To foster a secure, supportive environment where children may express themselves, make friends, try new things, and grow, as well as foster their innate curiosity for learning, exploring, and creating. The Park District is happy to provide a wide range of camps for children of all ages and interests. The fun will be the focus of all of our half-day preschool programs, conventional SPARK Day Camps, sports camps, and skate camps. They provide camps in the creative arts for their future artists as well as programs for those who enjoy learning about nature and science. Specialty camps for chess, LEGO, basketball, tennis, culinary, and other activities are returning this year.
Your Day At Oak Park Summer Camp: Preparation
• Pack a water bottle that may be reused to keep your camper hydrated throughout the day’s activities. Only refilling water bottles will be done at the water fountains. Direct drinking from the fountain will not be permitted for participants or employees.
• Before leaving your house, remember to put sunscreen on your camper. Bring extra sunscreen so campers can reapply it as needed throughout the day.
• Provide campers with comfortable, soiled-resistant attire. Make sure the camper is wearing shoes that they can use for a range of activities; gym shoes are strongly advised.
• For full-day camps, please send your camper(s) with a nutritious lunch and a snack labeled with their name. Mayonnaise and milk-based items should not be sent because refrigeration is not accessible. Based on the lack of access to refrigeration, they advise packing your kids for a meal in an insulated lunch box. Please refrain from sending any products with a tree-nut or peanut base, including peanut butter, due to potential sensitivities.
• Your child’s weekly schedule or separate newsletters for each campsite will inform you of any additional specific requirements, such as the need for a towel and swimsuit, field trip waivers, or particular clothes.
• They kindly ask that you leave all toys, electronics, including phones, and any other valuables at home. They merely operate as a diversion that, if the object is lost, stolen, or broken, may cause behavior issues or disappointment.
• Snacks will be given to campers who participate in an extended camp, which they will eat when the extended program begins.
• What to bring every day: One snack (for full-day camps), a shirt or towel, sunscreen, a water bottle, and lunch are also recommended. Please mark all items with labels.
Pond Camps
On the rink, hockey players must be fully equipped. If they can do it on their own, players may arrive at the rink with equipment already on or put it on there.
• Figure skaters need to be prepared for the cold. The rink will be freezing inside even if the outside temperature is warm.
• Make sure your child brings his or her skates. There are skates for rent if your camper needs them.
Refund Procedure
The camps need at least two weeks’ notice to cancel a program and receive a refund. For full-day camps, a $25 non-refundable registration fee is required. To withdraw from a program and receive a full or partial refund or to be transferred to another camp, call customer service at (708) 725-2000.
Receipts
Your family’s registration/household account has access to receipts. In addition, receipts can be printed or emailed when paying program fees at the administrative office. You can print annual daycare statements from your online registration account as well. The tax identification number for Oak Park’s Park District is 36-6006028. The custodial parent is in charge of making payments on time in the event of a separation or divorce and will get all bills and tax documents.
Payment Schemes
For the summer of 2022, camp payment plans are available until March 31st. For each camp session, a $25 non-refundable deposit is necessary. At the time of registration, camp balance payments will be divided between May 1st and June 1st using the same electronic payment method. It is your obligation to follow up and finish the payments if any payments are denied. Families who have unpaid camp balances after June 1st risk having their camps terminated. Make sure you choose the payment option with installments for each camp session when registering online to take advantage of the payment plan. If all goes according to plan, you will only be charged $25 at checkout for each session of summer camp.
“Bus Rules”
Buses are commonly used by camps to transport campers to:
• Places to go on field trips • The pool or ice rink (depending on the distance/weather) • To an extended camp when the weather is bad
Campers are encouraged to follow the following guidelines when traveling on a bus:
- Refrain from eating or drinking while seated with bottoms in seats and backs to the back of the seat (except when water is allowed)
- No yelling
- Campers must be silent when the bus is pulling up and at railroad crossings.
- Comply with all bus driver and employee guidelines.
- Do not stand or move around on the bus.
- Never throw anything out of the window, including objects or body parts, and keep the windows half-down.
- Campers must sit with their backpacks on their laps or on the ground underneath them.
