Seasonal: Camp Guide

Compiled by Janina P. Fera, Mikki Catanzaro, Jan Flanagan and Steve Smith

The crocuses aren't up yet, but the 2006 Summer Camp Guide is here -- which means it's time for parents and kids to make summer plans. Every year the number of camps in our annual guide grows as more groups offer kids fun new ways to spend time from June through August.

A child who likes animals might check out the camps on horse farms or at the BIOMES or Mystic aquariums or Farm Camp at the Jewish Community Center in Providence -- and South Kingstown has a bunch under Animals Camp. Sports camps aren't only for basketball and soccer players: Kids can learn to rock climb, kayak and play flag football. And what camper wouldn't like to build a robot or launch a rocket?

As you'll see, plenty of ingenious programs continue to spring up to lure older kids into fun (and safe) programs. For teens, for example, there's guitar camp, a camp to solve crimes using DNA, and a camp that lets kids live and work aboard the Continental Sloop Providence, a tall ship. Check out anything called "adventure" or "extreme" camp. These tend to send teens off to so many exciting places that the kids are guaranteed to happily collapse when they arrive home.

Even though so many camps are listed in this guide, don't neglect to investigate your town's parks or recreation department to see what might be offered just to children who are residents; the camps in this guide are mostly open to everybody. Town programs are usually quite affordable, and many towns are venturing into teen programs, too.

Following is a list of camps that responded to our request in Lifebeat for camp information, as well as a letter mailed in January to all camps listed in last year's guide. The guide is intended to be for school-age children, and it is not intended to be a resource for tutoring (though some camps have an academic element) or individual classes. If you are a camp director and your camp is not listed here, please call Janina Fera at (401) 277-7261 (or fax her at 401-277-8175) with your camp name and address so that we can notify you by mail well before the deadline for next year's guide. In addition, we can add your camp information immediately to the copy of this guide that will now be on our Web site, www.projo.com.

Generally, camp registrations are being accepted now. Parents are encouraged to register as early as possible. June 1 is frequently the official deadline, but many camps are booked well before then. If no price is given, fees are varied or have not yet been decided.