Arts Camps

“Sometimes schools try to put a lid on the boisterous parts of being young,” says one camp director. “We try to bring that out.” Photograph by Camp Arena Stage staff

Artful Architects, National Building Museum, 401 F St., NW; 202-272-2448; nbm.org. Ages 8 to 11.

Camp Arena Stage, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, 1524 35th St., NW; 202-554-9066; arenastage.org. Ages 8 to 15.

Camp Creativity, Corcoran College of Art & Design, 1801 35th St., NW; 202-298-2541; corcoran.edu. Ages 5 to 16.

Camp Shakespeare, Shakespeare Theatre Company, 516 Eighth St., SE; 202-547-5688; shakespearetheatre.org. Ages 9 to 18.

Creative Summer, Holton-Arms School, 7303 River Rd., Bethesda; 301-365-6003; holton-arms.edu. Ages 3½ to 13.

DayJams, 4401 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria; 800-295-5956; dayjams.com. Ages 8 to 15.

Energizers Summer Camp, Dance Place, 3225 Eighth St., NE; 202-269-1600; danceplace.org. Ages 7 to 14.

Imagination Stage Summer Camps, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda; 301-280-1621; imaginationstage.org. Ages 4 to 18.

Passport to Summer, Washington International School, 1690 36th St., NW; 202-243-1727; wis.edu. Ages 3 to 16.

Quilt Camp, DAR Museum, 1776 D St., NW; 202-879-3241; dar.org. Ages 10 to 17.

Smithsonian Summer Camp, Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr., SW; 202-633-3030; residentassociates.org. Ages 5 to 14.

Summer Acting Camp for Kids, Theatre Lab, 733 Eighth St., NW; 202-824-0449; theatrelab.org. Ages 5 to 13.

Summer Arts Adventure Camps, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 Seventh St., SE; 202-547-6839; chaw.org. Ages 5 to 13.

Summer Arts Camp, Fillmore Arts Center, 1819 35th St., NW; 202-333-8340; fillmoreartscenter.org. 6 to 14.

Summer Music and Arts Day Camp, Levine School of Music, 2801 Upton St., NW; 202-686-8000; levineschool.org. Ages 3½ to 12.

US Performing Arts Camps, George Washington University, 2121 I St., NW; 888-497-3553; usperformingarts.com. Ages 12 to 20.

Washington Performing Arts Society Camps, 2000 L St., NW; 202-533-1865; wpas.org. Ages 9 to 18.

How to Find More Camps

These Web sites offer directories of camps: acacamps.org, summercamps.com, daycamps.net, and gocitykids.parentsconnect.com.

This article first appeared in the February 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.