YMCA Silver Spring Traditional Camps | YMCA DC

YMCA Silver Spring Traditional Camps

Our Traditional Camps thrill campers and spark a sense of wonder with classic outdoor games, inspired arts and crafts, and inventive STEM activities all day long. Water days and/or pool time ensure campers can beat the heat or build their aquatics skills. And every Friday, campers and their families can look forward to an exciting celebration of kids’ achievements that week! 

MINI SESSION: Y-SPIRIT WEEK

We have spirit!  Yes we do!  We have spirit!  How ‘bout you? Spirit week is an iconic camp experience, where teams compete in friendly games, challenges, activities, and songs to prove who has the most camp spirit Campers will build their teamwork skills while pushing themselves to earn points that take their team to victory!  The week ends with a huge celebration that lifts up all campers’ spirits as they come up with ways to one-up the counselors.   

WEEK 1: SUMMER CELEBRATION

Celebrate summer with these exciting kickoff and closing activities!  Days of fun field games, playing in the pool, and camp activities culminate in a big party to celebrate summer!  

WEEK 2: TREASURE ISLAND

Avast ye, hearties, and steel yerselves for adventure on the high seas!  Young Scallywag will search high and low looking for clues to discover where the treasure chest full of pirate gold is hiddenThen, these pirates and brigadiers will create their own treasure maps, hunt for pirate booty, and build their own ship.  Campers even create a sea shanty to sing together at the end of the week.  

WEEK 3: FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

Discover the land we call home! We will celebrate everything red, white and blue, from hometown heroes to exploring the American frontier. The United States boasts a rich tapestry of peoples, cultures and regions that makes it unique and spectacular!  Not only will kids explore different aspects of our country from coast to coast, they’ll also meet up virtually with campers from other YMCAs who’ll share what life is like in their corner of the nation.  

WEEK 4 & 5: IT’S A THINGAMAJIG

Got a kid who’s excited about science, technology, engineering and math?  Unleash their inner innovator so they can conduct hands-on experiments, make mechanisms and create concoctions to better understand the world around us.  The Y’s annual Thingamajig challenges children to build their S.T.E.A.M. skills as they invent solutions to everyday problems using only what can be re-purposed around them.  Junior and Senior campers can even attend and compete in the 29th Annual YMCA Thingamajig Invention Convention.  

WEEK 6: UNDER THE SEA

Sabastian new what he meant when he said…”Look at the world around you… right here on the ocean floor!”  Kids can dive in to their love of sea animals and plants, while learning about how they can help protect the oceans.    

WEEK 7: SUPERHEROES

BOOM! POW! Kids imaginations are more powerful than a locomotive, and can leap tall buildings in a single bound!  In this camp, storytelling and creative play save the day as campers create their own super-alter ego (both heroes and villains welcome) complete with unique powers and compelling backstories. After building cities or secret lairs to protect, campers will assemble their own super squad to work together to take on larger challenges.     

ALOHA SPLASH

Join us for a week of luaus, hula dancing, and more tropical fun! Campers will participate in water and land games, make fun beach scene crafts, and learn water science.

WEEK 9: JUNGLE SAFARI 

Put on your safari hat and grab your binoculars because it’s about to get wild in here!   For budding zoologists and naturalists, this camp lets kids take a walk on the wild side while learning about different animals’ habitats eco-systems, and conservation efforts.  

WEEK 10: UNDER THE BIG TOP

Come one, come all, the circus is in town!  Campers can step right up and try their hand at being a clown, magician, or ringmaster.  Imagination, creativity, and take the center ring as kids fun creating carnival games, face-painting, juggling, and more, and at the end of the week, they’ll put on a big-top-style show!