Summer Camps for the Future

Learn how summer camps can help inspire careers.

Summer camp is a time for fun, learning and making new friends. And for some, it’s also the chance to think about careers.

From coding and forensics to surfing and songwriting, local summer camps offer a wide variety of subjects to help campers consider future careers. 

“Our summer camps are designed to equip children with essential skills for future career planning in our tech-driven world,” said Matt Rogers, CMO at Code Ninjas, with locations throughout Orange County and Southern California offering STEM-focused summer camps for ages 5-14. 

Code Ninjas has more than 20 different summer camps, but topics are location-dependent. They include Roblox, Minecraft, Game Design, Lego Robotics, 3D Printing and more. 

“We teach coding and problem-solving through a game-based curriculum, fostering technical proficiency, critical thinking and creativity,” Rogers said. “These skills, along with soft skills like teamwork, creativity and communication, are cultivated to prepare children for various careers in an increasingly digital landscape. Our approach ensures that children are not just consumers of technology but are empowered to be creators and innovators, making them well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the future workplace.”

Learning from Pros

One of the advantages of using summer camp as a form of career inspiration is having the opportunity to learn from professionals and experts in specific fields. 

Amy Reda, of Endless Sun Surf School, said her husband, Tim, is a legendary surf camp director and surf coach who directs and leads all of their classes and camps, which take place at the Newport Beach Pier.

“Surfing — and learning how to surf at a surf camp as a kid — has led both my husband and I into many exciting and rewarding careers,” she said. “We both competed as professional surfers, and got to travel around the world surfing. We also coached both high school and college surf teams.”

They offer morning surf camps, afternoon Boogie Board camps and all-day surf camps. They have camps open to children 5 and over, as well as adults — ranging from beginners to intermediate surfers who want to improve their surfing. Though activities are mostly focused on 

surfing, throughout the week, they also cover ocean safety lessons, environmental conservation and education, yoga, Boogie Boarding and daily ocean awareness.

“Surfing can definitely lead to a career in professional surfing,” Reda said. “It can also lead to a career with us. Almost half of our staff — surf instructors — were once young kids in our surf camps. On a larger scale, surfing and the ocean teaches you life skills that you might not learn elsewhere. It will teach you to believe in yourself, to have perseverance, patience, confidence and more awareness. It will teach you that practice makes perfect. Surfing is one of the most mentally and especially physically challenging things you can do, and as a result, the lessons it teaches you come quick and fast. It will teach you that if you want to achieve something — like riding a wave — you can’t hesitate and you need to fully commit to it. It will also teach you to communicate well with those around you. If you don’t, you risk getting hurt. I think most of all, us surfers have a certain sense of self-confidence that we carry with us into the rest of our lives.”

Exploring Unique Interests

Of course a big benefit of specialized summer camps is giving campers the opportunity to experience unique career possibilities firsthand. Like forensics, for example. 

“We offer fun, learning, hands-on biology workshops, such as cool biology experiments and activities using laboratory equipment and tools, up close with live or preserved organisms, and perform dissections to learn more about anatomies. Other activities we have are camping, forensics, bioengineering, food, gardening and paleontology-related activities. We also take the students outdoors with our field trips and community science programs,” said Bionerds President Diana Dizon.

Bionerds offers summers camps at facilities across Orange County open to students from 5 to 12, as well as preschool or high school students for private camps or events. 

“Bionerds was founded with a mission to nurture curiosity, share lifetime passion and give opportunities for the younger generation to learn about biology through self-discovery,” Dizon said. “When the right environment is provided at a young age, a child will learn and appreciate how amazing living things and nature are, no matter how small or not-so-good-looking they are. We hope this learning discovery will open their interest to pursue science career further. Also, they will carry this appreciation at heart even though STEM is not their career of choice. Besides, our earth is home and living organisms are neighbors to everybody.” 

On the arts side of things, School of Rock offers a variety of music camps and workshops including Songwriting, Rock 101, Blues, Classic Rock, Pop Punk, Modern Rock, Recording and Production and more, according to Marketing Director Demi Iskandar.

“Our local music camps are perfect for musicians of any skill level who want to play guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and vocals,” Iskandar said. 

Their summer music camps are taking place at many School of Rock locations across Orange County this summer — including Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Tustin and Rancho Santa Margarita — and are open to kids and teens under the age of 18.

“Kids and teens can take a beginner camp like Rock 101, learn more about iconic artists like The Beatles, AC/DC and Green Day, or specific music genres or eras, like blues and modern rock, dive into songwriting and more,” Iskandar said. “School of Rock teaches students how to rock on stage and in life. Our music camps are designed to get students playing the songs they love with other like-minded students who are passionate about music. This allows them to channel their energy in a positive way, gives them confidence and increases their socialization skills — which are all tools that they will use for the rest of their lives, both personally and professionally. Our music camp topics also teaches them about various music industry roles — like songwriting, recording and production, and through our camps students naturally learn about band management, gear and sound, and more.” 

