Affordable Summer Camps in the Bay Area (2011)

Summer camps are a necessity for many families.  If both parents work, summer camps are a must and parents need coverage for the whole summer.  If one parent is at home, summer camps provide some variety and break up the long summer.  Yet many families are still feeling financially pinched this year and may be looking a little more closely at the cost of camps for their children.

In addition to cost, there are many important factors to choosing a camp including location, staffing, and your child’s interests, just to name  a few.  However, one way to assess summer camp value is by examining dollars per hour of camp time.   While most camps list their cost per week, sometimes the camps don’t cover the entire day, so parents need to pay for hourly day care before or after camp.  In the end, some of camps end up being more affordable when you take into account the longer day they provide for your child.

To help you with this comparison, Sign Up For Camp analyzed summer camps on our site and came up with a list of Bay Area camps that cost less than $10 per hour.   The prices below are for the camp hours listed, but most camps offer before and/or aftercare for very reasonable rates as well.  Except where noted, prices listed below do not include promotional discounts for siblings, early registration, or multiple sessions.  (So yes, they could be even less expensive!) You can find more information on all of these camps at Sign Up For Camp.

Please respond with a comment if you know of additional camps which are a great value.  How else do you stretch your summer budget?

A World of Peace
Berkeley
9am-4pm
$465-$520 per 2 weeks (depending on age)

ArtLabbe
San Francisco (Bernal Heights)
9am-4pm
$250 per week

BALL Summer Camp
Oakland
9am-4pm
$275 per week

Camp Doodles
Mill Valley, Larkspur, San Rafael
9am-3:30pm
$275 per week
$1600 for the whole summer if registered by 5/1/11  (Less than $6 per hour!)

Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA)
Mountain View
9:30am-3:30pm  (half day sessions also available)
$570 per 2 weeks

Downtown Oakland YMCA Summer Camp
7am – 6pm
$200-$235 per week

Kinetic Arts Center Summer Circus Camp
Oakland
9am – 5pm
$290 per week
$475 per 2 weeks

One Martial Arts Day Camp
San Francisco
7:30am – 6pm
$350 per week

Park’n It Day Camp
East Bay Regional Parks
9am – 4pm
$200 per week

Steve & Kate’s Camp
Multiple Bay Area Locations
7:30am – 6pm
$75 per day
$1200 for 20 days
$2100 for entire summer (10 weeks)  (About $4 per hour!)