No tents required

With more than 20 weeks before school lets out, it might feel premature to be thinking about camp registration, especially when spring break hasn’t even started yet.

But those five days off school are a walk in the park compared with 10 weeks of unstructured free time.

Parents without the luxury of child care will be flicking through their family calendar, trying to figure out how to do it all as work/family/life balance becomes more challenging when children are home all day.

Thank goodness for the plethora of summer camps dotted all around the city, although it is quite the task to sift through them all to pick the right one for your family.

Enrolment for some of the more popular camps opens this month and places get snapped up quickly, so don’t leave it until the last minute.

To make life a little bit easier, we’ve done the hard work and chosen five favourites and arranged them in order of registration date (the first three are already open and spots will go fast).

All you need to do is ready your devices, dig out your credit card and get clicking.

Ready? Let’s go.

Art Attack

Registration: Open now

Where: WAG-Qaumajuq, 300 Memorial Blvd.

They’ve kept things nice and simple at WAG-Qaumajuq, with just three art-making summer camp options on offer. Children aged 7-11 can choose between clay, sculpture and pottery or adventures in painting, both which run for 10 days, or cardboard sculpture, a nine-day camp owing to the Aug. 3 statutory holiday.

Adventures in painting is a chance for budding artists to explore a variety of styles, including acrylic, watercolour, tempera, pointillism, landscape and portraiture.

Campers who would rather work with clay will learn how to shape and design their own pieces, creating functional pottery as well as imaginative sculpture while developing their skills on the pottery wheel.

Cardboard sculpture teaches young artists how to harness the power of their imagination. Using recycled materials, children will lean the fundamentals of 3D design, construction and engineering, turning ordinary cardboard boxes into robots, animals or abstract art installations.

Dates: Every second week from July 6 to Aug. 28

Times: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early (8:30 a.m.) dropoff and late (5 p.m.) pickup available

Ages: 7-11

Fees: $510 for members and $550 for non-members for 10-day camps, $470 for members and $510 for non-members for the nine-day cardboard sculpture camp.

Register: wag.ca

Music Music Music

Registration: Open now

Where: School of Rock Winnipeg, 657 Corydon Ave.

Whether you’ve got a budding guitarist or an accomplished drummer on your hands, you’ll be sure to find a School of Rock camp experience to suit your mini-musician. There are 20 full- and half-day camps covering a variety of genres, including metal, grunge and rock, as well as vocal training, songwriting, recording and production workshops.

Campers will rehearse, practise and take part in music-based games and activities daily, and there’s a concert at the end of the week. Some camps require musical experience, so check before booking.

Dates: Weekly from July 6 to Aug. 28

Times: Full-day camps from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are also morning (9 a.m. to noon) and afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) half-day camps for five- to seven-year-olds.

Ages: 5-18

Fees: $240 for half-day, $450 for full day

Register: schoolofrock.com

Minecraft modding, game building and website design

Registration: Open now

Where: Code Ninjas, 350 North Town Road, Unit 420

Perfect for aspiring game designers and wannabe app builders, there are four themed camps across eight weeks diving into the world of game customization, electronics and robotics and graphic design.

Weekly themes include Minecraft modding, where campers can alter and enhance their Minecraft worlds, and retro arcade and scratch coding, where they will learn core programming concepts to help them create their own games.

Dates: weekly from July 6 to Aug. 28

Ages: 7-14

Time: Programming 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Drop off from 8 a.m. onwards and pickup up until 5 p.m.

Fee: $350 plus GST for five days, $275 for four days (Aug. 4-7)

Register: wfp.to/codeninjas

Mini U Camps

Registration opens: Feb. 11 at noon (join digital queue at 11:50 a.m.)

Where: University of Manitoba, Max Bell Centre Field House, 109 Sidney Smith St.

Parents have been known to have multiple devices open in hopes of snagging a spot at U of M’s highly coveted summer camps. There are nine weeks of camps starting every Monday (except for the week of Aug. 4 which starts on a Tuesday), covering everything from rhythmic gymnastics and Lego building to flag football, science and cheerleading, split between three age groups: 4-7; 8-11; and 12-18.

Registration is a three-step process that spells out exactly what you have to do — pick a week, find a camp and register. And, as befits a learning institution, they’ve even published a short explainer to guide first-timers through the process at wfp.to/miniuprograms

There is a bus service available for people who can’t make the drive to the campus, with rides to and from priced at $55 for five days, and $44 for the short week in August. Pickup/dropoff points in the city are Charleswood School, Ecole Sage Creek, Garden City Collegiate, Grant Park High School, Lord Wolseley School and South Point School.

Dates: Weekly from July 2 to Aug. 31

Times: Programming is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Supervision is available 7:45 -9 a.m. before camp and until 5:30 p.m. after.

