Summer camps and classes can turn your kids on to a new skill, hobby or lifetime passion that drives them to be doers, thinkers and leaders. You’ll find immersive camps at The Y, schools, museums, county/city parks and recreation programs as well as sports facilities (ice rinks, tennis academies, martial arts) and area attractions (The Zoo at Lowry Park, Busch Gardens). If your son or daughter is a Scout, it might be the perfect opportunity for a new badge or a travel adventure. Register your child now; camps fill up quickly.

EXPLORE & EXPAND HORIZONS Summer Camps in Tampa Bay

Berkeley Prep: Learn water polo, improve your chess game and coding skills, even learn visual and augmented reality filmmaking. Olde students can benefit from credit classes (physics, history) and more. berkeleyprep.org/page/School-Life/Summer-Camps–Programs

Girl Scouts of West Florida: Whether you are a Girl Scout or not, you can camp like one this summer. Explore the great outdoors, learn new skills (both overnight and for the day), specializing in Travel Adventures, STEM, Equestrian or Aquatic-themed camps. Specialty overnight camps feature archery adventures, culinary creations and time travel back to the homesteading lifestyle of the 1800’s. STEM day camps (with field trips) focus on science/tech careers through exploration of animals, arts and imagination, clean green ideas, power and how water shapes the ground underneath us. Kids can Travel Florida (Florida Waterways, Ocala National Forest) or to North Carolina’s mountains. 1-800-881-GIRL Gswcf.org/summercamp

Great Explorations: Discover field trips and themed exhibit activities including Florida history, Incredibles 2, transportation and more. Adventures in Time explores art and tech of the past (retro gaming, 60’s music, 70’s arts) including tie dyeing shirts and making pet rocks.

Glazer Children’s Museum: Offers Summer Camp Connect in conjunction with The Y. The Camp Imagination utilizes museum exhibits for fun explorations. glazermuseum.org/summercamps

Saint Paul’s Clearwater’s Independent School: Based on age groups, these creative camps go from classic summer fun (The Whole Enchilada) to exploring marine science through field trips (Florida Aquarium, Fort De Soto, kayaking, dolphin boat ride). Combine culture and cooking with Monet & Crepes or Mozart & Crepes. Other camps to explore Tampa Bay, develop the scribe within and for your slugger, there’s Grand Slam Baseball Camp designed for improving baseball skills in a fun and safe atmosphere. 1600 Saint Paul Drive, Clearwater (727) 536-2756. saintpaulssummer.org

SCIENCE & NATURE Summer Camps in Tampa Bay

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: Coastal learning camps feature snorkeling, marine rescue and prime time with Winter, Hope and river otter and sea turtle pals. cmaquarium.org

Florida Aquarium: Learn about furry, fishy and flying friends, explore under the sea (snorkel) and get involved in animal conservation. flaquarium.org/camps

MOSI Summer Camps: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) come alive through hands-on experiments and building projects (extracting DNA, launching rockets, building robots). mosi.org/summer-camp

ARTS & CULTURE Summer Camps in Tampa Bay

American Stage: Star in a show, perform musical numbers from “Hamilton” and prune acting chops.

Creative Clay: Tour the globe through arts and crafts from Kenya, Norway, Lebanon and South Korea. creativeclay.org/summer-camp

Morean Arts Center: Kids’ art classes in all media are whimsically themed (Seussian, time travel, circus, pet monsters, making art while recycling). Artistic teens can expand their photography, glass, jewelry or clay creative skills. moreanartscenter.org/camps/

Patel Conservatory – Straz Center: Dance, music, theater classes both by audition and non-audition for the next Chorus Line generation. (For adults, there’s dance, singing and improv classes!) strazcenter.org/Arts-Education/Patel-Conservatory/Summer-Classes

Tampa Theater: Live action digital filmmaking class takes young Spielberg’s from storyboarding and scriptwriting to filming and editing. tampatheatre.org/education-outreach/film-camp/

Make sure you check out all of the great Tampa Bay Summer Camps!