Variety pack of summer camps now open for kids during upcoming school break

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Barbara Summer Camp program was on the sidelines for most kids last year, but sessions will be open again as the coronavirus issues ease up.

Sign ups are underway.

The city says it will have a variety of options including junior lifeguards, surfing, nature and engineering.

The Parks and recreation department says it will provide fun and much-needed socialization in a safe environment.

Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Supervisor Adam Porte said, "we have most of our programs are back up and running."

That is going to be helpful for the kids not only in the specific camps they are interested in, but also in their interaction with others.

"It's not just recreation we do over the summer  there's a lot of socialization that happens with the kids which is important  because there's been a lot of loss in the last year with kids being at home all year long," said Porte.

Many of the camps are in the parks and beach areas near the waterfront.

Some camps are very scientific rather than athletic.
"We have them out and about in the sun learning new things,  nature camp is a really fun one  where we take them to the beach front all the way down to the pier and the harbor. "

Some may use the camps to launch their careers in science, math and engineering by working on lego projects. In some cases robotics are added.

"That's the one where the kids are able to build really cool different  projects.  Every once in awhile we have the kids build Santa Barbara with Legos," said Porte.

In just a few days the Parks and Recreation staff says about 40 percent of the camps have filled up  but they have a wide variety of choices with spaces still open.      The camps are all about one week long.

The memories can be life long.
"It's being kids having fun  enjoying meeting new people  socializing with  different people that they have never met before," he said.

Summer registration and to see the complete listing of camps can be found at: sbparksandrec.org .