Ah, summer, with its sunny days, cookouts and family vacations.
That's the idyllic version.
The flip side is the humidity, mosquitoes and bickering children in the backseat. Oh, and parents, don't forget about finding ways to keep children and nonworking teenagers busy through summer vacation.
At least there's a slight reprieve for parents from that last worry: summer camp.
According to the American Camp Association, the largest association serving the organized camp industry, the United States has more than 12,000 day and overnight camps (7,000 overnight and 5,000 day). More than 11 million children and adults attend these camps each year (and not just in the summer).
And camps are big business -- creating a $15 billion industry, according to the organization.
The traditional view of summer camp is pretty straightforward: camping, canoeing, swimming, arts and crafts and sitting around a campfire at night.
The modern summer camp is changing, though. All those outdoor activities are still offered, but more and more summer camps are offering specific activities that go beyond the conventional.
Camps focused on architecture, arts, ballet, computer coding, cooking and gardening are just a few of the "different" summer camps out there. Here are some -- but definitely not all -- summer camps across Arkansas for children and teens that don't offer the usual fare.
AGRI-ADVENTURE
Children 8-12 are invited to have an agri-adventure good time as part of a day camp at the Plantation Agriculture Museum in Scott.
Children will join museum interpreters to play in the dirt and explore everything from algae to clothing fibers, along with activities such as gardening, games, "green" crafts and more.
Reservations are required. Admission is $36, and the fee covers snacks and day camp supplies. The camp is 9 a.m.-1 p.m. June 29-July 1.
The registration deadline is June 20 and limited to 10 children. For more information or to register, call (501) 961-1409.
ARCHITECTURE
Got a high school student interested in architecture and design? Check out University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's Design Camp offered through its Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.
Four week-long sessions are planned: June 13-17 on the Fayetteville campus, June 20-24 at the Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock, June 27-July 1 at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs and June 27-July 1 at The Delta School in Wilson.
Started in 2010, the camp's sessions incorporate architecture, landscape architecture and interior design and offer projects that include these three areas of design to students going into ninth through 12th grades.
The Fayetteville camp also includes a residential option.
Regular registration is $350 by Friday. The overnight option in Fayetteville costs an additional $300.
Supplies and lunch are provided at each camp.
More information is available at tinyurl.com/zcs6wu5.
BALLET
Western Arkansas Ballet, a nonprofit dance academy in Fort Smith, offers three summer dance camps June 13-17 for ages 4-14.
For ages 4-6, The Nutcracker Ballet Camp meets from 10 a.m.-noon. The cost is $75.
The Giselle Ballet Camp is for ages 7-9 from 1-3:30 p.m. The cost is $85.
The Pre-Company Camp is for ages 10-14 and meets 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. This is a "mini-sampling" specialized camp of the Western Arkansas Ballet. The cost is $150.
Activities offered by the three camps include ballet technique classes, dance history, nutrition, dance vocabulary, choreography, a short studio showing or performance on the last day of dance camp and more.
More information is available at tinyurl.com/jre2rrf.
The registration deadline for all camps is June 8.
BIRDS
The Arkansas Audubon Society Halberg Ecology Camp offers two camps for 11- and 12-year-old children at Camp Clearfork, a U.S. Forest Service camp between Hot Springs and Mount Ida.
The first session is June 12-17; the second session is June 19-24. The cost starts at $325.
Besides recreational activities such as canoeing, swimming and volleyball, a group of college, high school and self-taught natural science teachers educate campers about birds, rocks, plants, aquatics, insects, mammals and more.
There are early morning bird-identifying walks and indoor and outdoor hands-on classes.
More information is available at tinyurl.com/h4ktcgy.
CITY ARTS
While the Arkansas Arts Center's Junior Arts Academy is sold out, the Little Rock museum's Summer Programs are open for registration. Class times and prices vary, but the program includes Super Hero Puppets for ages 6-9, Robots, Machines, Drones and Factories for ages 10-14 and Art Journals for ages 10-14.
