Best Summer Camps in Mercer County, NJ

We might be biased (full disclosure: of course we are!), but we think The Pennington School offers some of the best summer camps in Mercer County. 

Although the types of opportunities we offer are pretty diverse, they all share a common goal and ethos: creating a memorable and life-improving experience for each camper.

Regardless of the subject or style of camp you choose, the focus on your child and other campers' experiences is what makes us stand out. Our affordable summer camps harness the power of fun summer activities to promote student growth and discovery while providing real-world, transferable skills in a supportive community atmosphere. Not to mention our top-notch facilities and camp leadership :)

If you are looking for the best summer camps in Mercer County for your child, consider whether the skills for kids are student-centered and transferable from camp life to real life.

Summers at Pennington is designed to help your child fill a metaphorical "summer backpack" with new skills and social/emotional experiences they can carry with them back to school the following year and throughout their lives.

Each week of camp offers a wide range of daily activities that allow each camper to explore and dive into the subject matter they are interested in. These life-long learning experiences are sure to make this summer one of discovery, adventure, and growth for your child!

A wide range of outstanding Mercer County summer camp programs

We specialize in small group week-long specialty camps headed by top-class professional instructors. Camp leadership is trained and urged to explore the subject from a variety of perspectives and shift the curriculum as needed to allow your child's passion and interests to guide the activities. We have fantastic program diversity, with a camp curriculum that includes STEM, Arts, Athletics, Outdoor Adventure, and much more. Our small groups and targeted interest areas make for a one-of-a-kind camp life. Our campers bond and form friendships over shared interests and goals, creating a remarkable summer camp experience of fun, discovery, and child-centered education.

Pennington School sports camps

Our sports camps are focused on the love of the game and using campers’ passion for the sport as a catalyst for growth and development. Not only will each athlete have a lot of fun, but we will also teach them to play smarter and faster, all while ensuring that there is a solid foundation of fundamentals and technical skills. Did we mention it's all wrapped in a lot of fun? We run both gender-specific and co-ed camps. The majority of our athletic camps are run by varsity coaches, elite athletes, and alumni. We offer both specialized training sessions and scrimmage games.

Soccer camp

Ages 8-15

We run two soccer camps that combine the fun of summer with the rigor of soccer training to offer our campers a well-balanced day. Our coaches create a fun, supportive atmosphere that allows each athlete to flourish and take their skills to the next level.    

Each athlete will get position-specific training and feedback, learn some new technical, tactical, and physical drills, and hone skills unique to the game of soccer. In conjunction with this training, your child will have the opportunity to collaborate and practice their leadership and communication skills.

Basketball camp

Ages 8-13

Our basketball camps combine the power of practice, play, and fun activities to allow each camper to develop their individual skillset, creating a pathway to personal excellence. Drills, competition games, and individual feedback are sure to improve the current skill level of each child. Camp leadership will tailor the program to meet each athlete's needs, which will maximize their growth in a fun, supportive, enriching environment. 

Tennis camp

Age 8-15

Our coed tennis camp is for children of all skill levels, from beginner to advanced. The skill-based training emphasizes the fundamentals such as strokes, footwork, and gameplay. Our coaches will work with each camper to help them become better, more rounded players on and off the court. Athletes will concentrate on technical skills and focus on the game's strategic, mental, and physical aspects and finish with some fun team exercises.

General sports camp

Age 7-12

This is the perfect program for well-rounded young athletes who want to spend their camp time playing different games. Each day campers will participate in various sports, from classics like soccer and basketball to schoolyard favorites such as dodgeball and kickball. Campers will spend a portion of time learning the fundamentals of each activity before entering into different competitions and games. This sports camp aims to foster a love of physical activity while exploring the many different types of athletic opportunities out there. It is the perfect day camp for any young, active child looking to have a fantastic week of high-energy fun. 

