KCKidsFun

Around here, we’ve always operated under the assumption that there are 100 days in summer.  We know each and every word to Phineas and Ferb’s theme song, which waxes on about the “104 Days of Summer Vacation.”  Imagine my son’s horror when we decided to open the calendar and actually count the days–weekends included–and discovered that there were only 86 days of summer vacation!!  GASP! School pictures are to be taken on August 10.

A while back, I posted a sweet “to-do” list of summer activites in the McKinney household.  I don’t know how they are faring over there, but the Rosses haven’t done so well.  We’ve logged a few days at the pool, but it seems like we’ve had a wetter summer than usual.  We were fortunate enough to send our son to Outdoor Eduation Laboratory’s day camp for a week.  That was a real highlight.  And baseball.  Lots of baseball!

That being said, the Rosses have a busy few weeks ahead of them!!  Here are a few of our “summer wishes”–straight from the refrigerator door.

• Catch a T-Bones game at Community America Ballpark.  We try to see one game each summer and always love it.  We love how you can park your car (for free) and be in your seat in under 5 minutes.  It’s awesome!  Throw in a healthy dose of fun promotions and you’ve got a fun family night.
• Kansas City Zoo- I can’t even believe we haven’t made it to the zoo yet.  I know that my daughter has never seen anything like that–didn’t recall seeing a zoo in close proximity to her orphanage in India–so she’d really enjoy it.  Gotta get there next week.  Kate beat me to it–check out her blog post from earlier!
• Worlds of Fun–I really like Worlds of Fun but I’m seeing that this will morph into a boys-only outing this summer to check out the new Prowler.  I have no interest in carting a 2-year-old around the park in the heat.  Does this make me mean or insensitive?  Only smart, if you ask me!
• Moon Marble in Bonner Springs, KS–I really like Moon Marble.  I think my son has been twice and it’s one of those places you can keep going back to.  In fact, I think “the Moon” was one of the very first places I blogged about. The marble-making demonstrations are very cool and hold the kids’ attention because there is FIRE involved!! We have to go back this summer.
• Farmers Markets–I regularly shop the markets myself and have been visiting several different ones throughout the metro.  But I haven’t taken the kids yet this summer.  I read in all the “foodie mags” what a neat experience it is to take the kids, introduce them to the farmers, allow them to choose vegetables and then prepare a veggie-centered dinner as a family.  Am I completely delusional for thinking that this could happen?!?  It sounds slightly too Beaver-Cleaver to actually be pulled off.  I don’t know who would be most turned-off by the vegetable-heavy dinner:  my husband or my kids.  Stay tuned.
• Miniature Golf–there are so many places around town to play and we haven’t visited one yet.  Kind of embarrassing.  I’d like to head over to Lee’s Summit’s Paradise Park one evening and do two or three activities, including mini golf and bumper cars!
• My mom picked up a flier on the new Adventure Oasis water park in Independence, MO.  It looks really cool!  And it’s not expensive.  Daily admission is $22/family of four for Independence residents and $25 for non-residents.  There are water slides, a lazy river, climbing wall, lap pool, sun deck…you  name it!  Call 816-325-SWIM for info.

Until we get it together and start crossing things off the list…we may just have to resort to sleeping (camping) in the tent (see above picture).  Now THAT says summer!

***THIS IS THE 2008 DIRECTORY. PLEASE REFER TO

OUR 2010 KANSAS CITY SUMMER CAMP DIRECTORY! THANKS!***

I know, I know. I said we were finished with the summer camp series. But there has been such an interest in the camp offerings listed in the previous posts, I thought I’d go ahead and add a list of camps for kids with various special needs. As always, if we’ve missed something great, please let us know by leaving a comment after this post or by emailing us (our email addresses are on the About Us page).

