When spring break crops up in April, kids at rest can get cranky. If you need to keep them occupied during the week off, we’ve found plenty of options for spring break camp, from ones that focus on film to food to so much more.
Taste Buds Kitchen offers a Culinary Passport Camp for ages 4-8 and 9-13. The session runs Monday through Friday, but kids can attend any number of single-day sessions. Classes focus on exploring—and making!—global cuisine, including cardamom coconut cookies from India, sushi from Japan, pikelets from Australia, and more. This tasty class gives kids the option to travel all around the world without ever leaving home! Full-week campers will receive an apron to decorate and a recipe book on the final day; single day campers may purchase an apron.
Kids ages 2-6 can spend their spring break at Juguemos A Cantar, a Spanish immersion program for kids who have some experience with the language. The mini-camp’s language instruction occurs through art, play, and music, which makes the learning experience just another part of the fun!
Sporty kids can get served fun for vacation at Prospect Park’s spring break tennis program. Designed for children (and adults) of all ages and experience levels, intensive group instruction is available for all participants. Monday through Friday for three hours daily, the camp offers both drills and match play. With its open age and experience ranges, the tennis camp is a great choice for siblings or kids who might want to stick together.
Future filmmakers will want to check out the New York International Children’s Film Festival’s camp. Divided into three groups—grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8—kids of all ages get to approach filmmaking in the most accessible way possible. Plus, the films they make will be screened at the 2019 festival! Each different group works under a different theme, whether it be an exploration of mythical creatures, creating a robot puppet to film, or working with found-object animation. Extended care is also available for kids who have to stay later.
For artsy kids, the Children’s Museum of the Arts offers a spring art colony. Kids ages 6-12 can spend Monday through Friday at one of two classes: Paint Your World or Claymation. In Paint Your World, children will learn about the different processes and techniques that go into various painting methods. They’ll be able to create books and even frames for the art they’ve made. In Claymation, the young artists will learn how to make their own films using various materials like paper, fabric, and clay. The iStopmotion software will help them capture these brief stories.
At the Guggenheim, ages 8-11 get the whole museum to explore. They’ll develop creativity and artistic skill through exploring the museum’s galleries. Teaching artists will be there to guide their learning and help with artistic interpretation. The camp’s goal is to foster a personal style for each young artist by showing them how all the museum’s pieces vary and what hallmarks certain artists have.