- Keep aisles free of obstructions
Wear the Right Clothes
Throughout camp, campers will be incredibly active. In order to participate in these activities, they should dress appropriately, including wearing closed-toed shoes. Refrain from sending your child to camp wearing sandals or flip-flops. Please make sure that there are no objectionable words or images on your child’s outfit. If a child’s clothing is deemed improper, parents will be notified and asked to provide an alternative set of clothes.
Important Information Regarding Oak Park Summer Camps
Programs for scholarships and CDM
For those who want financial support, the Park District offers a scholarship program. All full-day camps offer a childcare discount membership program as well.
Prior to signing up for camp, you must apply and receive approval.
Join the waiting list
The current State and DCFS regulations are used to determine camp capacity limits. Between now and the beginning of camp, these rules could alter. Please join a wait list if the camp you choose is already full. There may be room to spare.
ACA Certification
The American Camping Association has accredited many of our campgrounds, which makes the Park District of Oak Park very happy (ACA). This well-known curriculum focused on program quality, health, and safety issues and was created specifically for the camp business. Additionally, it mandates that we evaluate every aspect of our day camp operations once a year. They freely agreed to this impartial examination by camp professionals, and as a result, they have obtained this seal of distinction.
For ACA-accredited camps, the staff-to-camper ratio is 1:6 for campers aged 3 to 5, 1:8 for campers aged 6 to 8, and 1:10 for campers aged 9 to 13. By the 1st day of the session they have registered for, campers must fall within the camp’s age range. Any registration that is submitted without a birthdate will be kept on hold till the information is confirmed.
Emergency and Health Information
A health and emergency contact form that must be completed before to camp’s commencement will be sent to you when you register your child for camp.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
If you need to cancel a camp, please get in touch with customer service right away. For any camp session that costs more than $150, there will be a $25 cancellation fee, and for camps that cost less than $150, there will be a $10 cancellation fee.
Kidcreate Studio Summer Camps In Oak Park
Kids’ summer camps offer fun experiences in a secure and imaginative setting that combines play, education, and art. Our summer programs are ideal for socializing and making new friends because they are arranged by age group. Your child will discover many artistic materials, gain self-assurance in their ability to express their creativity, and create lifelong memories. Once you enroll your kids in Kidcreate Studio for a joyful, creative summer, the possibility of summertime blues is eliminated.
What Makes Kidcreate the Best Summer Camp?
Our camps offer young children a secure setting and a chance to boost their self-esteem. Education in the arts is crucial for growth and can boost academic achievement, social skills, and self-assurance. A young child’s life requires creative expression, and the trained art instructors at Kidcreate Studio encourage kids to use their imaginations. Your youngster can avoid summer doldrums this year with the help of our kids’ art studio. They will create lifelong memories through the friends they make and the art they produce! You can rely on Kidcreate Studio for a joyful, enjoyable, and creative summer.
At Kidcreate Studio – Oak Park, Anything is Possible for Your Child.
Your child will learn creatively and explore the fascinating world of art at Kidcreate Studio – Oak Park, unlike other expensive sleep-away camps that are only concerned with having fun. Every child can find something enjoyable in our camps, which cover a wide range of topics from sparkles and slime to comic book characters. We also encourage creative expression and foster an environment where kids feel at ease using their imaginations. Your child will find their creative side, make new friends, make lifelong experiences, and bring beautiful artwork home to display for the whole family.
Your happy camper can have an amazing experience with Kidcreate at a reasonable price.
- Learning new things and using your imagination
- Examining various themes, mediums, and styles of art
- Weekly Themes for Arts and Crafts
- Age-Specific Socialization
There is a lot your youngster may learn this summer with classes covering art history, painting, sketching, creative concepts, sculpture, and more. You’ll be astounded by the masterpieces they take home from each session that are worthy of the refrigerator.
The Oak Park And River Forest Summer Camp Guide
- The Institute of Language and Culture in Education
Each individual student learns through new experiences and social interaction with others, according to academic belief and educational philosophy. Because of this, academia offers a social learning environment free from the deadlines and stress of school or college. We provide summer camps, a wide choice of unconventional social and cultural classes, language instruction, and flexible membership options. Students range in age from 3 to adults. When adults attend lessons, there is childcare available for kids older than three.
- ALMA
Five Ways Across the Globe: A Culture Camp for Kind Children
Through games, art, music, stories, and cuisine, spring break campers may learn about various nations and cultures. After work, play, and lots of time outdoors.
