474-7013, or e-mail at vbarth@c-mor.org.

Virginia Museum of the Confederacy, Ida O'Leary, (804) 644-7150, or ioleary@moc.org.

Virginia Living Museum, Jim Drummond, (757) 595-1900.

Richmond Symphony and Richmond Public Schools Summer Music Camp, Nelson Lawson, instructional specialist, music education, Richmond Public Schools, 301 N. 9th St., 12th floor, Richmond, VA 23219. Or e-mail mweldon@richmondsymphony.com

Return to Virginia Business - March 2002