Fee: $305 for five days, $244 for four days, $122 for camp play days (July 2-3)

Registration: umanitoba.ca/welcome-mini-u

Bus service registration: umanitoba.ca/mini-u/services

Inclusion information: umanitoba.ca/mini-u/mini-u-inclusion-and-support-options

Let’s Get Outside!

Registration opens: Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. for members, Feb. 20 at 11 a.m. for non-members

Where: FortWhyte Richardson Interpretive Centre, 1961 McCreary Rd., for Kinder Camp;

Buffalo Crossing, 2505 McGillivray Blvd., for Rabbit Rangers, Ecoquest and Fox Bay

FortWhyte’s camps are divided by the grade your child will be entering in September, aside from Kinder Camp, which is for four- to five-year-olds (campers must be four by the start date).

At Kinder Camp, preschoolers will explore a new nature theme daily through hikes, crafts and games, with no swimming. Rabbit Rangers is for those entering grades 1 and 2, with swimming, games, arts and crafts and, weather permitting, voyageur canoe rides.

Ecoquest, for Grades 3 to 5, is a nature-based program with canoeing and swimming, while Fox Bay for grades 6 to 8 is full-on adventuring as campers get to explore FortWhyte’s trails on mountain bikes. There’s also canoeing, kayaking and lessons about the local ecosystems. Campers will learn enhanced paddling techniques and wilderness survival skills. All campers registering for Fox Bay must be able to ride a bike.

While registration is simple, it’s worth reading the seven-page guide if this your first time enrolling.

Dates: Weekly from July 2 to Sept. 4

Times: Programming 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,c early dropoff from 8 a.m. and late pickup until 5 p.m.

Fee: Various prices according length of experience

Register: fortwhyte.org

 

Reserve your spot

Missed the deadline? Fret not— there’s still time to book a spot at these camps!

Interact with animals

Winnipeg Humane Society, 45 Hurst Way

Dates: July 6 to Aug. 28

Time: Programming runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with supervision offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Ages: 6-12

Fee: $250 for five days, $210 for four days

Campers attending each weekly camp with get the chance to visits the shelter’s cats, dogs and critters. A typical day will see campers participating in two craft activities, one hour of animal interaction, outdoor play, educational programming about the Winnipeg Humane Society and responsible pet care. Weekly highlights include a spay/neuter surgery observation and Friday tie-dye and water games.

Register now at: winnipeghumanesociety.ca

 

Weekly art themes

Cartizan Studio, Johnston Terminal, 25 Forks Market Rd., No. 115

Dates: July 6-10; July 20-24; Aug. 10-14; Aug. 31 to Sept. 4

Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Textile Lab and Under the Sea; 9 a.m. to noon for Little Sprouts; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Build-A-Beast

Ages: 4-15

Fee: $300 for Textile lab, Under the Sea, and Build-A-Beast, $210 for Little Sprouts.

Guided day camps with class sizes no larger than 10 participants, each week is themed and geared towards a specific age group. Textile Lab (8-15) invites campers to explore the world of textiles through hands-on projects using fabric, felt, yarn, and mixed media. Under the Sea (6-12) is where young artists explore the wonders of the ocean, crafting their own jellyfish, coral reefs, mermaids and submarines to add to their underwater worlds. Little Sprouts (4-7) focuses on building confidence through art and creative play — and for those planning on making their own Halloween costume, Build-A-Beast (8-15) will teach kids how to create full-scale wearable character headpieces using cardboard, mixed media and imaginative design.

Register at: cartizanstudio.ca

Zoo Camp

Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd.

Dates: July 6 to Sept. 4

Each day campers will journey through the zoo, meet animal ambassadors, go behind-the-scenes, explore nature in Assiniboine Park and learn about wildlife from around the world. Perfect for kids who love animals, nature and spending time outdoors.

Ages: 6-13

Fee: $280 + GST for five days or $240 + GST for four days

 

Leaf Camp

The Leaf at Assiniboine Park, 145 The Leaf Way

Dates: July 6 to Sept. 4

Campers will explore the biomes at the Leaf, enjoy hands-on learning and outdoor fun in Assiniboine Park and get creative with sustainable arts and crafts. Perfect for campers who love nature and enjoy a calmer, more relaxed environment for learning and play.

Ages: 9-13

Fee: $280 + GST for five days or $240 + GST for four days

Registration for both camps start Feb. 9 at assiniboinepark.ca

Theatre Camp

Manitoba Theatre for Young People, 2 Forks Market Rd.

Dates: July 6 to Sept. 4

Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Dropoff is from 8:30 a.m. and supervision can be provided until 5 p.m.

Nine themed weeklong camps full of opportunities to use your imagination, get into character, create theatre and film, and broaden your horizons. Each class will have a presentation on the final day and parents and caregivers are invited to attend.

Ages: 5-18

Price: $315 to $355

Registration opens Feb. 24 at mtyp.ca

winnipegfreepress.com/avkitching