Swim camp

Ages 8-14

Pennington swim camp is designed for swimmers looking to take their swimming ability to the next level. Whether your child is an experienced racer or someone with a solid foundation of lessons looking to prepare for the swim-team scene, they will find this to be the finest camp experience for swimmers in Mercer County. Our longtime varsity swim coach, George Ward, runs this camp with a wonderful team of swim instructors. They use a positive-mindset philosophy to help swimmers reach their full potential. Coach Ward focuses on the fundamentals of the four main competitive swimming strokes, working on refinement and mastering the skills. Campers will gain the confidence and technical abilities to take a competitive swimming experience to the next level. Wrapped in a warm blanket of fun, this camp gives each swimmer a head start on their path towards peak performance, competitive confidence, and success in swimming.

Arts summer camps, performing arts camps, and music camps

Drama studio 

Ages 10-15

This collaborative theatre experience for ages 9-15 is guaranteed to engage any theatre enthusiast! The Drama Studio is a place to come to be creative and confident, explore the world of theatre, and perform on stage! This program encourages campers to grow as performers, build confidence, step out of their comfort zone, and make new friends. During this two-week camp, your young actor will get to work as part of a team on all aspects of developing and creating a theatrical masterpiece.  

Drawing and painting studio

Ages 10-15

This camp offers a wonderful introductory journey into the creative world for all young artists. Our talented instructors will explore a variety of drawing and painting styles and techniques, helping expand your artist's skill set and mastery of techniques. Over the week-long course, our instructors will fuel your child's passion and tailor the curriculum to your artist's interests while we limit class sizes to provide the 1-1 feedback that is so critical to artistic skill development. 

Ceramics camp

Ages 10 -15

This two-week camp is far more than just a camp; it is an adventure into the beautiful world of ceramics. Campers will explore a variety of techniques, from hand molding to using the wheel. Over the two weeks, campers will get to spend a significant amount of time learning and creating. By the time the second week ends, campers will have made several beautiful creations. We finish the second week with a gallery show, which allows each camper to transition into a passionate and showcased young artist.

Blues, pop, rock music camp

Ages 10-15

This camp is all about being inspired by a love of music. We combine the fun and love of the backyard garage-style experience with the knowledge, professionalism, and curriculum of a music school to create the ultimate camp experience. Daily music classes improve every young musician's confidence while weaving in some technical and theoretical knowledge. By applying fun jam sessions and targeting the musician style/music interest, our instructors will create a tailored experience that fuels each camper's love and passion for music.

Singer-songwriter camp

Ages 10-15

Calling all shower singers, songwriters, lyrical poets, and singers. This camp is all about creating and developing your young musician's voice, increasing their passion for singing and creating songs, and collaborating with others. Through a series of workshops and collaboration projects, each singer will develop key fundamentals and learn essential tips for singing and songwriting, building their confidence and growing their skills.

Photography camps

Ages 10-15

These are the ideal camps for anyone interested in "lens arts." Our three camps allow every young photographer to pick an area of interest that interests them or you can combine all three for the perfect holistic photography camp experience to set any photographer up for success. Our professional instructors share their experiences of working in the industry, providing tips and tricks, and building your child's fundamentals to create a path and trajectory for personal growth. Includes mini-lessons and project-based learning.

STEM and STEAM camps

Engineering and problem-solving camp

Ages 10-15

This camp is all about the design, building, and problem-solving of simple machines. Campers will learn the design and build principles of engineering. This is an excellent hands-on camp for all the young engineers out there. We include fun activities within a team environment that allows all campers to explore and enjoy hands-on science activities in the field of applied science.

LEGO: The Great Build-off and Master Machines

Ages 8-13

Who doesn't love LEGOs®? Our passion for these little plastic bricks starts as a child, but our love for them expands into adulthood as we discover how amazing they are as practical and experiential educational tools. We offer two featured camps for LEGO® enthusiasts that explore different STEM concepts in a fun, hands-on way. Our Master Machines camp explores the world of simple machines through LEGO® building techniques and LEGO® robotics. The Great LEGO® Build-off takes campers on a structural engineering journey exploring a variety of building concepts. Both LEGO® camps use the fun and creativity of LEGOs® to teach construction fundamentals and fuel the passion for STEM in all our camps. Of course, we also include many "LEGO Master"-style challenges to create even more fun activities with LEGOs®!

