Summer Camps – More Choice than Ever Before

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE

Art, theater, circus, puppets, music

Adventures in Cardboard (AIC) leads off our camp offerings in the arts category, although it could go in games or adventure as well. AIC was founded in 2012 in Powderhorn Park and has gathered a fanatic following, as evidenced by its growth and waitlists. With numerous “realms” around the Twin Cities, hundreds of campers, and a staff comprising actors, veterans of puppet theaters, and artists of renown, it’s a perfect place for an imaginative active child who likes fantasy lore and messing around with cardboard. adventuresincardboard.com.
Graceful Monsters is a small but growing theater school for kids, covering puppetry and improv as well as mainline theater arts. It was founded by Haley and Anthony Sisler-Neuman, a husband and wife team of theater teachers and ex-theater kids. It is located in Minneapolis and offers ten different week-long day camps this summer. gracefulmonstersetc.com/camp.
The Guthrie Theater is an option for more traditional theater arts. This elite company is one of the cultural jewels of the Twin Cities and offers a selection of day camps running from June 16 to Aug. 15. There are 3-day, 5-day, and 10-day camps, divided into two age cohorts, school grade 6 to 8, or 9 to 12. guthrietheater.org/education/camps. Circus Juventas is another cultural icon. Located in Highland Park in St. Paul, this long-running circus school offers thorough training in skills such as acrobatics and aerial work. All weeklong performance camps and their waitlists had exceeded capacity by the last week of January, but there may be openings in the sampler camps and teen adventures. circusjuventas.org.

The Loft offers the Young Writers Program in the summer. Registration for the different camps are not open until March, and currently there is only a bit of information about the program available. There is a free Zoom information session on Feb. 18 at 6 pm. Here is a link to register: tinyurl.com/DKRatSSP-LoftReg. The MacPhail Center for Music is another long-standing institution that offers summer camps in its downtown Minneapolis location. They offer five different camps for musical youth this summer, all 5-day duration, between mid-June and mid-August. macphail.org/meta/camps.
Articulture is an arts education nonprofit located on Franklin Avenue in the Seward neighborhood. They are offering a variety of summer camps for Grades K through 6. Registration is open now: articulture.org/summer-camps-children. Northern Clay Center is also on the same avenue. Online registration opened Feb. 4 for camps running June 16 to Aug. 22 – in 5-day sessions – with a choice of half or full day, and there are varying themes, ages 6 and up. northernclaycenter.org.
The Arts Creative is a private arts studio with classes, located in Bloomington. They are offering day camps from June 9 to Aug. 29, on a 5-day week basis or drop-in for single days. theartscreative.com/camps-and-youth-programs. Way Cool Cooking School in Eden Prairie is the culinary arts option we are covering this year. Their cooking classes are offered as weekly options, Monday through Thursday, with a choice of a.m. or p.m. session (both are three hours.) Campers can do both sessions and stay over the lunch break. Register at waycoolcookingschool.com/summer-cooking-camp.

Academics, STEM, games, and languages

Hmong language summer camp by iStrive was featured in a Sahan Journal article in August 2024 – tinyurl.com/DKRatSSP-HmongCamp. Based at North Hennepin Community College, the camp is a vital resource to prevent Hmong communities from losing their language and culture. Registration was not open yet as of writing but will be at mnzejzog.org/istrive.
The International Spanish Language Academy, a Spanish immersion K through 6 school in Edina, offers summer camps in Spanish. Some camps combine language with sports or art activities. Register at isla.school/explore/summer-camps.
Leonardo’s Basement (LB) is an arts and engineering studio founded in the late 1990s by a group of students and their parents and teachers from Clara Barton Open School. Currently based in a large industrial facility in Prospect Park, LB offers year-round workshops. The summer camp catalog and registration will be available online at leonardosbasement.org on Feb. 9.
iDTech is a highly rated nationwide system of STEM summer camps. Locally, Macalester College in St. Paul hosts the camps in coding and robotics. Start exploring the 2025 offerings at idtech.com/locations/minnesota-summer-camps/macalester-college#.