- Bravo Academy of the Performing Arts
Students who have a passion and commitment to the musical theater can sharpen their singing, acting, and dance abilities at Bravo Performing Arts Academy. Grades 6-9. Our BA camp lasts for five weeks. The Junior Bravo Academy camp is intended for children who might be new to performing on stage and are curious about musical theater. We provide a 4-week JBA camp for grades 4-6. We will perform three magnificent, professional-caliber musicals with hundreds of memorable songs, great choreography, stunning costumes, and breathtaking sets after just a few weeks of classes and rehearsals!
- The Local Knowledge
A working family farm in Elizabeth, Illinois, hosts a week-long overnight experience for children aged 7 to 16 called “The Country Experience.” The natural demands of the farm—animals needing attention, veggies ready for harvest, and structures needing maintenance—determine the camp’s daily schedule. Kids have lots of free time to play with their favorite animals, such as cows, goats, chickens, bunnies, pigs, and miniature donkeys, relax in a hammock, bake in the kitchen, or go fishing in the pond.
- The Pleasant Music Institute
You may get the knowledge and abilities you need from the Friendly Music School to play the guitar in any genre. You’ll make greater progress and have more fun along the way with our core guitar program and encouraging community, regardless of whether you’re totally new to the guitar, returning to it after a break, or trying to learn what you can online. In addition to our beginner, advanced beginner, and intermediate group guitar lessons, we also offer the well-liked “build your own group” class, in which you sign up with your own friends, family, coworkers, etc., for a specified day, time, and instructor. Classes are 60 minutes long and consist of 8 lessons for any group.
6.The sixth International Mansion
If you use the Common Core benchmarks, our general curriculum offers a wide range of demanding courses that meet or exceed state requirements. The Language & Music School provides a professional-led and inclusive learning environment while also ensuring that each student receives the specialized attention and support they require. Appropriate class sizes and outstanding, trained teachers make this possible. We match you with a private tutor for an 8-week course.
- Oak Park/River Forest Mathnasium
Where kids get the tools they need to flourish in arithmetic and create a solid mathematical foundation using personalized learning plans and in-person instruction, whether in a classroom setting or online.
- La Grange Mathnasium
Let Mathnasium assist your youngster this summer by using it. Get Ahead, Keep Up, and Catch Up! The nation’s top math-only learning facility, Mathnasium, focuses on teaching math to children in a way that makes sense to them in a fun and engaging atmosphere. With the help of Mathnasium, your youngster can avoid the summer learning slump and get ready for the challenges of their new math curriculum in the next school year. Mathnasium, which works with students in Pre-K through 12th grade, may give a student a fun and useful summer break. No matter how behind or far ahead your child is in arithmetic, Mathnasium creates a program to challenge and inspire them. Both Oak Park and La Grange are home to Mathnasium learning centers! Call Mathnasium for additional details and to arrange a sample lesson to see the difference it can make.
Max Aquatics 9.
Swim lessons for adults and children, lap swimming, water running, and more
Welcome to Max Aquatics, a 25-yard, 6-lane indoor pool that serves the needs of swimmers of all ages and abilities in the western suburbs (Western Springs, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, Brookfield, Riverside, and more), as well as the Chicago area. We are ideally situated in McCook, across the street from The Max sports facility to the south and east.
- The Ovation School
At Ovation Academy, we use the transformative power of music, theater, and dance to develop, engage, inspire, and educate our students. In addition to the first-ever half-day camp, Ovation is excited to provide TWO distinct shows for full-day campers this summer. Students will be in excellent hands as they experience the enchantment of song and dance while learning about the undersea world, the village of Motunui, and merry Londontown.
River Forest Community Center, 11.
Providing both full-time and part-time programs for parents with young children and kids ages 3 to 12. Sports, games, water play/swimming, field trips, special events, and more are included in the activities.
The Viola Project 12.
Come to The Viola Project’s renowned Shakespeare summer camps at Austin Gardens! Girls and gender-nonconforming people from many backgrounds are brought together by The Viola Project, giving them the tools they need to stand up, speak out, and demand inclusion. With a focus on encouraging kids to speak and speak out on what’s important to them, whether that’s running for president or composing a sonnet, both week-long camps are packed with acting, ice cream, and fun. Financial aid is always available. The Oak Park Festival Theatre and The Nineteenth Century Club collaborate to run the camps.
