KCKidsFun

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

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

Earlier, I posted an article covering general day camps and multiple theme day camps around Kansas City. Today, I’ll cover art camps. This post will stick to the visual arts and I’ll cover the performing arts later on this week.

Kansas City is lucky to have world class museums and great local galleries as well. The presence of the Kansas City Art Institute and Hallmark has blessed us with many, many artist-citizens in our midst. The result of all of this good fortune? Fantastic art camp offerings for kids this summer!

Like I always say, get started by checking out your local parks and recreation catalog and then check these 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!
• All Fired Up (Overland Park, KS) is a paint-your-own-pottery studio in downtown Overland Park. They offer regular classes and workshops for individuals, groups and scout troops. Check their website over the next few weeks to see what they’ve got planned for this summer!
• ARTichokes (Leawood, KS) is a great locally-owned art gallery that hosts ARTmania camps in the summer for kids ages 5-12. As of March 24, 2008, the details of this summer’s program weren’t on the website – but check back.
• Artrageous Creative Studios (Prairie Village, KS) offers art camps for all ages. The theme changes each week – the kids will learn a little art history, explore other cultures through art and, of course, CREATE!
• Community School of the Arts (Kansas City, MO) has many dance and theater options – but look closely and you’ll find a few very interesting visual arts offerings too! Classes are held at St. Teresa’s Academy between Brookside and the Plaza.
• Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, MO) has the MOST amazing offerings for kids ages 6-15! Painting, ceramics, drawing, cartooning, printmaking, bookmaking, collage, sculptural masks, mixed media, pop-up books, pinhole photography and more. I’m dying to take advantage of this program! What a treat to have your little ones experience KCAI!
• The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (Kansas City, MO) doesn’t show any camps for the summer on their website. But if you’re just looking for something to do for a day or a half day – check them out – they do often have one-off workshops or family days.
• Mattie Rhodes Art Center (Kansas City, MO) doesn’t have their summer schedule posted yet – but check back because they have some great art exploration classes and programs for your little ones!
• The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO) has a mix of hands-on and art appreciation classes for ages 3-18. But get there soon, they already show some classes are sold-out!
• Paint Glaze and Fire (Overland Park, KS) does ceramics camps in south Overland Park.
• Still Fired Up (Northland) does ceramics camps north of the river! They have different offerings or, if you can put a group together, they’ll let you customize a class.

I’m sure that there are more art classes and camps to be offered this summer around town. If I find any interesting ones, I’ll let you know! In the meantime, take a look at the ones listed here, the ones offered by your parks and rec department and even the ones put on inside your favorite chain craft store (like Michael’s or JoAnn – they’ve always got a full calendar of classes). There are plenty of places to satisfy your child’s inner artist!

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

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

Spring Break is over or almost over for most Kansas City families. You survived! The trees are starting to bud, the bulbs are popping up. Spring soccer is starting. It’s time, parents. Time to start thinking about what to do to keep your kids busy over the summer. Some families need child care and full-time camps due to parent work schedules. Others just need a week of out-of-the-house fun here and there during the hot and sticky months. We’ve all been faced with the mopey kid dragging around the house after school has been out for a few weeks, saying the thing we love to hear the most: “I’m booooooooored…”

At KC Kids Fun, we thought we’d bring you a series on the day camps available around Kansas City this summer, for kids of all ages and all interests. Check back over the next few days to see what’s coming up next!

Today, we’re covering the general day camps – camps with no theme, no purpose, just fun OR camps with many themes, many purposes, many choices and lots of fun.