Sports and fitness

Classic TaeKwonDo is a small, family-run TKD studio in south Minneapolis. They offer youth as well as adult classes year-round, and in the summer, classes are enhanced into a day camp experience. Booked on a daily basis, students arrive in the morning for informal play activities until noon, when they depart for a daily field trip which includes lunch. They return to the studio for a 4 p.m. TKD class. Classes may be held in nearby Todd Park, weather permitting. classictkdstudios.com/#summer-camp.
Macalester Athletics hosts the Nike Volleyball Camp this summer for boys and girls ages 10 to 18. The All-skills camps are day camps, where campers provide their own lunch. The Advanced Skills camp is a choice between Extended Day Camp where lunch and dinner are included, or overnight where housing is in Macalester dorms. Registration is here: ussportscamps.com/volleyball/nike/macalester-college-nike-volleyball-camp.
MN Hockey Camps (for boys only) is located in Breezy Point MN, just north of Brainerd on Pelican Lake. It’s a residential camp. Details and registration can be found here: mnhockeycamps.com/datesandpricing. MN Girls Hockey, on the other hand, is a day camp format hosted by the University of MN on their Minneapolis Campus using the rink in the Ridder Arena. Registration here: minnesotagirlshockeycamps.com/camps.html.

Day camps – wilderness, animals, plants, nature, and adventure

Osprey Wilds, a nature and environmental studies camp located on the shores of Grindstone Lake near Sandstone, MN, offers six different day camps as well as one overnight. Themes include Farm to Fork, Xtreme Art, and Wonderful Wildlife. Get connected here: ospreywilds.org/educational-programs/summer-camps.
Under the rubric of Camp Northern Star Discovery Day Camps, the Boy Scouts (BSA) offers several day camp options, including a STEM camp for Grades 2 through 7 (split into two groups) at Base Camp at Ft. Snelling. All day camps offer a wide assortment of outdoor activities, and there are several different locations to choose from. There is also an option for an overnight camp (see below). Go to camp.northernstar.org/discovery, find your camp, and click to register.
The Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, MN, offers two kinds of day camp for animal loving kids, Shelter Explorers, and Animal Art Adventures. Registration opens on Wednesday, Feb. 5, and will presumably be here: animalhumanesociety.org/summer-camp.

General interest day camps

Minneapolis Parks and Recreation offers a plethora of day camps in every area of interest, and in almost every park in its huge system. With so much choice, finding the right camp will take some online work. Start here – minneapolisparks.org/activities-events/youth-programs/camps – and either use the interests menu to the left or click one of the “browse and register” buttons and browse until you find it. There’s a phone number at the bottom of the page if you need extra help navigating.

Overnight camps

Skate Camp Midwest has three week-long overnight sessions, two co-ed and one for girls and non-binary only. The camp, complete with an onsite skate park/ramp, is located in Houlton, WI, on the St. Croix River and offers camping adventures to youth ages 8 to 17. They have a Facebook page, or you can go directly to their registration page here – skatecampmidwest.com/registration.
Located in Crow Wing County, on Lake Hubert, there are two camps for ages 6 to 17. Camp Lincoln (for boys) and Camp Lake Hubert (for girls). Campers stay in log-style cabins – organized by grade and length of stay – that include indoor bathrooms with hot water. Offering sessions lasting two or four weeks, and with more than 40 land and water activities to choose from, there is plenty to do outside in nature. Learn more and register here: lincoln-lakehubert.com.
Birchwood Wilderness Camp (small – by design) is located in Grand Marais, MN. It consists of bunkhouses, a large bathhouse with private compartments with toilet, sink and shower, a dining hall with a glorious wilderness view, and a clubhouse with games like chess and foosball. The summer camp program is for boys, but they have other programs that are co-ed as well as for adults. Start exploring here: birchwoodwildernesscamp.com.
Camp Northern Star Discovery Adventure Camp is the four-night overnight camp offered by BSA. It’s located at Camp Tomahawk in Birchwood, WI, with buses to carry campers from Base Camp in the Twin Cities to the camp. Here is a direct link to the registration site: scoutingevent.com/250-2025dac
Osprey Wilds Rocks, Ropes, and Rafts Overnight Camp is for kids entering Grades 7 through 9. As the name implies, it includes learning skills like whitewater rafting, high ropes, rock climbing, and canoeing. It’s a five-day, four-night stay on the campus by Grindstone Lake, with optional shuttle transportation. Register here: ospreywilds.org/event/rocks-ropes-and-rafts-overnight-summer-camp.