From cooking to coding there are dozens of different summer camps for kids in Calgary. Here’s a list of more than 40 places you can register your kids in summer camp to nurture their passions, broaden their horizons, and have fun meeting new people. From rock climbing to robotics here are the BEST SUMMER CAMP IDEAS for kids in Calgary!
THE MOST CHOICE FOR SUMMER CAMPS IN CALGARY
With not as many students on campus over the summer months, Calgary’s post secondary schools turn their facilities over to summer camps. This is a great way to get older kids excited about university, or help younger gets get ahead in STEM. The day camps aren’t limited to these fields, the options are wide and varied.
Looking ahead for this summer at SAIT, my sons are looking at taking baking courses one week and engineering ones the next. There are options for kids in applied science, trades, computers, culinary, and entrepreneurship. SAIT summer camp registration is OPEN NOW.
The University of Calgary summer camp options have been big hits with my boys in the past. We’ve taken LEGO building, adventuring, coding, engineering, and movie making at the UofC. Each camp includes lots of fun class time as well as some swimming and plenty of time outside playing games, riding bikes, or rafting the Bow River. U of C summer camp registration is OPEN NOW.
Mount Royal University‘s MRU Kids program offers more arts options than the others including a fun CATS program for young kids that blends computers, art, theatre, and science. There are painting, drawing, and sculpting classes for older kids alongside science and innovation camps. Registration for MRU Kids summer camps is OPEN NOW.
ACAD, the Alberta University of the Arts, offers art focused day camps for kids aged 9 to 12. There are animation and cartooning camps, as well as options that focus on themes around animals, magic, and unicorns. Registration for ACAD summer camps are NOW OPEN 
The YMCA might be a perfect option for commuting parents. Bring your 3-15 yr old kids downtown, drop them at the Eau Claire location for fun day of specialty day camps including ESL, climbing, creative arts or swimming. Registration for YMCA summer day camps is OPEN NOW (for camps at all their locations in Calgary including the new facilities in Rocky Ridge and Seton).
These bigger facilities and operators are great because there are different classes for different interests and different age groups all in one place making drop off and pick up super easy.
SPECIALTY SUMMER CAMP IDEAS FOR KIDS IN CALGARY
Apple Stores hold Apple Camps across the country. where kids from 8-12 get a couple of hours instruction to create music, make movies, practice coding, and harness their inner iOS. These free drop-in programs are part of the Today at Apple series that can help parents get some tips too!
Bricks 4 Kidz has camps in different communities across Calgary through the summer. While each camp focuses on LEGO building and programming, each has a different theme ranging from superheroes to Minecraft to coding with LEGO Mindstorms.
Engineering For Kids is for kids looking to take their STEM interests to the next level. With camps themed around Minecraft hacks, video game design, 3D modelling and archictecure, the camps at community associations across Calgary through the summer will offer some interesting challenges for kids.
Pedalheads taught my kids how to ride bikes. I cannot sing the praises of these camps enough. WIth fun, energetic, and positive counsellors, my kids went from frustrated training wheel kids to confident spinners. Time is spent learning to ride, learning the rules of the road, and playing games. For experienced riders, the camps take them on big daylong rides to explore the city. Also check out their Heroheads program for a wide range of sports fun at camp. Registration is NOW OPEN. 
Calgary Game Developers Academy – for kids aged 9 -14. These full day camps through July and August are limited to 10 kids per class. Campers will learn how to build very basic gaming environments using the Unreal 4 Engine and have an opportunity to create their own virtual world.
ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen – a wide variety of week long cooking classes take place at one of two kitchens in Calgary.
Elbow Springs Golf Club – for kids aged 8 – 18. Two separate week long camps will happen in July from 830 – 430p. Kids will get lessons and play 9 holes each day. Classes will be small limited to just 8 juniors each.
Chinook School of Music – for kids aged 3 – 13. There are a variety of half-day camps offered over a few weeks in the summer. There are rockin rhythms, ukelele lessons, and musical theatre.
Calgary Zoo art camps and zoo kids giving behind the scenes look at different parts of the zoo with a chance to learn more about animals. Registration for Calgary Zoo summer camps is OPEN NOW. TELUS Spark makes science fun. With a variety of camps focusing on different scientific aspects and one of the best playgrounds in the city on site, it’s a great place for kids to learn and have fun. 
Butterfield Acres – for kids aged 3 – 14. There are half day camps for younger kids, full day options for older kids through the summer. Each day a farm animal is highlighted with a variety of hands-on activities which vary according to age and ability.