• 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!
• Check out your local parks and recreation and the YMCA. We can’t tell you enough what a blessing the Kansas City area parks and rec departments and the Y are to parents and kids across the metro. Take a look at their summer catalogs – lots of offerings for every interest. You can find their websites by clicking the Classes link on the right side of this page – or just click here.
• Barstow School Summer Program (south Kansas City, MO) – week-long sessions for kids from preschool through high school age. Barstow has academic classes, sports clinics, Fun Factor day camp and great weekly themed camps. My oldest kids have been to this one – and loved it!
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City (Kansas City, MO/Kansas City, KS/Independence, MO) has programs for kids from 5-18. I’m not sure that they update their website very often – so give your closest club location a call!
• Brookside Charter School (Kansas City, MO) offers academic and fun day camps to elementary age kids. As of March 23, 2008, they didn’t have any camp info on their website – so you may have to give them a call.
• Clay-Platte Montessori School (Northland) offers camps for ages 3 – 10 including sports, science, art, cooking, computers, language, crafts and more.
• Cub Scouts of Heart of America Council (various locations) sponsors three to five day long day camps for Cub Scouts. BB guns, bows and arrows, nature, crafts and games.
• The Field Trip Club (Olathe, KS) – I don’t know (and can’t find) much about this one other than what is printed in the Kansas City Star’s annual camp listing. The Star says this is a summer day camp for ages 5-14, with 15 fun field trips each week – including laser tag, bowling, drama, music and movement, sports, horseback riding, arts and crafts, cultural arts, science and nature, children’s museums, computers, skating, children’s theater, athletic games, library programs, educational enrichment activities, friendship skills and team building games, petting zoos, parks and playgrounds. Sounds fun but I don’t know who sponsors it. Call 913-780-6171 or 913-221-BEST for information.
• Gymboree Play & Music (various locations) usually has special play and music offerings during the summer for babies through age 5.
• Heartland Presbyterian Center (Parkville, MO) hosts a day camp program for 1st through 4th graders (they have overnight camps for older kids). They have the typical sports, swimming, music, crafts and games of most day camps as well as regular Bible study.
• Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS) has academic enrichment and sports camps for kindergarten through 9th graders.
• The Little School House (Smithville, MO) caters to ages 4 – 14 with academic and themed offerings throughout the summer.
• Metropolitan Community College – Longview (Lee’s Summit, MO) sponsors programs for ages 3 -15 including horsemanship, American Girl, cartooning, robotics, stacking, Hannah Montana, dance, study skills, martial arts, painting and more. As of March 23, 2008, the website still has Spring 2008 offerings posted. Check back for summer offerings or call 816-672-2030.
• Metropolitan Community College – Maple Woods (Northland) offers classes and camps for ages 8-14, covering topics such as art, drama, science, writing, animal care and sports.
• North Kansas City Schools Community Education Services (North Kansas City, MO) has camps for ballet, dance, art, computer and drama – ages 4 through 18. We’ve jumped the gun again! As of March 23, 2008, NKC doesn’t have their summer offerings available through the website. Call them at 816-413-5494.
• Notre Dame de Sion Elementary (Kansas City, MO) hosts Camp Renaissance for preschool through grade 8. The camp has academic, sports, arts, technology and regular old FUN components.
• Notre Dame de Sion High School (south Kansas City, MO) hosts Coterie Theatre camps and sports camps for grades 3 – 12.
• Oakhill Day School (Northland) offers many different sessions for age 2 through 7th grade. The sessions include cooking, computers, karate, academics, sports, swimming and more.
• Paradise Park (Lee’s Summit, MO) hosts Adventure Summer Camps for kids 4-7 years old – a different theme every week! For those 48″ tall and over, Paradise Park hosts the Go-Kart Driving Experience, a 4 day, one hour long camp.
• Pembroke Hill School (Kansas City, MO) sponsors a summer program, similar in breadth to the Barstow program, for kids ages 2-18. They have fun day camps, sports camps and academic courses. There are some really fun offerings here!
• Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO) offers various day camps for kids of all ages, including academics, computers, music and sports.
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School (Kansas City, MO) offers morning and afternoon classes in art, music, theater, soccer, basketball, academics, cooking and more!
• St. Teresa’s Academy (Kansas City, MO) has summer camps for girls in grades 4-9, including sports, dance, art and drama. As of March 23, 2008, their website doesn’t list anything for this summer. But the Star says they’ll have camps! So, give them a call at 816-501-0011 for more info.
• St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Overland Park, KS) sponsors day camps for kids in kindergarten through grade 8. They are mostly sports camps with some sewing and cooking thrown in too!
• Shawnee Mission School District (Johnson County, KS) offers their Summer Enrichment Program for students in preschool through 8th grade. They have a variety of programs ranging from science and nature to art and drama to photography and sign language. What a fantastic resource!
• Swope Park Exploration Camp (Kansas City, MO) does include two overnights – it includes acting at Starlight, checking out the zoo, playing soccer and swimming with Parks & Rec and exploring the Lakeside Nature Center. The website gives information not only about the Swope Park camp but also about all of the zoo’s summer day camp offerings.

Stay tuned for more in this series – including art camps, dance/gymnastics camps, sports camps, science and nature camps, special needs camps, academic enrichment/readiness camps, theater camps and a potpourri (to use a Jeopardy term) of impossible to categorize camps!

We’ve been working hard on a great new site for Kansas City kids, parents, grandparents, caregivers and visitors!  And now it’s time!  We are two Kansas City-area moms who want to help YOU have fun with your family.  Bookmark us or add us to your feed reader to keep up-to-date on great activities to share with your kids.  We have links to the websites of TONS of great places for children and families in and around Kansas City.  We also have reviews by local moms of all kinds of hotspots – old and new.  Take us for a spin!  Come back often!  We’re gonna have lots and lots of FUN!

Contact us at kate@kckidsfun.com or kiran@kckidsfun.com or leave a comment if you have any questions or want us to know about someplace new around town.  Thanks!  We look forward to hearing from you!