Summer Camp: From Theater and Rock 'n' Roll to Community Service in Senegal

Welcome to Patch Picks, a weekly feature highlighting editor and reader picks of great local businesses, destinations, services, organizations, ways to spend a day off, and more. This week, Patch Picks looks at some of the Summer Camp offerings in the area.

There's no shortage of things you can do right here in Ridgewood with two top summer camps within village borders. offers a diverse list of things do for youngsters (3-6) like swim lessons, sports and games, art projects, songs, nature, science, and special shows or attractions in camp. Older kids can go to Camp Pamacka with day trips to area tri-state hot spots such as water parks, ballgames, NYC attractions, and the Jersey Shore. High school students grades 10-12 can sign up for trips to the Dominican Republic or Senegal for community service and personal growth opportunities.

And if you really need to go somewhere else, the has a sleep-over camp called Camp Bernie (no relation to Councilwoman Walsh) in Port Murray, complete with swimming, archery, a climbing tower, mountain biking, horseback riding, adventure trips.

The also has a comprehensive program to give parents a breather for the summer and the kids a dash of fun. Day camp activities include swimming, arts and crafts, singing, and trips. Call the Recreation Division at 201-670-5600 for more information.

For your little actor or actress, check out All the World's A Stage summer theatre program. Run at the  from June 29 to July 29, the budding stars of stage in grades 2 through 8 will have daily lessons in acting, singing and dancing. Wednesday's will feature Master Classes with Broadway performers, casting directors, TV and Film actors and vocal coaches. For more information and a brochure, call 201-300-7985.

Your children can enjoy eight weeks of fabulous fun and exciting activities in a nurturing Jewish environment at the Neil Klatskin Day Camp in Tenafly. Children participate in age-appropriate activities that include arts and crafts, athletics, daily instructional and recreational swim, Israeli culture, Judaic programming, drama, music, Tae Kwon Do, roller racers, sports, exciting entertainment, awesome carnivals, special theme days, Oneg Shabbat celebrations and more. Camp runs from June 27 to August 19. For more information, call 201-567-8963.

For the athlete in the family, head to Holy Family Catholic Academy in Norwood for the Spartans Summer Camp . Camp will run from June 27 to August 12.  There are separate weeks of instruction for various sports including baseball, softball, basketball and an all-sports camp. Camps is open to all boys and girls ages 5 - 16. For more information, call 201-568-7802.

Children with disabilities can head to Camp Acorn for therapeutic and instructional programs that develops fine motor, gross motor and transitional skills- while it builds confidence and self esteem skills. All activities are adapted to the individual needs of each camper. The program runs for nine weeks starting the last week of June through the third week of August. Camp will be held Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 3:30pm. No camp will be held on the fourth of July.

The Teaneck-based Garage Theatre Group offers two summer sessions, July 11 - July 29 and  August 1 - August 19. The older children can take part in workshops in Acting, Voice, and Movement. There is a full productions at the end of each session. Students work on all aspects of the production and can take in weekly trips to Broadway Shows. The younger group also will learn the arts of Acting, Movement, and Singing and perform a Cabaret at the end.

Forget arts and crafts and morning swimming lessons, this summer, kids 7-17 will get the ultimate summer camp experience: a chance to be immersed in the fundamentals of Rock and Roll with School of Rock Performance Camps. Students enrolled in the Performance Camps will spend a full week working in a hands-on atmosphere learning performance techniques and the art of being in a rock band.

Workshops will include: group lessons on an instrument of their choice (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals) music theory instructions, rehearsal techniques, performance practice and group band rehearsals. All students will perform a real all-ages rock show on the last day of the program.There are six sessions:  June 27 - July 1, July 11-15, July 18-22, July 25-29, August 1-5 and August 8-12.