With stunning natural wonders and state parks surrounding it, Austin makes an excellent place for your children to explore. Whether you want to keep them close to home or hope for them to spread their wings and discover somewhere new, this Texas city has some great summer programs.
From sleepaway options at Lake Travis to sporty weeklong programs, there are a variety of options to choose from, all conveniently located in the Austin area. The hot summer weather makes it an excellent place for those who love being outside.
Here are some of Austin’s best summer camps for your little adventurers.
Camp Olympia
With a camp location on the beautiful Lake Livingston, Camp Olympia provides sleepaway summer camps for kids ages 6 to 16. There are separate camps for your sons and daughters. Their dedication to giving your child a time full of fun and helping them grow in all kinds of ways.
The summer camp offers starter sessions for young kids ages 6 to 9 and two and three-week sessions for older ones. Campers can choose from several daily activities, like horseback riding, water skiing, rock climbing, fishing, and team sports, as well as arts and music!
Camp Olympia has a traditional all-camp competition, which is a major highlight of the program. It can help them build up their team spirit. They also have nightly events, including dances, carnivals, and even a rodeo for a true Texan experience!
Sunshine Camps
With multiple locations in Austin, Sunshine Camps help cater the summer camp experience to children ages 8-11 and 12-15. Their Zilker Park location caters to the younger age group, while the Lake Travis site is specifically for teenagers.
It’s an excellent choice if you want your child to progress in their independent thinking while knowing they’re not far from home. Sunshine Camps has overnight camps lasting 10 days with a total of 4 sessions between June and August.
It’s an inclusive camp, and you can choose for your child to stay in a single or a mixed-gender dormitory. Both locations offer a variety of activities to help children build their self-confidence and independence while having fun.
They offer swimming, high and low ropes, sports, arts and crafts, canoeing, archery, hiking, and various fun camp games. Each evening, there is an event for the whole camp to enjoy together, fostering life-long friendships. The best part is that it’s entirely free for kids who qualify.
CG Victory
CG Victory is an adventure summer camp with a Christ-centred community spirit. They offer day camps for 3rd to 8th-grade students and an overnight camp for older students in 7-11th grade. The non-profit has several locations throughout Texas, including other cities like Houston and Dallas.
It’s sports-focused, with games, skills, adventures, and evening rallies making up most of their schedule. Children can learn about sportsmanship, develop a strong sense of community with others and form lifelong friendships.
This is all done while learning about God and building their faith as part of the Christian community. At CG Victory, students can feel the love of Christ through laughs and adventurous activities.
Scottish Rite Theater
The Scottish Rite Theater can be in the city center, close to the University of Texas at Austin. Children can enroll in their various day camps throughout the summer season. It caters to different age groups, and programs run anywhere from one to four weeks. Sessions are Monday to Friday from 9 am to 3 pm each weekday.
Their art summer camps are perfect for creative kids who aren’t into fast-paced adventure and instead look for an artistic and enjoyable indoor program.
The theater has many performing arts classes for children at different experience levels, including acting, stage combat, and puppetry. Campers can learn new crafty skills, including storytelling, choreography, casting, and more.
Austin Waldorf School
You can find the Austin Waldorf school at the edge of the Texas Hill Country. Its campus, composed of 30 acres of wooded space, provides an excellent outdoor learning environment.
The school offers unique summer camps like Summer garden, Camp Roadrunner, as well as an athletics camp and an arts camp.
These weeklong day camps also contain a variety of sports activities. Sports include volleyball, soccer, and flag football. Energetic children and budding athletes will find this a good fit for them.
Your kids can experience arts & crafts, outdoor play, circus arts, cooking, and painting, so with these diverse choices, your kid can easily find something fun to do at Austin Waldorf school.
Nike Soccer Camp
Nike Soccer Camp at Austin Indoor Soccer Center is a co-ed summer day camp in Round Rock for those ages 6-13. They make learning soccer more accessible to children, with excellent facilities and knowledgeable coaches.
This Austin Nike Soccer Camp has professional trainers and a competitive environment to help athletes improve their game. Their lessons focus on developing one skill per day, which is helped by the low camper-to-coach ratio, so each player gets the attention they need.
Participants can develop many soccer and interpersonal skills, including teamwork and personal development. Children are separated into groups based on age and abilities to ensure everyone plays at the same level.
This sports camp is an excellent setting for children to develop physically and become friends with and meet other young athletes.
Sherwood Forest Summer Camp
Located just East of Austin, Sherwood Forest is a Medieval-themed program open to children ages 8-16. This camp covers a variety of Medieval-style activities such as archery, axe throwing, blacksmithing, horseback riding, leather working, swordplay, and more.
Sherwood Forest runs four-week sessions for students and is arguably one of the most unique summer camps in all of Texas. Participants sleep on bunk beds and stay in large houses and vast tents.
The activities offered build a solid foundation of practical skills that kids might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. Should this summer camp spark an interest in leather working or horseback riding, it can provide campers with a life-long passion.
There is also a weekend option for adults, in case you want to get the same experiences as your child.
Austin Sports Academy
Located South West of Austin, Austin Sports Academy provides a variety of full-day sports camps. There are specialty camps specializing in 1v1 soccer drills, sports & adventure, and fishing.
The variety of summer camps allows children to pick different activities depending on which camp they choose. Children particularly interested in joining more than one option are more than welcome to do so. They even have some half-day camps.
Open to boys and girls ages 4-15, Austin Sports Academy accommodates up to 70 students each session. Try to get in early if your child is hoping for a spot here. The sports they cover include soccer, volleyball, basketball, and more.
The coaches and staff can also help your child increase their physical attributes, so they’re more well-rounded while out on the field. The academy is run by Ben Crawley, who was a professional soccer player turned coach.
Lone Star School of Music
With three different locations in Dripping Springs, Lakeway, and Southwest Austin, Lone Star School of Music is the right place for any young talented musician.
They provide fun activities, professional instructors, classes with small groups, and affordability. The weeklong camp ends with a performance on the final day, allowing the campers to showcase everything they learned during the music camp.
Campers ages 5 to 9 can learn to sing various songs and explore instruments, including the piano, guitar, drums, and bass. Plus, students gain experience performing in front of their family and friends.
Older students can expand on their musical skills, learn to write songs, and compose music.
Austin Film Festival Summer Camps
The Austin Film Festival hosts a series of summer camps for 9-18-year-olds focusing on creativity and collaboration. You can sign kids up for a virtual summer camp or one in-person at the First Baptist Church.
The main activity sessions consist of Film Making 101, Claymation Creations, Script to Screen, and Horror / Sci-Fi. Throughout the visual arts courses, campers can work together to create a short film, which they can keep to remember their experience forever.
Their film program is a great way of encouraging creative children interested in film and production to build their skills from an early age. Each summer ends with a screening of their movie so campers can showcase their talents and creativity.