An all around excellent camp! It's one of the few camps my kids ask for every summer without fail…read more Kalen not only really gets kids and how to work with them, but she has a wonderful ability to select projects that are both challenging and gratifying to make. She uses a broad range of media and always surprises me with the clever creations the kids come hem with. The kids learn so much, but also walk away with a feeling of pride an accomplishment in their creative work. Support a local artist and send your kids to camp!

We love Su Yun!! Our two kids have been attending their afterschool program for 5 years. They have…read morea wonderful Chinese learning program plus other enrichment classes like math and art. Su Yun is well run with experienced teachers. They are reliable and very responsive. I highly recommend Su Yun to any Albany parents.

Incredible professional staff, our children have really loved going there and we have seen their…read moreChinese skills blossom. They look forward to it and have built meaningful relationships and friendships here too. The enrichment classes have even helped our kids, love math! The staff treat our kids like their own, and we have even done the summer camps there because our children love it so much. 10 stars!

My child's friends wanted a last hurrah before parting ways for middle school. A handful of them…read moreregistered for Urban Adventure. Because the summer camp runs weekly, with several rotating and parallel themes, the kids were able to land on the same interest and available week. Shocking, I know! The camp's extensive schedule works for vacations and professional work hours. Even though some kids had already attended previous summers, each of them enjoyed the experience differently when friends were involved. They can escalate to be the most rambunctious bunch or wander as cerebral or silly, chatty tweens. The social pace was great, and this camp has a seamless inclusion vibe. For some weeks and cohorts, the group veers younger, like 2nd- to 5th-graders, and some older, like 5th- to 8th-graders. Mike, the camp director, does a great job with the groupings paired with an experienced counselor. We were lucky to have school teachers as lead. Given this was my child's first experience with Urban Adventure, he absolutely loved the exploration and riding public transit (BART, SF MUNI - bus, trolley, and metro, AC Transit, Cal Shuttle, Ferry). Going up to the ferry observation deck was exhilarating and inclusively fun with friends who could access the elevator. Although my child has been to many of the museums and features when he was younger, he barely recalls them at all. We did so much pre-pandemic and, over time, lost those family events to sports purgatory. So glad my child got to re-experience with his peers. Lastly, my child has suddenly shown a burst of independence in reading maps, following directions, examining transportation timetables, accounting for museum and business hours, and actively thinking about plan B, C, or other contingencies. He was so excited to demonstrate that he ended up giving my husband an Urban Adventure experience today. The kid sent a slurry of calendar invites with the various SF locales. While they play local tourists, I actually have time to type up a long-winded review. My child attended both Biology/Natural Science and Technology/Physical Sciences. Many thumbs up!

My kid loves Urban Adventures--it's his favorite. Honestly, I picked the camp because of an easy…read moreshort commute/parking (IYKYK), reasonable start/end time for working parents, and consistently strong reviews. They're efficient, on top of things, easy drop-off/pick-up in terms of parking, simple sign-in/out, and lots of variety. They communicate well in advance with comprehensive info which eliminates a lot of the unknown. My son's favorite one is art. I almost don't want to tell people since camp sign-up season is crazy and the popular camps sell out FAST. My son is neurodivergent and manages to find a buddy each year on his wavelength. They also go to wheelchair accessible sites. It's also great seeing the kids have a blast in the daily private photo links.

My daughter has been to KC Summer Day Camp many times over the past few years and she absolutely…read moreLOVES it. The counselors are truly wonderful: fun, caring, and creative and each week the camp has a different theme lead by local experts or artisans (from carpentry and engineering to jewelry and gymnastics) so the kids are never bored. My daughter also looked forward to their weekly field trips which took them on various adventures throughout the Bay Area.The cost is extremely reasonable for a camp of this caliber and the location is picturesque - nestled in the Kensington Hills near Berkeley. Also, a huge plus for this busy working parent is their early drop off and late pick up on those days when I need it. We'll be there again this summer!

How refreshing. If you, like me, have a whole spreadsheet full of summer camps lined up for your…read morekids, you, like me, might get cranky about how many of them have short hours, high prices, longish drives, complicated drop offs and pickups. KCC Camp is so simple. So easy. It's all day, so great for working parents. Each week there's a different theme and specialized classes with a teacher--carpentry, say, or gymnastics. There's a field trip every Wednesday (on an actual bus--no parent driving required! Yay!). There's always tennis and structured play, but also plenty of downtime if that's what your kid wants. It's not the most coddling camp ever, but the kids have fun and come home happy.

What a rare, and beautiful program is Gaia Girls. Sarai, Erika and their cohorts are extraordinary…read moregifts to our children and us mothers. To say Gaia Girls is the antidote for the cynical, materialistic culture we inhabit doesn't do it justice. To praise the peace, groundedness and loving kindness Gaia Girls fosters only scratches the surface. To gratefully acknowledge the powerful process Gaia Girls creates to strengthen the mother/daughter relationship is modest. My daughter and I spent a life changing weekend together with Gaia Girls and I am deeply grateful. We are benefiting every day from what we brought home with us (blessings, songs, gentle awareness of each other), and we can't wait to go back!

