Steve and Kate’s Camp – LA Hancock Park

I attended one of their orientations in the spring and then paid a visit after camp was in session to see for myself how it really worked. If you don’t know about Steve and Kate’s Camp it’s pretty different from other camps. Instead of structured classes or activities throughout the day, they have these studios that the kids can choose to go to. There is the music studio where they can make and record their own music (they have some instruments like keyboards, drums, other percussions and sound booth where you can sing karaōke and record). The animation studio is where they can video record a stop action movie they make with legos (the video they make is emailed to the parents). The bread making station where kids get to bake bread that they can then bring home and enjoy with their families (though I have to say every bread he brought home was too salty!). Style studio where they can learn to sew (my 5 yo made us a sweet little pillow that spelled out daddy). Dance studio where they can choreograph and dance to their heart’s content. Then they have weekly outdoor activities like a big giant water slide and those inflatable human hamster balls on water.
I was worried that for my 5 yo at his first summer camp this would be a little too open. But for kinder campers they have a counselor who takes really good care of your little ones. They also send home a daily report (just for kinder campers) that lists what studios they spent time in and what projects they worked on. I loved that they kept us so informed. My son was intimidated by venturing out on his own and stuck pretty closely to his counselor (as in he wouldn’t let her out of his sight) but from what I saw she showed such patience with his clinginess and really helped him try out different activities every day. When I walked through the camp with my son different counselors would call out a greeting to him by name which made me showed me that they cared about their campers.
For the price, the fact that food is included was such a deal (though my son was too picky to eat much of what was offered). The director of the camp was really accessible and communicative with the parents. For a parent sending a first timer to camp, they really try hard to put your mind at ease. I would definitely send my son here again.