What's there to do this summer in Tuscaloosa? Camps offer activities for kids

As the end of the school year approaches, parents may be searching for opportunities to keep their kids active this summer.

Here are some summer day camps and programs happening around Tuscaloosa:

PARAkids Summer Day Camp

The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority will offer summer camp for kids beginning May 28 and ending Aug. 6.

The camp, which will be held weekdays from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. each weekday, is designed for students entering kindergarten through fifth grade.

Faucett, Miller, Phelps and Tingle activity centers will host the camp. Campers will swim, visit indoor and outdoor playgrounds and stroll through park green spaces and nature trails. Field trips are also planned to the Georgia Aquarium, the Montgomery Zoo, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville and the McWane Science Center in Birmingham.

Cost is $125  a week for PARA members or $150 for nonmembers, with a $30 registration fee that covers administrative costs and a camp T-shirt.

For more information or to register, go to www.tcpara.org/programs/parakids/camps/summercamp.

Kentuck Art Center

The Kentuck Art Center, 503 Main Ave. in Northport, has a couple of camps for kids who are interested in exploring their artistic talents. Further details about each the following camps is available at www.kentuck.org/workshops.

The Aspiring Artists Summer Camp is designed for kids from 8 to 16 years old and covers what it takes to be an artist, from coming up with ideas for artwork, to creating art and exhibiting their finished artwork.

The camp's Session A is for ages 12-16 and meets from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays June 4 through July 23. Session B is for ages 8-12 and meets from 3-4:30 p.m. June 5 through July 24.

The cost is $200, which includes supplies.

Campers will host their own art show with their creations displayed at Kentuck's Teer Gallery.

The Art Exploration Summer Camp is for students ages 7-12 to flex their artistic muscles and learn fundamental skills for different artistic media, including watercolor, pencil, charcoal, and acrylic painting. Using these materials, students get to learn about creating portraits, still life and landscapes. The camp will be held from 9-11 a.m. June 10-13 for ages 7 to 9 and from 9-11 a.m. July 8-11 for ages 10-12. The cost is $150, which includes supplies.

Project Broadway

Theatre Tuscaloosa will offer Project Broadway, a workshop for teens, June 10-14 in the Sandra Hall Ray Fine Arts Center at Shelton State Community College, 9500 Old Greensboro Road.

Campers will work with theater professionals to craft a Broadway-style musical that they write, rehearse and perform in just one week. Project Broadway will meet from 1-5 p.m. each day, with a final public performance in the Bean-Brown Theatre at 6 p.m. June 14.

The camp's cost is $300, which includes two tickets to the performance and a camp T-shirt. Enrollment is limited to 40 students. Participants must be 13 to 19 years old by June 5.   For more information or to register, go to www.theatretusc.com or call 205-391-2277.

Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre

Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre will offer three summer camps at its studio, 601 Energy Center Blvd.

"Down the Rabbit Hole," featuring themes from "Alice and Wonderland," is for children in grades 1 through 6. The camp will be held from 8 a.m. until noon June 17-21. The camp will conclude with a short showcase.

"Under the Sea," featuring themes from "The Little Mermaid" and "Finding Nemo," is for children in grades 1 through 6. The camp will be held from 8 a.m. until noon June 24-28. The camp will conclude with a short showcase.

"Willy Wonka Kids" is for children in grades 1 through 12. The camp will be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. July 8-12. The camp will conclude with a July 13 performance.

For more information, go to tuscaloosachildrenstheatre.net/summer-camp-2024 or call 205-598-2500.

University of Alabama camps

UA will offer a wide variety of summer camps focusing on art, writing, sports and more.

For a list of all the summer camps and registration information, go to the UA Youth Programs website.

Here is a sampling of UA's offerings:

• Fossil Camp for ages 9-13 offers an introduction to ancient life by examining real fossils, searching for rocks and minerals, and much more. Each day campers will be introduced to a new topic, meet scientists and explore the outdoors for fossils. The camp will be held June 3-7. Registration costs $175 for members and $200 for non-members.

• Young Writers Camp will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. June 3-14 in English Building on Stadium Drive. The camp is for students entering sixth through 12 grades. Students will write independently and in collaborative groups in response to a wide range of creative prompts, share their writing, and learn about the contemporary literary scene under the guidance of experienced writing teachers from the master of fine arts program in creative writing at UA. The camp will conclude with a public reading and an anthology of student work. Registration is $200.

• The Marillyn A. Hewson Cybersecurity Summer Camp for grades 7-12 is designed to inspire participants toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. At the core of the program is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that puts high school and middle school students in charge of securing virtual networks. The camp is free and has a standard session from 8:30 a.m. until noon June 3-7 and an advanced session June 10-14 at Hewson Hall.

• UA Art Camp will be held from 9 a.m. until noon June 24-28 at Woods Hall, Ceramics and Sculpture studios. High school students (rising freshmen to rising seniors) will spend a week focusing on one of four art media areas of their choice, learning under the guidance of an experienced UA art faculty member. Students will spend five days in a studio environment immersed in either sculpture, printmaking, ceramics or graphic design. Registration costs $225.

YMCA Day Camp

The Benjamin Barnes branch of the YMCA, 2939 18th St., will have a summer day camp from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. weekdays May 28 through Aug. 2.

The camp is for 4- through 14-year-olds. Camp activities will include swimming, academic enrichment, arts and crafts, STEM learning, field trips and the Y's Readers program.

Registration is $25 and $40 for families with 2 or more children. The weekly fee is $110, Part time fee is $55 and the daily fee $25.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

For more information, go to https://www.ymcatuscaloosa.org/about-3.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Where to find summer camps for kids in Tuscaloosa