• If you would like to purchase a Sponsored Listing in the 2009 KC Kids Fun Summer Camp Directory, please CONTACT US as soon as possible! The Sponsored Listing will include one square graphic adjacent to your listing (like the one you see to the right) and your camp information will be published at the top of the list before non-sponsored listings! Don’t delay! Reserve your Sponsored Listing now!
• Camp Encourage (held at Tall Creeks Conference Center in Linwood, KS) is tailored to children with autism, Asperger and related pervasive developmental disorders. Peer models (children without an autism spectrum disorder) will also participate in the camp.
• Camp Hope (Claflin, KS – about 60 miles from Kansas City) is open for children from 7-18 who are in cancer treatment or in remission from cancer. The camp is staffed by pediatric oncologists and nurses. This is an overnight camp with all of the traditional camp activities. A day camp is offered for kids ages 4-6.
• Camp MITIOG (Excelsior Springs, MO) is a camp for young people with spina bifida. This year it runs from July 19-July 25. All of the traditional camping activities are offered, with a one to one camper/counselor ratio and medical staff on-site.
• Camp Quality (Excelsior Springs, MO) is an overnight camp for children, ages 3- 17 with cancer. Every child has an assigned adult “companion” and an on-site oncology specialist is available for every camper. Camp Quality is always looking for people over 18 who are willing to be camp companions – no medical training or experience is required. Check out the website for an application.
• Children’s Therapy Group (Overland Park, KS) is a multi-disciplinary clinic specializing in sensory integration therapy. This summer, they offer fine motor enhancement classes for preschoolers and kindergarteners, a handwriting class for ages 6-8, cursive writing for kids 7-10, Fun with Language for kids 3-9 who have problems with social, pragmatic and expressive language, sensory motor group for preschoolers, creative arts for kids 6-9 and water fun for kids with behavioral, learning and motor coordination problems. CTG is located at 76th and Metcalf.
• Concerned Care, Inc. (North Kansas City, MO) hosts recreational sports, youth day camp and vocational day camp for young people with developmental disabilities. Campers must be Clay County residents (due to funding issues).
• Girl Scouts Juliette Low Camp (Jackson County, MO) is held at Rotary Youth Camp at Lake Jacomo for girls with physical disabilities, ages 8-18. Campers are encouraged to invite friends without disabilities to share the camp experience with them. This is an overnight camp, lasting 6 nights.
• Horizon Academy (Roeland Park, KS) sponsors summer classes for kids with average or above average intelligence who are struggling with basic skills due to learning disabilities. This summer, they offer a full summer school program, a reading clinic, a Type to Learn Keyboarding class and Cogmed Working Memory Training Computer Sessions for grades 1-12.
• H.O.R.S.E. (Helping Others Reach Success and Excellence)/Camp Round-Up (south Kansas City, MO) is a summer day camp for children ages -18 diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. This is a horse and horseback riding centered day camp with other traditional camp activities as well. H.O.R.S.E. offers many fun yet therapeutic services for children within the autism spectrum.
• Joshua Center Summer Camp (Kansas City, MO) is sponsoring a summer overnight camp at Lake Jacomo (Rotary Youth Club Camp) for 5 days/4 nights in June. The camp is for 3rd to 8th graders with Tourette Syndrome, Asperger Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Hurry! Registration ends April 15th.

***THIS IS THE 2008 DIRECTORY. PLEASE REFER TO

OUR 2010 KANSAS CITY SUMMER CAMP DIRECTORY! THANKS!***

Okay, this is going to do it for the 2008 Summer Camp Series. We’ve covered general day camps, art, performing arts and science and nature. Today, we’ll take a look at sports camps. There is absolutely no way we could EVER catch every sports camp in town – but we’ll try to feature some highlights here!

The obvious place to start is with your local parks and recreation department. Click here for some easy links to parks and rec websites.

