The state of New Hampshire offers a perfect landscape for your children to explore the great outdoors. With the White Mountain National Forest as a backdrop and endless lakes to splash in, New Hampshire hosts some of the best summer camps in the country.
From traditional overnight summer camps along lakes to environmental centers with day camps and top-notch music and arts programs, there are various options available to choose from. As well as its outstanding natural surroundings, the warm summer weather makes it ideal for spending the summer outside. Here are some of the best options for your children.
Camp Cody
Camp Cody is an overnight camp with a mile of waterfront along Lake Ossipee and is nestled in the surrounding White Mountain National Forest of Freedom. Camp Cody has several guiding principles that shape all of its summer programs, like progressive programming, role models, technology-free space, and commitment to communication.
Camp Cody offers more than 40 activities for campers to sign up for. There are arts like music, videography, and dance to waterfront activities like wakeboarding, kayaking, paddle boarding, and sailing, to land sports like soccer, equestrian, volleyball, and tennis, and adventure in zip lining, mountain biking, and whitewater rafting. This New England summer camp also offers private instruction in a variety of pursuits as well as some academic topics.
Campers are separated into five age groups, ranging from 7-17. The division of ages ensures that campers receive the proper supervision and opportunities for their age and ability levels. They also have a counselors in training leadership program for older campers. Kids can sign up for two-week, four-week, and entire summer sessions.
Camp Robinhood
Located near the White Mountain National Forest in Freedom, NH, Camp Robinhood is a sleepaway summer camp for students in grades 6th and above. Their philosophy is to provide campers with a supportive and welcoming environment to make friends, learn to respect one another and inspire them to grow.
The camp offers two sessions. The first option is for 6th graders and above or first-timers and lasts one month. The second one is for 7th graders and above and runs through the entire summer. Kids choose their daily activities. Traditional camp activities like canoeing and rafting trips, along with camping, routinely take place to stay true to the summer camp spirit.
Camp Robinhood also offers team sports, individual sports, waterfront activities, hiking, mountain biking, performing arts, and visual arts. Children also have opportunities to receive private instruction in their specialty areas. All camp facilities are routinely updated. This overnight camp is committed to preserving the camp’s history while providing a best-in-class experience.
Camp Walt Whitman
Situated in Piermont, Camp Walt offers the remoteness of off-grid surroundings and is close to New York. Offering a stunning view of Lake Armington, the camp has modern facilities that include a heated pool, indoor sports pavilion, art studios, and a rope course. Plus, their signature rustic cabins.
With their mixture of indoor and outdoor facilities and comfortable accommodations, Camp Walt is an excellent hybrid of a traditional camp with modern elements. Campers can enjoy whitewater rafting, lacrosse, hiking, golf, performing arts, arts and crafts, sports like soccer and gymnastics, water sports, and much more.
Camp Walt primarily offers a 7-week-long overnight summer camp, with an exception for younger campers. Full-season camps allow kids to fully integrate into the experience, form long-lasting friendships, and have a better chance of thriving in camp activities. They instill values of community, friendship, and respect in children in order to create a nurturing environment for all, regardless of age or gender.
Camp Takodah
Based in Richmond, Camp Takodah is enriched with the essentials to help kids ages 7-15 escape from their daily routines when school is out. Surrounded by nature and close to Mount Monadnock, its campus makes for a small outdoor paradise.
Camp Takodah offers two-week overnight summer camps for boys and girls separately. The all-boys camp and all-girls camp help each gender focus on themselves to develop their personality and skills without any pressures while in a tech-free environment. Participants can choose classes for themselves to improve their self-confidence and get opportunities to build leadership skills.
They offer soccer, football, archery, basketball, water sports like kayaking, paddle boarding, and sailing, as well as adventure activities like zip-lining, rock climbing, ropes courses, arts and crafts, and performing arts. It’s only an hour and a half from Boston, MA, and two hours from Albany, NY, so it’s well-suited for campers from other nearby states.
Let’s Play Music
Let’s Play Music has two locations in New Hampshire — Derry and Manchester. These music summer day camps are a fantastic way for kids to spend the season improving their creativity and music skills. They offer three camp options for different age groups.
Intro to Music & Art Camp is a weeklong option for young kids who want to learn an instrument and about visual arts. Their Kidzrock Camp introduces students to music through instruments. They also offer fun games and hands-on activities to continue their music education. It lasts a week and runs from 9 am to 1 pm.
The last program is the summer rock band camp. It’s designed for older teenagers 12-16 interested in refining their music skills. They learn all about songwriting, and group performance, among other things. It ends with a final performance for families to watch everything they have learned.
