Camp Fitch YMCA

Residential Coed Summer Camp, ages 6-17

N. Springfield, Pennsylvania

Established in 1914

Camp Fitch's century-old, classic sleep-away summer camp provides boys and girls aged 6-16 with a holistically safe, values-driven community where they discover friendship and achievement. Kids feel like they belong here among our carefully vetted, highly committed, and caring staff who create transformative experiences on a gorgeous and well-maintained site on the shore of Lake Erie.

Most of our staff are college students: ...read moretomorrow's teachers and child-care experts who are selected for a proven track record of leadership and positive role-modeling. We require an intensive, on-site week long orientation and skill-building session for all of our staff who learn to listen to each child and create a nurturing environment.

While Camp Fitch offers an impressive array of activities at our Lake Erie waterfront; equestrian center; climbing tower; swimming pool; inland lake; and visual arts center; we recognize that these activities are a means to an end. The Fitch experience is designed to forge strong friendships that last a lifetime and solidify kids' growing sense that they can reach goals for which they have passion and apply persistence.

Parents rave about the value of the Fitch experience, often sharing with us that their children return home a more compassionate and communicative person.

Game Camp Nation

Residential and day coed summer computer camp, ages 9-19

Alpharetta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Herndon, VA; Morristown, NJ; Saddle River, NJ; Billerica, MA

Established in 2006

Turn video game ideas into reality at Game Camp Nation, an educational game studio for kids and teens. Through summer camps and year-round online lessons, Game Camp Nation delivers engaging courses to aspiring game designers, programmers, and artists of all skill levels. Offerings include:

Game Design (ages 9–19)
Learn to design game mechanics. Game designers invent how a game functions and flows from beginning to end.

Pixel ...read moreArt (ages 9–19)
Learn to draw and animate two-dimensional sprites with visual effects. 2-D artists produce coherent artwork for games.

Programming (ages 9–19)
Learn to write game code. Game programmers implement a design and import assets to develop a playable game.

3D Graphics (ages 13–19)
Learn to build and animate three-dimensional models with visual effects. 3-D artists produce artwork for games and movies.

Leadership (ages 16–19)
Learn to work effectively with children, peers, and supervisors. Trainees develop skills to succeed as a camp counselor.

Please visit the website for camp dates, locations, and more info.

-Courage Center Camps

Camp for children and adults with disabilities

Maple Lake and Lake George, Minnesota

Established in 1955

Courage Center Camps offer safe, accessible, natural environments where children and adults with physical disabilities, sensory and language impairments, and other disabilities or illnesses discover abilities they never knew they had or they thought they had lost.

Campers make new friends, and are often introduced to sports or hobbies they develop further at home or at school. Their self confidence grows and their attitudes improve. ...read more Speech/language services are available at Camp Courage for campers on the active caseload of a school Speech/Language Pathologist.

*Easter Seal Camp Wawbeek

Residential coed summer camp

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

Established in 1938

Located on 400 beautifully wooded acres near Wisconsin Dells, Easter Seals Camp Wawbeek provides camping experiences for children and adults ages 7 and up with physical disabilities, cognitive delay and other disabilities. There is always something to do and everything is wheelchair accessible.

There is boating, fishing, hiking, swimming, basketball, painting, ocstacle courses or you can try flying through the air on a zipline! For ...read morecampers of all ages, there's time to relax, talk with new friends and hang around with people who love and respect you for who you are. In the evenings you'll enjoy dances, roast marshmallows and sing around the campfire.

*Camp Friendship

Residential coed summer camp

Annandale, Minnesota

Established in 1965

Friendship Ventures is a non-profit agency that creates unique educational, recreational and social opportunities for people of all ages with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Our camp programs are open to anyone age 5 and older who has developmental and (or) physical disability. Participants with disabilities may bring a friend, brother or sister without a disability to "All Kids Belong" sessions at Camp Friendship ...read moreor "Celebrate Summer" sessions at Eden Wood.

General sessions provide a traditional camp experience for children and teenagers, and a resort-like vacation for adults. Special interest sessions allow participants to learn and practice a specific recreational activity, and also enjoy a wide range of traditional camp activities.

*Camp Sunnyside

Residential coed camp for the disabled

Des Moines, Iowa

Any Iowan 4 years and older with any type of disability, either mental or physical, may attend Easter Seals Iowa Camp Sunnyside. With this broad "open door" policy, it's easy to see why more than 1,100 individuals from all 99 counties come to Camp Sunnyside every year.

Persons with heart disease, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, mental retardation, developmental problems, are all welcomed at Camp ...read moreSunnyside. Whatever the disability, they will find safe, healthy and success-oriented recreational programs that most likely are not offered in their community.