After you’ve taken a look at your tax-subsidized options, you might want to check out:

• If you would like to purchase a Sponsored Listing in the 2009 KC Kids Fun Summer Camp Directory, please CONTACT US as soon as possible! The Sponsored Listing will include one square graphic adjacent to your listing (like the one you see to the right) and your camp information will be published at the top of the list before non-sponsored listings! Don’t delay! Reserve your Sponsored Listing now!
• AKKA – Karate USA (Kansas City, MO/Independence, MO/Gladstone, MO/Overland Park, KS/Olathe, KS) offers a variety of summer camps at their locations – as of March 29, 2008, some of the sites have not been updated with summer camp information yet. So, check back!
• All American Cheer & Stunt (Overland Park, KS) will be hosting summer fun and cheer camps for all ages at their new facility at 143rd and State Line.
• Barstow School Summer Camps (south Kansas City, MO) has a great variety of camps for all ages – baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, football, fencing, golf, gymnastics, rock-climbing and horsemanship.
• Blue Valley Soccer Club (south Johnson County, KS) will host recreation-level and premier-level soccer camps – for ages 5 through high school.
• Challenger British Soccer Camps (multiple locations across the Kansas City metro area), through city and county parks and recreation department and private soccer clubs, holds TONS of camps for kids of all ages and skill levels. The instructors are excellent young British coaches with a high level of skill and patience.
• Coach Rocky Lamar’s Fundamentally Driven Basketball Camp (Olathe, KS) is held in Olathe at the Mid-America Nazarene University. Camps are offered for girls and boys, grades 3 through 12 and are coached by MANU’s head men’s and women’s basketball coaches.
• First Tee of Greater Kansas City (many locations across the city) hosts junior golf camps at public courses to teach kids ages 5 and up golf skills and life skills. Classes and leagues are also available.
• Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE Center) – Bump City Sports Camps (Blue Springs, MO) offers week-long, full-day camps all summer long for ages 4 to 12. Activities include gymnastics, rock climbing, games, sports, swimming and more.
• Got Skills Soccer Camp (Northland) teaches soccer fundamentals and advanced techniques to boys and girls of all skill levels, from age 6 to 14.
• Heartland Fencing Academy (Overland Park, KS) will be holding introduction to fencing camps at Blue Valley’s Heartland Elementary School (just east of 127th & Antioch) for kids ages 6 to 13.
• Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS) offers a HUGE variety of sports clinics for kids of all ages – you name it and they’ve got it: baseball, basketball, football, soccer, conditioning, cheerleading, golf, softball, tennis, track, volleyball and weight training!
• Kansas City Athletic Cheer – KCAC (Overland Park, KS) will host tumbling and cheering camps for all ages!
• Kansas City Fencing Center (Overland Park, KS) offers introductory, recreational and competitive fencing camps for kids ages 7 and up.
• Kansas Gymnastics & Cheer (Olathe, KS) will have a full summer of Monday thru Thursday, half-day gymnastics camps (preschool and recreational) for ages 3 and up.
• Kansas Rush Soccer Club (Olathe, KS) will offer week-long soccer camps for kids ages 5 and up at Lone Elm Soccer Complex and Prairie Center Park.
• Northland Youth Football Camp (Liberty, MO) hosts kids K-8th grade for a four day football camp at William Jewell College, just in time to prepare for the 2008 season!
• Peeper Ranch (Olathe, KS) offers riding camps with two lessons every day plus crafts, buggy rides and more horse-related education. Space is limited!
• Pembroke Hill Summer Camps (Kansas City, MO) offer a little bit of EVERYTHING including sports like basketball, mixed martial arts, climbing, soccer and volleyball.
• R&R Stables (Lee’s Summit, MO) offers a host of horse riding clinics and camps. Contact them for more information.
• Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO) hosts several different sports camps this summer. These include baseball camps for boys in grades 4 through 9; basketball camps for boys in grades 3 through 10; football camps for boys in grades 4 through 9; lacrosse camps for boys and girls in grades 3 through high school and soccer camps for boys and girls K through 12.
• Sports City (Blue Springs, MO) looks like it might have camps for baseball, softball, volleyball, basketball and football throughout the year. Their website was a little lacking in information about summer programs – so you may just need to give them a call!
• St. Thomas Aquinas Summer Camps (Overland Park, KS) has grade school camps for baseball, basketball, football and wrestling (boys) and basketball, cheerleading, softball and volleyball (girls). They also offer high school camps for the same sports.

For more articles about camps, lessons or classes, use the pull down menu at the top left hand side of the page to sort previous posts – choose Lessons/Camps/Classes. For links to other classes, use the Links! menu on the right hand side of the page.

Good luck and have a great summer!