Science Olympiad

Ages 10-15

Science Olympiad camp is similar to the popular scholastic competition, challenging campers to develop creative solutions that use science to solve problems set out by the instructor. Through fun competition and the excitement of science, campers will learn to execute a wide variety of scientific principles, including chemistry and physics, to overcome the challenges. This camp is a fun, high-impact program for any camper interested in the beautiful world of science.  

Next-level robotics camp

Ages 10-15

Next-level robotics is just that – it is all about taking the foundation of many robotics programs such as LEGO or Robotex to the next level. Students will jump into the world of robotics and learn design, building, coding, and problem-solving. The campers will work in groups to design, build, and execute a robot capable of completing the challenges set out by the instructors. 

What is the best day camp for your child?

When it comes to figuring out the best camps for your child, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Our experience shows us that choosing the best camp for your child will come down to several factors, the main one being your child's interests and passions. The more involved your child is with the subject, the better our staff will be at helping each camper to grow, fostering their love and passion for the subject, and making use of these interests to teach general life skills such as communication, leadership, and teamwork.

What are your child's interests, and what kind of activities do they enjoy? What kind of things do you notice your children getting lost in--where time seems to fall away and they become completely absorbed in that activity or topic?

This paints an in-depth picture of your child and helps us understand which combination of our programs would provide a great summer camp season for them. This philosophy guides our featured camps' design and development, focusing on particular topics and categories of interest. Whether it's sports camps, day trips, math games, nature camps, or video game creation, our goal is to provide a truly remarkable opportunity for hands-on experiential learning and a genuinely camper-focused summer experience. 

The second question we like to ask parents is about their goals for the summer and what they want to see their child walking away from camp having achieved. Combining parental goals and student interests helps paint a clear picture of what camp will be the best for their child. 

Once we understand your family's goals and interests, we can offer a variety of recommendations for different camps that are a great fit, hopefully including something new to fires up your child's curiosity.

Questions to ask a camp director

Do a quick internet search, and you will find a slew of good questions you might ask of camp directors. Many of them revolve around logistics, a typical day, safety, the customer support team, and some training questions. There is a universal standard for staff training, safety, and logistics in the summer camp industry. For camps that have been around Mercer County for years and have established their credibility, these things become second nature.

But a camper’s experience depends on much more than logistics. How does the camp staff create a sense of community? When you start to look at community and teaching methods, you get a better understanding of the intent and outcome that a camp can potentially deliver for your child.

Based on that viewpoint, here is a list of questions that we recommend you ask any camp director:

1. Does your camp have any educational outcomes or common learning goals? If so, how do you go about achieving them?

2. What's your camp's philosophy? What is your method and practice of teaching skills to campers?

3. Aside from an activity’s specific task and learning outcomes, what are some real-world, transferable skills that the campers will develop?

4. How do you create a sense of community among your campers?

5. How will your camp meet our child’s needs?

Summer camp events at The Pennington School

Virtual Q+A - Join our Camp Director Elliot Coates for a brief overview of our summer camps and a Virtual Q+A

• 1/27 at 7:00 p.m.

•  2/17 at 7:00 p.m.

• 3/8 at 7:00 p.m.

Various camps have showcase events on their last day, when family and friends are invited to cheer on and celebrate the growth of each child.

Pennington Summer camp news at The Pennington School

We divide camp and camper news, along with parent communications, into three different categories:

1. Pre-camp information and registration 

2. Updates during camp

3. Post-camp follow-ups

During the pre- and post-camp sessions, our newsletter and social media pages are primarily how we stay connected with parents. We will send occasional email updates, but we try to limit the number of emails sent to parents.

We try to strike an engaged balance of updates about the camp, including photos, as we love to share with you all of the fun and excitement our campers are having!