The Ocean Institute in Dana Point is offering several week-long camps this summer, including Sea Squirts (ages 5-6), Neptune’s Mysteries (ages 6-7), Buccaneer Adventures (ages 7-8), Ocean Discovery (ages 8-9), Shipwreck Hunters (ages 9-11), Coastal Explorers (ages 11-13), Marine Science Internship Academy (ages 14-17) and Counselor in Training Program (high school incoming freshmen to seniors).

“All of our camps have an ocean exploration focus,” said School Programs Manager Robyn Takeshita. “Our camps are designed to give campers hands-on experience and exposure to ocean sciences and history. We hope that all of our camps foster an appreciation of the ocean, inspire campers to become ocean stewards and develop their interest in science and/or history. In particular, our Marine Science Internship Academy exposes high school students to the different career paths available in marine sciences, include husbandry care, science communication and much more.”

Takeshita said career-focused summer camps are important because there are so many different career and education options these days for students. 

“The earlier they uncover and nurture their interests and passions, the better equipped they become to make well-informed decisions about their future paths,” Takeshita said.

Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach also explores themes in science and nature with four camps —  Little Naturalist Camp, Nature Adventure Camp, Science Explorers Camp and Wilderness Adventure Camp — ranging ages 4 to 13 depending on the camp. 

“Our camps include hands-on activities based in nature.  Kids practice working both independently and as a team to play games, solve problems and discover the importance of sustainability,” said Education Director Mindy Schwartz. “Our campers develop an appreciation for sustainability by attending our camps, which will only become ever more important in the coming years and decades.”

Children can even explore agricultural themes through Farm School OC, which takes place at Zoomars at River Street Ranch petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano.

Farm School OC was opened five years ago by Brooke Briggs, who had a vision to bring a love of farming and animals to her own children. Camps run for five days each, and are for ages 4-7.

“Our campers learn a different lesson each day about farming, gardening, various fruits and vegetables and where they come from and they get to help prepare and taste various seasonal fruit,” Briggs said. “We really want to encourage our campers to make healthy eating choices as they grow up and love to introduce various foods on the farm. Our camps help students learn about healthy eating, animal care and compassion as well as basic gardening/agriculture skills. These can definitely help share an inspiration for our students to get involved in careers regarding animals, nutrition, farming, agriculture and so much more.”

For children that may want to explore a variety of subjects at summer camp, Sounds of Color Studio in Santa Ana offers some options. 

Owner Bri Harb said that their Kids Summer Camp includes activities across a wide variety of their studio programs, including music, art, cooking, French, Spanish, dance, yoga, musical theater, fashion and sewing, creative writing and more, and is open to campers ages 5-12.

“We combined the best of what we do — helping people discover the joy of music and the creative arts — with our Kids Summer Camp,” said Harb. “Our campers will be creating, learning, exploring, moving and grooving each day with new activities led by our incredible staff. At the end of each camp week, we invite family and friends to join us for our special Weekly Showcase to highlight the accomplishments of our campers.”

TGR Foundation offers summer classes through its TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim for students who are interested in hands-on, interactive, career-focused experiences. Students also have opportunities to participate in college prep workshops and the annual College Bound Academy. 

Vice President of Programs Gyla Bell, who oversees TGR Learning Lab programming, said morning classes are open to students who will be in fifth and sixth grades and afternoon classes will be for students who will be in seventh through 12th grades in the fall of the 2024-2025 academic year.

“Our week-long summer classes at the TGR Learning Lab cover a variety of STEAM subjects that engage students in activities connected to their classes from coding and chemistry experiments to animal dissections and multimedia projects,” Bell said. “Each class is intentional about connecting students’ passions to tangible career paths and giving them hands-on experiences related to a particular career. Students attending the TGR Learning Lab discover their passions through our classes and determine which STEM careers they enjoy and which they don’t. Finding out what they don’t enjoy is just as important as realizing what they love. It’s important to provide opportunities for students to explore their interests and develop skills to help them prepare for their futures and better navigate their path into the workforce.”

Discovery Cube in Santa Ana offers Camp Discovery with  four different camps this year. Parents with children in grades kindergarten to second will have the option between a dinosaur-themed camp and a technology/robotics-based camp. Children in third to fifth grade will have the choice between an ocean-themed camp and a robotics camp.

“When children are exposed to STEM early, they are more likely to see themselves as a scientist or an engineer, not just as a future career but in the present,” said Cherie Whyte, vice president of marketing at Discovery Cube. “Our camps provide these early STEM experiences in a fun, interactive and accessible way that inspire students to continue their STEM learning in school.”

By Jessica Peralta