Steve and Kate’s Camp – Seattle

I cannot rave enough about this camp. My kids (4 and 7) had a blast there this past summer. They never want to go back to the school district summer camp they went to last summer. Originally, I was looking for a camp that could take both my kids, since my 4 yr old was not in kindergarten yet. This camp was one of the few that did and had the flexible hours that fit our working schedule.
The director, Angela, is amazing. We felt like we were extremely well taken care by her and the counselors. Months before camp started, we received a nice welcome handwritten card with treats for the kids. The week before the start of camp, I received a phone call in case I had any questions about camp. After the first day of camp, Angela sent me emails asking how our kids’s first day was. She responded and provided solutions to all the questions and concerns I had.
For one, I was worried about the no structure part. My kids were used to structure, and I didn’t know how they would react to it. But, they thrived in it! They loved having the freedom. Also, my daughter has some disabilities, and I was worried she may have some difficulties at the camp, but I was so happy to hear she was doing so well. She loved the style studio and would come home with different projects each week (dress, a shirt, a skirt, a purse, an apron, etc) and then show them off in front of family. She was so proud of her creations! Grace, her counselor, helped my daughter a lot on her sewing projects. That’s a lot of patience! We love her! My son loved the camp too! He loved his counselor Janae. He loved baking bread at the baking studio and each day, we would come home with his warm bread in a bag. He can list all the ingredients and describe the process on how to bake them.
The kids loved the other studios too. There’s a dance studio, music studio, animation, and a coding studio! All these (the songs they sing, videos they make, apps they write) are all viewable on our personalized accounts. It was fun each day to get an email notification that my kids made a short movie that I was able to watch. What 7 year old can say they wrote an app? And the music videos they make each week are so cool. My daughter was able to dance in one. She loved the special shows each week too! Weekly specials also made it fun each week too: from Zorbs, electric scooter, waterslides, etc. The kids loved their summer camp. And did I mention the healthy lunches? I didn’t have to pack lunch at all during the summer. What a luxury! :)

My (then) two 5-​year-​old kids had such a bad time in 2014 at the Daniel Bagley Elementary location that my daughter remembered a year later and specifically told me she didn’t ever want to go back.
Here’s why:
— One of our kids has a speech delay and was bullied by older kids (name calling and physically hit) and none of the staff intervened or did anything
— The camp counselors didn’t engage with the kids, they just left them in a room all day and didn’t check on them or encourage them to do anything
— There wasn’t much for younger kids to do
In addition, as parents we had a bad experience with the Seattle staff:
— They gave us conflicting information
— First they said would let us use one kid’s account for the sibling, then they changed their minds and tried to charge us extra
— The head of the camp was extremely rude in all of my and my partner’s interactions with her
— The staff told our children (we are a blended family) that they weren’t really siblings
Overall it was a horrible experience. I was so excited to find out about this camp because of the flexibility, and their marketing is excellent, but it was such a bad experience that it stuck with my daughter as something she never wants to do again.

I cannot say enough good things about this model. S&K have obviously been testing out various formats over years and have landed on the key formula for what summer should be like for kids in this generation. While the days of go play outside all summer are gone, S&K allows each child to choose what interests them and gives them the freedom to roam in a safe, happy setting. The Director and Asst. Director at Greenlake are very accessible and treat each family as a priority if you have questions or your child needs a little assistance in learning the ropes the first couple days. And yes, they really do follow up on Day One to see how the experience was for you and your camper. All the counselors seem very engaged and present with the kids. Kudos to the hiring team for seeking out highly committed, energetic, patient, fun young adults. And while the camp is slightly outside my budget, I do appreciate walking out the door each morning not having to pack a snack or lunch, knowing my kiddo will have a range of healthy options throughout the day AND I do not have to be concerned about an add-​on a.m. and p.m. fee (charged to working parents by other camps). As for feedback: consider tossing in some old school games such as SPUD, Four Square, HORSE, etc. It seems to fit in well with your recreational game theme. And any chance of an S&K closer to the old SHA location? And thank you for the K Cards to let parents know how each day went for the kindergartener campers. So… best of all, my kid loves it. There you have it, the cat’s out of the bag. We heart S&K.

My 9-​year old (4^th grader this fall) loved this camp. She went for just 5 days all summer long (never more than once in a week), and that was just right for her (she otherwise felt it was a bit repetitive). It’s even better for younger kids. She made bread every time, and loved learning the animation station and using a sewing machine.
She did spend one day in the Bellevue location. I thought that campus was amazing — wooded area, huge fields… and everyone was great there, too — but my daughter thought this Seattle site was even better because «it wasn’t as confusing to find things» (Bellevue has a larger campus split in two buildings, and Greenlake is in a single, «vintage» school building). Granted, the day she spent in Bellevue was her first day ever of Steve and Kate’s camp, which might have been a reason it felt confusing, but she chose Greenlake for the remaining 4 days.
Highly recommend this location — the staff even seemed to know us after day one, even though we were only there once a week!

Our 9 year old grandson lives with us and since we both work he is in summer camps all summer long pretty much. We found Steve and Kate’s Camp through an auction at our school and had never heard of it before and now I am singing their praises to all my friends and co-​workers who have kids that go to summer camp! Aiden spent 5 days there last week and loved every bit of it. When I picked him up on a Friday late afternoon he immediately said to me «Can I come here next week?» — unfortunately he’s in a different camp this week but I assured him he will be able to come back next year. He had many «favorite» things he did each day but I could tell that the Animation Station was his real go-​to — he created longer and more detailed animation videos each day that we would then watch each night and laugh and talk about what they all meant — it opened a new world for us just knowing he was putting thoughts and stories into action and we could see this happen in real time! He made bread, he enjoyed the Style Station, he loved playing foosball and playing outside when he wanted. This was a terrific experience for him. He’s used to being in day camps that are outside all day long — to be indoors and outdoors with specific «stations» set up was so wonderful — it was like a really cool summer school/​play school for him. The staff was great — everything felt so secure and safe and there were many people there to lead the kids in activities. All in all this was a terrific experience not only for him, but for us — knowing he had such a great time every day. I love that you can buy «day passes» and go when you want — we had 5 day passes and chose to use all five in one week and it worked out nicely that way for us. Thank you to all who were there when our grandson was there — we will be back next year for sure! — Katie M.

This is a seriously great choice for summer day camps. My 10 year old daughter loves it! She’s been engaged, inspired and has come home with some amazing creations — including a dress she made herself. The camp director contacted us after her first day to ask how she felt and we felt it went. Who does that?! It was fantastic. The other really great thing about it is the flexibility. You can come and go and don’t need to commit to a week at a time. We love it.