Find more information at tinyurl.com/jszz8sc.
CREATING
The University of Central Arkansas in Conway offers several unique camps for children and teens in elementary, middle and high school.
A sampling of the unusual classes includes Bearswrite: From Pencils to Pixels Creative Writing Camp for aspiring authors entering fourth through nine grades on June 20-24; UCA Challenge for students entering grades four through six who share an interest in science, July 11-15; and Computer Coding -- Advanced Track designed for students in 10th through 12th grades, June 20-24.
Registration deadlines and fees -- along with schedules -- vary; find more information about all the camps at uca.edu/outreach/camps/.
FILMMAKING
The T Tauri Movie Camp, the youth division of the Ozark Foothills FilmFest in Batesville, holds its annual summer youth program July 18-30.
The 2016 Movie Camp offers four workshops: Script to Screen Narrative Filmmaking, Hometown Documentary, Depicting Zombies and BrickFilms, a new offering that teaches students about stop-motion animation utilizing Lego characters.
The T Tauri Movie Camp is not a residential program; workshop fees range from $60 to $100. All supplies and equipment are included in the tuition.
More information is available at ttauri.org.
INVENTING
For younger children looking to invent a little this summer, Arkansas State University at Mountain Home's Community Education program offers Camp Invention to children entering grades one through six.
Offered through a partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the week-long camp starts July 11 and explores connections among science, technology, engineering and innovation.
Students will be offered the opportunity to construct and personalize a do-it-yourself, solar-powered cricket with a unique habitat, among other activities.
The camp -- offered 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. -- costs $220.
To register and find more information, visit campinvention.org.
MAKING
The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock features Young Maker Summer Camps and Art and Design Summer Camps. The summer camps are designed for ages 8-16 and include classes on robotics, video game design, screen printing, ceramics, photo processing and more.
All camps are $150 a person and are 8 a.m.-noon during their scheduled days.
Find more information on the camps -- and availability -- at arhub.org/for-youth/learn.
The Hub also offers classes for youths and adults at night throughout the summer, including classes on laser cutting, Adobe Photoshop and more.
MUSIC
West Little Rock's Wildwood Academy of Music and the Arts' summer music festival and arts camp is intended for children and teenagers 6-18 who are interested in studying music.
Classes include orchestral, vocal and instrumental instruction inside Wildwood's Cabe Festival Theatre complex.
Prices and times vary, but applications are due Tuesday with the first class -- Advanced Orchestra -- starting June 12.
More information is available at tinyurl.com/zcf98qb.
NERDS!
Nerdies -- Northwest Arkansas' alternative learning company -- is a business where being a nerd is cool. Or, as the Fayetteville company says, it's "a new type of business which focuses on all us nerds out there by offering an environment where people of all ages come and pursue things that they are interested in."
With that mission in mind, Nerdies offers a number of summer sessions that include teaching children and teens how to start their own YouTube channel, create comic books or learn how to code and program a computer.
More information about classes, prices and registration is available at nerdies.me/summer-sessions/.
SOUTHERN ARTS
The South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado kicks off its summer camps with Ballet Camp on Tuesday-June 3.
The center hosts five camps for first- through 12th-graders, including Drama Camp and Movie Camp. (There also are music classes, with a date to be announced.)
Class sizes are limited and filled on a first-come basis. Prices and times vary; more information is available at saac-arts.com/?p=8017.
UNDER THE SEA
Arkansas State University at Jonesboro has more than 20 summer camps for children and teenagers 3-18, including a camp where pre-kindergartners to fourth-graders learn about ocean life, seahorses, jellyfish, clown fish, coral reefs and more with an Under the Sea class.
The Summer Camp Academy starts Tuesday and continues through July. Times and prices vary, but find more information at bit.ly/25bfMfu.
Family on 05/25/2016