It’s the middle of winter. Time to start thinking about summer camp.
Your mailbox is probably filling up with info from park districts, day camps and other facilities offering to get your kids out of your hair during summer. If your 8- to 17-year-old is crazy about video games and computers, one option to consider is a tech summer day camp.
Instead of learning how to fish and stay safe in the woods, tech campers learn the basics of making video games, using the same software that created the games they play at home. But these day camps aren’t cheap, with tuition costing up to $1,500 for a two-week session. Then there are travel costs — or room and board for overnighters — and in some cases lab fees.
This year, three nationwide companies that run tech camps will set up in the city, in Evanston, Lake Forest, in Lisle, in Palatine and in River Forest.
A tech camp can’t guarantee a job in the $10 billion-a-year video game industry, but one can surround your child with teens and preteens who share an intense interest not just in playing games but in making them.
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iD Camp
(www.internaldrive.com; 888-709-8324)
Tuition and lunch: $779 for a week of day camp; $754 for each additional week. Camp is from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 3:30 Fridays. Tuition, room and board for overnight campers (age 10 and older only) is $1,129 for the first week and $1,104 for each additional week.
Fees: $100 a week for most classes.
Locations: Lake Forest College and Northwestern University, Evanston.
Dates: June 10-15, June 17-22, June 24-29, July 1-6, July 8-13, July 15-20
Classes: Create comics, edit video, make games, improve game-playing skills.
Accredited by the American Camp
Association? Yes
Cybercamps
(www.cybercamps.com; 888-904-2267)
Tuition and lunch: $644 for a week of day camp; $594 for each additional week. Camp is from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tuition, room and board for overnight campers is $998 for the first week and $948 for each additional week.
Fees: $49 to $79
Locations: Loyola University in Chicago, Concordia University in River Forest and Benedictine University in Lisle.
Dates: Lisle — June 25-29, July 2-6, July 9-13, July 16-20, July 23-27; Chicago and River Forest — July 9-13, July 16-20, July 23-27, July 30-Aug. 3
Classes: Design games, create Web projects, explore programming and robotics
Accredited by the American Camp
Association? No
Emagination Computer Camps
(www.computercamps.com; 877-248-0206)
Tuition and lunch: $1,235 for two weeks of day camp (an average of $617.50 per week, for comparison’s sake). Camp is from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tuition, room and board for overnight campers is $2,245 for a two-week session (an average of $1,122.50, for comparison’s sake).
Fees: $15, $30, $35, $95, $175 or free, depending on the class.
Location: Lake Forest Academy
Dates: June 18-29, July 2-13, July 16-27, July 30-Aug. 10
Classes: Animation, game design, robotics, programming.
Accredited by the American Camp
Association? Yes
