From exploring Chumash history to making digital films, summer camps are filled with options.
By Cathy Neiman/Staff Writer
Every summer parents are posed with the dilemma on what to do with their children to keep them occupied, safe and out of their hair.
Fortunately, today children of Malibu have a wide range of options far beyond the customary activities of arts and crafts, and sing-a-longs.
Children can run amok through 140 acres of nature, study native Chumash folklore, play with state-of-the-art inter-active water games, ride horses, learn to design Web sites, learn to make a digital film, play in the theater arts, surf, and do arts and crafts and have sing-a-longs. There is such an assortment of choices it is likely for parents to have a difficult time choosing where to send their little angels this summer.
One of the oldest summer camps in Malibu is Lazy J Ranch Camp; it has been around since the mid-50s. Set on 140 acres, the camp is centrally located in Malibu. Children have a variety of activities to choose from such as swimming, horseback riding, hiking, tennis, etc. along with native lore, where the children get to explore caves and trails that the native Chumash Indians once habituated.
“Where else in Los Angeles can you actually look up and count thousands of constellations in the sky?” said Glenn Policare, one of the directors of Lazy J who was once a camper himself in the 1970s.
Another traditional outdoor-oriented camp is Camp Keystone Summer Day Camp. Nestled in Agoura Hills on more than 5 acres, Camp Keystone was founded by Larry Klein, who also owns the company Team Play Events, which make interactive games for children.
“There are 60 different games that our campers can play with,” Klein says. “We also have five interactive water games onsite, it’s like having a water theme park in the middle of camp. We have Super Soakers, Balloon Launching and Surf and Slide.”
Not far from Camp Keystone is Sunny Skies, another traditional day camp that is now in its 29th year. Located in Agoura on Kanan Road on a 29-acre parcel of land, Sunny Skies is on Triunfo Creek, inside an oak grove. Sunny Skies focuses on physical activities and social skills and is known for its impeccable staffing.
“Every year we try to find the perfect staff,” says assistant camp director Andrew Hopewell. “We have important philosophies here, and we want our campers to grow both physically, spiritually and socially, and to take these skills into adult life.”
The “sister” camp to Sunny Skies is Camp Summertime. Located in the Malibu hills on the historic Calamigos Ranch, this unique facility has two separate ponds, three swimming pools and rests on 120 acres of land. Camp Summertime is an established day camp with four to five week sessions.
“I feel it is important for children to have consistency and to be able to bond with other kids and their counselors,” says Mark Greenblatt, owner and founder of Camp Summertime. Similar to Sunny Skies, Camp Summertime’s main emphasis is on staff and to build a child’s self-esteem.
For the children who are more inclined toward the technical arts, there is also a wide range of choices. ID Tech Camp, now in its fifth season, has a slew of interesting choices for children. From beginners to advanced learners, children become skilled at how to design Web sites, produce digital movies and learn stop animation and digital robotics, digital music and design games. Children work with sophisticated Apple programs such as Adobe, Final Cut Pro and imovie.
“We have children with different backgrounds from all over the country,” says Karen Thurm Safran, marketing director for ID Tech.
One seventh-grade student, Andrew Metzger who attended ID Tech at Cal Lutheran last year said, ” I had fun everyday. My favorite was animation and editing movies in digital video. I was nicknamed ‘Yoda’ because of the voices I made.”
Located on the Pepperdine University campus in Malibu, there are also locations at UCLA and Cal Lutheran.
“What happens to our students is that they learn to articulate, and that ups their self-esteem,” Safran says. “Most of our instructors are in college or recent graduates and become mentors for the kids.”
Also on the Pepperdine campus is Peter Exline’s USC Digital Filmmaking Camp. Now in its second year, this camp teaches every aspect on how to put together a film, and who else better to teach film than the staff at the University of Southern California. All the instructors are USC faculty and USC graduate and postgraduate students.
“This is a far less technical camp and more for the creative process,” says Judith Patterson, executive director at USC Digital Filmmaking Camp.
If you want your child to learn the art of expression, then Drama and Expressive Arts Summer Camp is your best bet. Affiliated with Malibu Children’s Theater, the artistic director of the Malibu Stage Company’s Youth Department, Kathleen Mazola, teaches children the art of expression through free movement, dance, painting, photography and singing. The older campers learn how to direct, edit and write their own film. The camp is located in Malibu in the homes of Janet and Michel Landsbury and Peter and Randy Bieler, neighbors who have opened their homes for this special summer camp. There are also financial scholarships available.
For the horse lover, Park Place Stables, located at Malibu Riding and Tennis Club, is the camp where a child can have their own horse to ride and care for. Primarily an English riding school, Park Place Stables will match up a child with the appropriate tempered horse.
“I think it is important for a child to learn about caring for horses,” says Kandice Watts, riding instructor at Park Place. “There is much more to horses than just riding them.”
Now, if your child is a water baby, and you want them to have fun in the ocean and learn about ocean safety, Kanoa Surf Summer Camp is a sure fit. Former Malibu resident Kip Jerger, a L.A. County lifeguard for 29 years and formerly on a world champion surfing team, makes sure your child will have fun in the water and be safe too. With only 10 children per two-week session, there is a 5-to-1 instructor-child ratio. Children learn how to surf, body board, self-rescue, and learn about water safety, the ocean and beach etiquette. The camp takes place at Malibu Surfrider Beach. In affiliation with Kanoa Surf Summer Camp is Free Ride Corporation, a nonprofit organization that gives free rides to inner city children, who want to go to the beach and learn water safety and ocean ecology.
If preschoolers are raising havoc in your home and you want to give them a summer camp experience, there is Pre-School Day Camp at the Malibu Jewish Center. Here, children will learn about peace around the world and about different countries such as England, Asia and Israel and Africa through art, dance, food, music and bible stories. Malibu Jewish Center also provides an after school enrichment program.
Whether your child is into surfing, horseback riding, or computers, or they just want to run free in a field, the choices are there.
The facts: Lazy J Ranch Camp, 310.457.5572; Camp Keystone Summer Day Camp, 818.889.2224; Sunny Skies Day Camp, ages 4-14, 310.456.9930; Camp Summertime Day Camp, ages 4-14, 818.706.7335; ID Tech Camps, ages 8-17, 888.709.TECH; USC Peter Exline’s Digital Filmmaking Camp at Pepperdine University, 888.780.2267; Drama & Expressive Arts Camp, ages 6-15, 310.589.3995; Park Place Stables Summer day Camp, 310.589.8845; Kanoa Summer Surf Camp, 310.374.1994; Pre-School day Camp at the Malibu Jewish Center, ages 2-7, 310.456.2296.