Choosing a Long Island summer camp
West Hills Day Camp in Huntington encourages full participation in a wide variety of activities from swimming, boating, arts and crafts, ceramics, volleyball, yoga, tennis and ziplining among others. Credit: Handout
Remember when you went off to camp and everything was the same as the summer before -- and that was good? No more. This summer, some camps on Long Island have pulled out all the stops, offering everything from circus, theater and tap dancing programs to a giant treehouse, a Ferris wheel and bumper cars.
"Camps really need to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak," says Arlene Streisand, owner-director of campspecialists.com, a free sleepaway camp referral service. Day camps need to compete with the allure of sleepaway camps, and when one local camp unveils a program with bells and whistles, the others follow suit, she says.
"Parents are looking for more variety in camping today," says Ron Kuznetz, owner-director of Miss Sue's Summer Fun in Plainview and Driftwood Day Camp in Melville. "In addition to the traditional programs, they're looking for skills and more activities that are meant to keep the kids from sitting at a computer."
Here are some of the latest programs premiering this summer.
878 Jericho Tpke., Westbury, 516-334-1144, redrobincamp.com
313 Round Swamp Rd., Melville, 631-692-6361, crestwoodcountryday.com
44 Woods Lane, East Hampton, 631-324-3510, jcoh.org
P.O. Box 5089, East Hampton, 516-953-5171, hamptonsportsandarts.com
450 Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, 631-499-8580, parkshoredaycamp.com
1191 Old Country Road, Plainview, 516-938-0894, misssues.com
331 Mount Misery Rd., Melville, 631-692-6990, driftwooddaycamp.com