West Cook YMCA 13.
Your child should go camping Magellan at the West Cook YMCA to enjoy the best summer ever. Activities at the nearby forest preserve, swimming, games, sports, and field trips occupy the days. Your child will enjoy all that summer has to offer while being in a secure setting where they can try new things, develop friends, and create lifelong memories. For kids aged 5 to 14. You can relax knowing your child is enjoying the best summer ever, all day, with the Y since camp runs weekly sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with available extended care from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
- The studio of Frank Lloyd Wright! Vacation Camps
In Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio, design! Grades 3–8 Summer Camps
Designing with Architecture and Music: Sound and Space
At Wright’s Oak Park Studio, where America’s most renowned architect pioneered a bold new vision for modern architecture and design, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is hosting a camp for imaginative souls in grades 3-5 and 6-8.
Through the lenses of sound, movement, and acoustics, Wright’s design legacy is examined in Sound and Space. Campers will collaborate with subject experts to design and construct models that are influenced by sound, drawing on Wright’s assertion that “music and architecture bud on the same stem.”
F.A.Q.
Do they register according to age or grade?
Registration is done by grade and age, but most camps are grouped by grade range. To make sure your child falls within the appropriate ranges, please check the details for the particular camp. The camps that participants should enroll in should correspond to the grade they will be entering.
Does early registration result in a discount?
Yes, registering before time will save you $10 on full-day camps and $5 on half-day or extended-day camps. Contractual programs have some exclusions.
What happens if my child has allergies, a disease, or other particular requirements?
Please fill out the Participant Emergency Form and your registration with any relevant medical information. The staff will work with families to provide the safest possible environment for campers, despite the fact that we are unable to guarantee an allergy-free campsite.
My camper can take medication, but can they do so during camp?
All medication should ideally be taken before or after camp at home. The Medical Dispense Form must be completed if your kid needs to take medication while attending camp. Without this paperwork, no medication (including inhalers or sting kits) would be administered. The first day of camp will be when the medications are collected. The dosage, doctor’s name, phone number, and times per day the drug to be taken should all be listed on any medications that are presented to the program in their original packaging. Staff will not administer any medication; only campers may take or apply their medications.
How can I register/exit my child from camp? Who is permitted to check out my child?
The check-in processes at each venue will vary slightly depending on the age groups and amenities being used. Before camp officially begins, campers will not be permitted to check-in. Every day, parents must sign their children in.
Each day, parents, guardians, or anyone else specified on the camper’s emergency paperwork must sign the camper out of the facility. The only people who are permitted to sign out the child are those who are named on the emergency form. During sign-out, everyone is expected to present a picture ID to personnel. No adult not specified on the emergency form will be permitted to accompany campers on their departure.
Can my child check-in and out of camp by themselves?
If a camper is 12 years old or older, their parent or legal guardian may give them permission to sign themselves in and out. We strongly advise that parents or guardians sign out youngsters who are 10 or 11 years old. We don’t have crossing guards, and there won’t be a lot of kids walking home in huge groups. Written notice must be given in advance if a parent believes their 10- or 11-year-old child can sign themselves out (they will have the option to do this on their child’s emergency form). A parent or legal guardian must sign in and out any child under the age of ten.
What do I need to do if my camper won’t be coming to camp one day?
Parents should notify the site supervisor every day of their child’s absence by phone or email.
What ought my camper to pack for the trip?
Campers should wear loose-fitting clothing and scuff-resistant shoes when they arrive. Shoes for the gym are strongly advised. A reusable water bottle, a mask, a nutritious lunch and snack, and sunscreen are all recommended for campers.
What shouldn’t my camper bring with them?
Toys, games, guns, cash, electronics, and any other valuables should be left at home. These are merely diversionary activities that may result in behavioral issues or dissatisfaction if the thing is misplaced, stolen, or broken.
What occurs when there are weather emergencies?
Every day, site supervisors check the weather in order to adjust activities as necessary. Campers are quickly relocated indoors during severe weather (thunder, lightning, tornadoes). Activities at camp will be changed to be more passive and less rigorous if the National Weather Service deems that there is a heat emergency. There will be more regular water breaks available. Campers will be transferred, if possible, to a facility with air conditioning.
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