By Sarah Firshein

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The reasons for sending your kids to camp are plenty, but perhaps your son or daughter has interests that extend beyond lanyard bracelets and campfire songs. Here, we present eight of the wackiest co-ed residential summer camps that promote positive ideals of teamwork, leadership and friendship — with one or two thrills that will have your camper reeling until the first school bell sounds.

Bond basic training
In Lake Como, PA, children ages six to 15 can hone their inner sleuth at Camp Lohikan’s Spy Camp. This mini-camp, operated during each two-week summer session, allows kids to explore espionage from a fun, hands-on point of view. So-called “agents” participate in martial arts and surveillance techniques; rousing rides on ATV four-wheelers teach them the value of safe, evasive driving. Other components include a ropes course and jet ski training. The final exam for senior spies is an exciting recon and rescue mission that involves paintball combat tactics (for fifth graders-and-older only), code-breaking and interrogation. Before June 16: 908-470-9317; from June 16 through Aug. 31: 570-798-2707; www.lohikan.com/spycamp.htm

Tomorrow’s Katie Courics
Teens looking to foray into the media world can get a head start at one of the New York Film Academy’s broadcast journalism camps. The four-week sessions, held in major cities such as New York, Boston, Paris and London, offer the chance to explore the field through a mix of lectures, demonstrations and fieldwork. Classes include digital journalism, hands-on camera, production and editing (using Final-Cut Pro). Each participant is asked to write and edit a finished project, either a 30-second field report or a one- to two-minute single-camera TV interview. 212-674-4300; www.nyfa.com

Find focus
The School of Cinema and Performing Arts teaches the ins and outs of F-stops at its photography camp. Teens ages 14 to 18 of all skill levels can enroll in two- or three-week sessions in New York, Los Angeles or Burlington, VT. There are options for both digital and 35mm shooters; courses include The Art of Faces & Places and darkroom workshops. The camp is tied to SOCAPA’s overall mission to provide an integrated art-based education; for example, projects may include a still shoot of a film production or a headshot of an aspiring dancer. 800-718-2787; www.socapa.org

Not your average camp fire
Allow your child to summon his inner fire juggler — or something tamer — at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts summer camp in Hancock, NY. The summer, divided into four three-week sessions, provides a unique environment where kids ages seven-and-older can explore the performing arts in all its vastly different forms, from dance and theater to circus and magic. Campers are encouraged to work in cooperative, team-building environments across the board; music camp participants in French Woods’ classical symphony are well enough rehearsed to perform a concert within two weeks of starting camp. 845-887-5600; www.frenchwoods.com

Not for the faint of heart
Its motto, “This ain’t your mommy’s camp,” may in fact be an understatement for Tahoe Extreme Sports Summer Camp in California, where teens enroll in exhilarating weeklong sessions. Adrenaline-boosting activities include Go-Kart racing, mountain biking, wake boarding, whitewater rafting and off-road four-wheeling. Nervous parents can rest easy at the camp’s five-to-one counselor-to-camper ratio, top-of-the-line equipment and qualified staffers who enforce strict safety rules. 800-PRO-CAMP; www.800procamp.com

Video game come to life
Wizards & Warriors Residential Summer Camp in Charlton, MA — or, more accurately, the made-up setting of “Sidleterra,” a replica of a medieval village — offers a summer of adventure and storytelling. Upon arrival, campers ages 10-and-older assume the character of their choice, say, a warrior, a healer or a wizard. They maintain their alter-egos for the entire weeklong session, using foam weapons to battle with peers — their fellow “Adventurers” — and carving their own plot twists and turns. 781-270-4800; www.wizardsandwarriorscamp.com

Planting the seeds
Camp Moracacho is making the notions of eco-conscious living and sustainability accessible to teens ages 12 to 17. Set on a 260-acre working organic farm in the bucolic hillside of Central Valley, Costa Rica, the camp offers three-week sessions that immerse campers in agricultural and ecological adventure, all within the context of a bilingual, richly cultured environment. Activities include building livestock pens, rounding up cattle and cultivating organic crops. 305-989-1946; www.campmoracacho.com

Head in the clouds
Kids ages 11 to 15 soar — quite literally — at High Flight Adventure Aviation Youth Camp in Ottawa, Ontario. Each five-day session takes place on the grounds of Smith Falls Airport, where campers take a hands-on approach to aeromodeling and rocketry, as well the history of aviation. They also learn to fly, navigate and flight engineer a light aircraft and take part in a major group project: building a Sonex aluminum aircraft that will eventually take flight. 613-866-2790; www.highflight.ca

1. Teenager summer camps are helpful for developing character, emotions, behavior, and sociability. Kids get energetic environment to learn valuable life skills. Camp programs are conducted by professional instructors, trainers and academic faculties. Camping programs are designed for stretching the inherent skills, interests and positive habits in youths. Camps also offer specialized leadership programs for developing independent thinking and challenging skills in boys and girls. Wide ranges of best teen programs are available in the camps for the complete growth of teenagers.

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   Posted by Camps For Teens | October 24, 2009, 4:34 am