Mad Science – for kids aged 5 – 12. There are full and half day programs at a variety of communities in Calgary through the summer. Mad Science encourages scientific literacy in children in an age when science is as vital as reading, writing and arithmetic and we don’t stop there.
Evolve Skateboard Camp – for kids aged 6 – 15. These full day camps through July feature a bus that loads up and takes your kids on a Calgary-wide tour of different skateparks all summer, with a new location every day of the week!
WinSport takes advantage of the world class facilities on site with sport camps ranging across a variety of disciplines. Yes, there are hockey camps, but there also multi-sport camps and some tackling the mountain bike trails of the neighbouring Paskapoo slopes. 
Alive Danceworks – for kids aged 3 – 13. Half day camps running through the summer . There are rec camps and intensive camps depending on skill level.
Stryker Sports – for kids aged 6 – 16. These full day camps run on rotating weeks and locations through the summer teaching kids basketball and volleyball fundamentals.
Stagecoach Theatre – for kids aged 4 – 14. Full and half day camps at the Dalhousie Community Centre in NW Calgary. Dive deep into your imagination and explore magical worlds and themes to create your own world of Imagination play.
Freehouse Dance Plus – for kids aged 3 – 12. There is a selection of full and half day camps running for a week in July and August. There’s also an intensive dance camp for those over 12. Campers will go on a dance adventure of a life time! Jazz, modern, hip hop, musical theatre and african dance styles will be experienced.
Injanation is an obstacle course, climbing, bouncing paradise in NE Calgary. From the warped wall to dodgeball, your kids will get agility training and a day filled with exhausting exercise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvHLmGMM1s
7 OVERNIGHT CAMP IDEAS FOR KIDS NEAR CALGARY
(Many of the overnight camp options around Calgary are religious in nature. The camps listed here are only those that are not faith-based.)
Camp Chief Hector offers sleep away camp for kids of all ages AND families. For few weekends at the beginning and end of each season, the whole family can get the summer camp experience.
Camp Impeesa is Scouts Canada’s mountain adventure and wilderness experience centre and residential summer camp.
Heritage Park offers a number of day camps for younger kids, but middle schoolers get a chance to travel back in time and live on site for a week. Home on the Range Overnight Summer Camp lets young pioneers ages 11 – 14 experience the Park from sunup to sundown for five days.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum will keep your kids’ Jurassic World dreams alive with weeklong camps all summer long. And there’s one for families too, so you won’t miss out on all the cretaceous fun.
Boys and Girls Club – Camp Adventure is taking a hiatus for summer 2019 as they review camp programs and make improvements to their camp space.
Kamp Kiwanis is an overnight summer camp for underprivileged or disadvantaged children. Nominations for summer 2019 will be available in the spring.
Camp Kindle is a camp in Water Valley, AB that offers an authentic camp experience for kids with different life challenges. Founded by Kids Cancer Care, there also weeks in the summer for kids with diabetes (Camp Jean Nelson), celiac, or other issues. These camps are a great chance for kids to get away and be with peers who understand their challenges while giving their caregivers a break.
OTHER RESOURCES FOR SUMMER CAMPS IN CALGARY
If I still haven’t hit you with something that suits what your kids need this summer, then here are some other places to click around and try to get your kids entertained over the summer break: Calgary’s Child Magazine‘s spring issue is FILLED with ads, listings, and information for summer camps all over the city. From overnight camps to day camps to half day camps and more, get a copy, visit their website and get searching.
From math to reading to frogs and science, the Calgary Public Library has unique activities all summer long. Check out the website, find a library near you and drop in for one of their free seminars. Most require registration, so plan ahead. My boys have tried the Math Minds sessions in past years and LOVED working on math problems with peers. These are fun and FREE!
In addition to day camp activities and programs at the various City of Calgary facilities, one of the best summer camps in Calgary is the city’s Park N Play program. It moves from community to community throughout the summer offering FREE (or inexpensive) half and full day camps for local kids. Plan it right and you could travel around to all of them throughout the summer. There are a variety of local and community recreation facilities around Calgary with their own summer day camp programming. Have a look at the websites for Genesis Centre, Westside Rec Centre, Repsol Sports Centre, Trico Centre, and Vivo to find programming near you.
SUMMER CAMP 2019
Summer vacation is a long 10 weeks to have your kids under foot. Each summer, we put the boys in camps for anywhere from 3-5 of the weeks. I don’t want them ‘completely’ in a routine for the entire summer, but I do like the chance to do enrichment in their interests and find new ways to challenge them. Those are my suggestions for summer camps in Calgary for 2019, did I miss any of your favourites? Hit me up in the comments!
Dad. Broadcaster. Writer.
Three time Guinness World Record Holder.
I run the world for Team Diabetes.