Day-Off Camps on the Hill

Camp Shenanigans offers “Play in a Day” camps on school breaks.

The camps on this list cover various days off on the DCPS calendar, such as parent conference days and teacher work days. Some of them may cover days off on charter school calendars as well. (Charters and DCPS often have days off in common, but they all may not align.)

Note: Camps for PK Kids

Different camps accommodate different age ranges, and relatively few accept PK-age kids. For your convenience, here’s a short list of those that serve PK kids:

  • Breathing Space (limited spots for PK4 only)
  • Busy Bees
  • Capitol Hill Cooperative Nursery School
  • Polite Piggy’s
  • TippiToes

Am I missing any day-off camp option on the Hill? Email me at cory@capitolhillkid.com.

Breathing Space

“Breathing Space Kids Yoga Camp offers kids ages 4-10 years enriching yoga and mindfulness experiences in a playful, non-competitive environment so they can learn self-regulation and stress management techniques, enhance gross motor skills and fitness, and, most importantly, make friends, relax, and have fun on DCPS days off for professional development or parent-teacher conferences.”

Busy Bees Music and Art Playgroup

Busy Bees is a playgroup for young children that also offers summer camp and day-off camps during the school year.

Camp Shenanigans

“ Play in a Day is offered on all DCPS days off during the school calendar year.”

Capitol Hill Cooperative Nursery School

CHCNS is an independent, parent-run school that offers drop-in days for young school-age children during the school year.

DC-ICE

“ICE School is a full-day skating-based youth development program rooted in the Olympic Values: Joy in Effort, Respect, Fair Play, and the Pursuit of Excellence. Modeled on popular Summer ICE Camp, ICE School operates on most out-of-school days, including some holidays.“

DC Way

“At our camps, our philosophy is that players learn best when they are having fun. We use simple and engaging games to challenge players and teach them essential skills. Our programs are for any kid at any level. Even without ever playing soccer before, we guarantee your child will enjoy our camp! One Day Camps are held on Teacher Work Days, parent conferences, and short holidays.”

DPR Fun Day Camp

“During the school year, when DC Public Schools (DCPS) has full-day closures for staff development, DPR offers a Fun Day Camp, which is a single-day program offering fun and enriching activities (such as sports activities, arts and crafts, and more). DPR strives to meet the needs of District families when the District’s public schools have planned closures.”

Mad Science

“Mad Science camps offer a daily combination of in-class discovery and exploration, outdoor games and physical activities, and hands-on applications of the scientific principles presented. Your child will be able touch, see, hear, smell and taste what science is really all about. We use simple, real world science techniques that allow even the youngest of campers to enjoy our learning environment. Campers create, build and assemble a variety of take-home projects while exploring how science affects the world around us. Children have so much fun that they forget they’re learning!”

Polite Piggy’s

Polite Piggy’s runs the before- and after-care programs at Maury Elementary, School Within a School and Tyler Elementary. In addition, it offers summer camp and day-off camps during the school year at Maury Elementary. Children from any school may attend camp.

Tippi Toes

“Join Tippi Toes for a magical Princess and Super Hero Dance Camp! Your child will love dressing up every day, playing Freeze Dance with Queen Elsa, creating superhero masks to demonstrate bravery, participating in many games & much much more! Boys and girls ages 3-7 years should get ready to Dance, Dance, Dance.”

Trapeze School New York-Washington 

“A great way to spend a day off school, full of exercise and fun! Our All Day Circus Experiences for Kids (ADCE) are held on common Monday school holidays (e.g. Columbus Day) and include lunch and snacks. The ADCE is a great way for kids to try a variety of the apparatus we teach, all in one go! Children will take on flying trapeze, trampoline, lyra, silks, juggling, static trapeze, tumbling and more!”