Arts in Reach
Arts in Reach, an Arts Community Centre based in Portsmouth, is an ideal place for creative and artistic children ages 11-18. Orientated towards inclusivity, Arts in Reach goes out of its way to ensure that young teens get the opportunity to investigate and explore their talents through visual and performing arts.
It’s committed to providing access to high-quality teaching no matter the camper’s background, as its camp programs remain free, and transportation is included. They offer a safe space for students to express themselves freely. Through hands-on activities with teamwork involved, they can grow their self-confidence, problem-solving, critical thinking, and leadership skills.
Their artistic opportunities vary from 1-2 month-long after-school classes to programs during the summer. Kids can expect mentorship from artists, fun field trips out in the town, and community service. Its proven track record speaks for itself, as most children that attend their camps end up graduating high school and attending college.
Camp Winaukee
Camp Winaukee is an all-boys sports summer camp for those 7-15 located along Lake Winnipesaukee. The goal is to inspire self-confidence and improve the physical condition of the athletes so they can excel at their chosen sport. Its facilities are some of the best in all of New England.
Winaukee offers a wide variety of team sports and individual sports, including baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, hockey, golf, archery, and tennis. They also have water sports like paddleboarding, waterskiing, sailing, and more. Staying true to being a traditional sleepaway summer camp, they offer canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, archery, and more.
While the early day is filled with fun activities, the evenings involve camp events like talent shows, carnivals, parties, and gathering around the campfire. Campers can sign up for the entire summer or 2,3, and 4-week sessions, depending on their preferences. It’s also more than just a sports program, as it provides a place where boys can learn about sportsmanship, develop a strong sense of community with others and form lifelong friendships.
NH Hoop Skills
Based in Manchester, NH Hoop Skills is a sports camp focused entirely on basketball for girls. The head coach, Karen Pinkos, has over 30 years of experience between playing and climbing up the ladder to coaching. She has also previously taught D1 athletes.
Hoop Skills offers different activities according to the weather but aims for at least 90 minutes of outside play daily. Their mission is to provide beginner and intermediate basketball players with a fundamental understanding of the rules and sportsmanship. More experienced players can relish more challenging activities and the opportunity to compete.
There is one week of camp offered in June and one in July with instruction from 9 am to 3 pm. The daily schedule includes footwork and balance skills, team-building games, basketball concepts, and lectures. The basketball camp aims to keep a low athlete-to-staff ratio, allowing for better concentration and training.
Prescott Farm Wildquest Day Camp
The Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center is located in Laconia, NH, and offers various day camps for children ages 5-17. Their facilities include a green learning building in addition to the forests and extensive farmland on the property.
At their WildQuest Summer Camp, children can expect to explore and learn about the farm and environment, form friendships, and develop skills and interests through hands-on activities. They’ll do things like arts and crafts, cooking, identifying animals, playing camp games, spending time in the woods, and much more.
Weekly themes include focuses on surviving in the outdoors, STEAM activities, how water works, animals, and more. Parents can sign up their kids for a single week or an entire summer session. There is an additional leader-in-training program for teenagers. Apart from summer day camps, there are also year-round programs during Spring and Winter.
NH Audubon Day Camp
NT Audubon offers nature-focused day camps that develop a camper’s connection with nature and teaches them the importance of preserving the environment.
Holding the vision of protecting natural habitats and cultivating curiosity towards nature, the day camp in Concord offer the opportunity for your little ones to breathe fresh air and have a fun time outdoors. Young explorers can do fun activities like hiking, storytelling, crafts, learn about conservation and stewardship, observe animals, play camp games, and more.
The summer programs run from June to August for ages 4-15, with each camp lasting a couple of days. The campers are separated into different age groups with age-specific activities for them. There is a half-day camp for younger kids and a Leaders-in-Training option for teens. They create an inclusive, non-competitive, and welcoming camp environment for all to enjoy.
S.T.A.R.S Summer Camps
As a part of the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Theatre and Dance, STARS day camps are offered to students in grades 1-12. These camps cover drama, musical theater, puppetry, aerial arts, and dance, and all end with a performance for family and friends.
Twinkle Stars Storytelling through Theater workshop is for students in grades 1-3 and helps young participants turn popular stories into live performances through puppetry. The All Starts Musical Theater Camp is designed for grades 3-5 and work on skills like music and movement.
Rising Stars Junior Theater Academy covers several theater areas for middle school students. It aims to build a solid foundation of theater skills for kids to move on to future productions. Super Stars Advanced Theater Academy is for high school students and expands into advanced-level instruction. Providing the skills and resources needed to train as a performance artist allows a chance for emerging artists to break into the scene from an early age. Most of these art programs run daily from 9 am to 3 pm.
Email: nhcampsz@gmail.com to add your camp