My daughter and I had an amazing time at Artemis Village, Summer 2018. The setting was beautiful…read moreand the girls seemed to be entering a magical world of connection, beauty, and creativity. When I arrived on Friday to spend the weekend with the other mothers/female caregivers and girls, my daughter was so happy to see me and include me in the world she had entered. It was so special to see all the girls, each with their own mother/ female caregiver and sense the bond that they each shared. There were activities for mothers and daughters to do together and I felt these activities brought me closer to my daughter. There was also time for the mothers to connect with each other and there were even mentors for the mothers, from whom I drew a lot of support. I experienced many circles of connection during this weekend-- connecting with my daughter, connecting with the mothers, connecting with the mentors and the village they had crafted to support us, connecting with nature on my own and collectively, and more... Some girls and mothers who attended had known each other for awhile and we were new. I wondered what this would be like, but both my daughter and I found everyone to be very welcoming and inclusive and there were other new families as well that were very easy to connect with. I am so grateful that both my daughter and I could have this nurturing, inspiring experience and we are both looking forward to participating again this summer.

So far just one class with my 5-year-old son, but I'm very impressed on multiple fronts. After the…read moreinitial drop-in class yesterday we purchased weekly classes with the full expectation this initial great experience will only be surpassed. Husband & wife team Matt and Chelsea (owners) and Matt's sister Stephanie are lovely. It's a really great space and Matt is preternaturally good with younger kids. I shadowed my son for a bit in the studio to observe both my son's behavior in a structured environment and the instructors' teaching style. My son is both young and inherently independent (and often distracted) so this was bound to be revealing. Matt and Chelsea's approach to teaching is closer to informed guidance and it seems to work very well with my son and the other kids I observed. They let the child initiate their creative intent and then equip them with the technical information they need in a manner that is both empowering and not overwhelming. As for my son's proclivity to essentially 'not listen,' Matt in particular was excellent at focusing my son's attention on the task at hand and contextualizing what needed to be done so that he could 'own it.' It's clear his forthcoming studio experiences will be about so much more than learning and enjoying ceramics. This isn't 'OK class today we're going to make a coil-built pot. First I want you to take your clay and...'. Not at all. In an hour and fifteen minutes, my son made two objects in distinctly different techniques: a bowl thrown on the wheel and a slab-built shark. In the course of building those two pieces he was exposed to: centering clay on the wheel; managing the clay to expand, compress, elongate and widen his bowl; keeping his eye on his work; keeping the clay moist; the effects of various pressures applied to the clay on the wheel; scoring and attaching separate pieces with slip; scribing; use of various tools; under-glazing; clean-up, and more. I imagine he'll have to revisit every one of those lessons in subsequent classes but it's a gentle teaching style that works well here. Matt and Chelsea always had an eye on each of the kids and were great about transitioning between them to give guidance in a way that seemed very natural. The space itself is wonderful and can only be described as luminous. Well, that and clean. This is not a stereotypical 'mad potter's studio,' nor is it an anal 'everything in its place mausoleum.' Instructors have a clear view of everything going on in the space at all times. There's a front seating for parents/nanny's to hang out (WiFi available) and get some work done if you want to wait. Parking in the neighborhood doesn't seem to be a problem. The most critical measure of Kids-n-Clay is the reaction from my son, who really didn't want to leave and spoke of it more or less non-stop the rest of the day. Looking forward to what's next here. If you attend a drop-in class, be aware it takes about 2-3 weeks before pieces cycle through the process and can come home with you. But that's just ceramics. Highly recommended.

My kid loves this place! The kids can use the pottery wheel or just mold clay on the table. There…read moreare assistants there to guide the newer sculptors, and the owner, Matt, encourages the kids to design what they feel.

My daughter has attended Go Girls camp for many summers and she adores it. She loves the teachers,…read morethe activities, and learns valuable social emotional skills. She is so excited to finally be old enough (rising 5th-7th graders) this summer for the Go Girls Productions where the girls make a movie. For more information, see https://gogirlsoakland.com/Go-Girls-Camps

My daughter loved Go Girls Camp! She enjoyed making crafts, singing, and creating a play with new…read moreand old friends. She was more confident after camp and even kinder to her brother. I also love the safety skills she learned through the KidPower workshop. We need a compassionate revolution now more than ever and I feel fortunate to have discovered Go Girls.

My daughter was in the spring camp and she loved it. The goal was to get her to be outside while…read morelearning and that was accomplished. She loved the interaction with the counselors and the other campers. Despite the colder weather and one raining days, she had so much fun she asked to come back.

Call of the Wild Camp is a great environmental education and outdoor play camp that my kids love…read more It started during the pandemic after the distance learning school year, when we were impressed by the care given to children's safety, the all outdoor setting and welcome reprieve from screens. The camp staff are friendly and skilled at engaging kids. The academic activities for reading, writing and biology are well-integrated into the day that is also filled with outdoor play, nature walks and hikes. Some days my kids didn't want to leave and wanted to keep playing with the new friends they made. I'm also impressed by how far they hiked. Really great camp for learning about nature and having fun outdoors.