Looking for a summer camp? Tuscaloosa has plenty of fun learning opportunities for kids

With the end of the school year and the summer break quickly approaching, some parents might be wondering: What's there to do in Tuscaloosa over the summer?

Tuscaloosa has several summer camp options, including camps offered by the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority, the Kentuck Art Center, Theatre Tuscaloosa, the YMCA and the University of Alabama.

PARAkids Summer Day Camp

The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority will offer summer camp for kids beginning May 30 and ending Aug. 8.

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 sixth grade.

Belk, 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.

Cost is $105  a week for PARA members or $135 for nonmembers, with a $25 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 several 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 meets once a week beginning June 6 and ending July 26. The 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. Campers will host their own art show with their creations displayed at Kentuck's Teer Gallery during Art Night on Aug. 3.

• The Summer Clay Camp will allow student to create functional and/or sculptural artworks. Students will receive instruction through each step of the ceramics process from creating to glazing and decorating their work. Techniques will include slab building, pinching, coiling, stamping and more. The camp has four separate sessions, each beginning at 9 a.m., in June and July for ages 6 to 9 and 10 to 12.

• 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 26-29 for ages 7 to 9 and from 9-11 a.m. July 17-20 for ages 10-12.

• The Teen Summer Camp: Meme Mugs gives students an opportunity to bring their favorite internet memes to life. Students will learn how to transfer their memes from paper printouts to clay forms using a simple trace-and-imprint technique. Students will then be able to finish their designs using the glazes provided. The camp is for 13- to 16-year-old students.

Project Broadway

Theatre Tuscaloosa will offer Project Broadway, a workshop for teens, June 5-9 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 9.

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.

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:

• 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.

• Fossil Camp for grades 4-7 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 paleontologists and explore sites around Tuscaloosa County for fossils.

• The Minerva Young Women’s Business Summer Program is a weeklong residential camp for rising female high school seniors to encourage and develop their leadership skills and expose them to business as a major and career path, with an emphasis on areas where women are underrepresented, including leadership. During the week, students will participate in sessions with Culverhouse College of Business faculty and staff, learn about career opportunities in business, build leadership and communication skills, complete a service project and take field trips for experiential learning. Students will also experience campus life and connect with like-minded women interested in business.

• Swim to the Top takes place within the YMCA’s Summer Camp during June on Monday through Thursday mornings. Swim to the Top provides quality swim instruction, physical education, art and academic enrichment activities. Swim instructors, physical educators and teachers from UA, the Tuscaloosa County School System and Tuscaloosa City Schools work with children.

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 29 through Aug. 4.

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

Registration is $25 and the weekly fee is $105. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

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

Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What can kids do this summer in Tuscaloosa? Camps offer activities