When I’m looking for activities for my kids, I always like to know what’s popular among others with similar interests. To help you choose fun summer camps for your kids in 2021, we’ve compiled a list of our top 4 virtual camps (with some extra options). If your kids love Minecraft or Roblox, they’ll love these!
Parent reviews are always insightful, so we’ve gathered descriptions and parent reviews of our most popular camps: several types of Survival Camps, Architecture Business, Engineering, and Game Design Camps (both co-ed and girls-only).
1: Survival Camps in Minecraft
Survival is the primary game mode in Minecraft. Players collect resources, build structures, battle mobs, manage hunger, and explore the world to survive, thrive, and complete the game.
In our Survival Camps, kids join other gamers to embark on a journey where the story and objectives change to keep things new and exciting. At the start of these camps, everyone practices group etiquette to form a supportive community that knows how to reflect and communicate effectively with each other. Participants will discover quests that enable them to achieve higher ranks and unlock more content. They’ll experience story events filled with mobs and bosses for teams to conquer through careful planning. These repeatable camps will have a different custom world and survival theme each session.
Christine D.’s daughter joined a Survival camp, and she said, “My 12-year old daughter had a blast. She enjoyed the instructor a lot, and she especially enjoyed getting to play Minecraft with other kids, figuring out strategies that worked, etc.”
New this year, we have a variety of options for Minecraft Survival Camps.
- Traditional: kids work together on gathering resources, solving mysteries, and fighting monsters side by side.
- Oceanic: The surface of the Minecraft world has become 90% water! Kids explore the vast oceans to find treasure and construct their own island base – but they need to watch out for the pirates! They’ll find seaside villages, pirate fleets, and even explore the depths of a mysterious submerged dungeon.
- Desert: In this camp, water is a scarce resource. Campers explore the world and defeat bosses to acquire water, stay alive, and farm food. Monsters inside the Desert Pyramids are challenging, but the rewards are quite magnificent!
- Nether: In this camp, the worlds have been reversed. Campers start in the Minecraft Nether, try to survive its harsh environment, and acquire loot from Nether Outposts. They make a portal to the real world and work together to find a way to defeat the Ender Dragon.
We also offer girls-only Survival Camp, with a friendly atmosphere that is the perfect antidote to the sometimes over-competitive and intimidating online social world. In our girls programs, all campers share something in common: being girls who love Minecraft and are ready for new friends and new adventures.
2. Architecture Business
Architecture is a fan favorite! Kids get to experience a week as a Minecraft architect who combines the basics of architecture and business to create a successful real estate firm. Campers start the week with a small pool of money. As they complete contracts, their funds will grow and they’ll get access to more materials, new clients, and bigger projects.
Last summer, Jordan’s son joined the camp. Jordan said, “My son absolutely loved this course. The course was engaging, fun and educational! The instructor designed the course in a way that scaffolded important financial and building concepts. She was organized and creative. Thank you for making it easy for my son to wake up every morning at 8 am during the summer!”
3. Engineering Camp
This is a hit because kids love designing and building things! Similar to electricity, Minecraft’s Redstone is an amazing tool that acts as an interactive power source. In Engineering camps, kids explore that power and build dynamic devices from automatic doors to fully-functioning rail systems. They’ll ultimately design an amusement park which includes epic roller coasters, simple mini-games, and other Redstone-powered contraptions!
We offer co-ed Engineering Camps for ages 8-9 and 10-13, plus we have girls-only engineering camps. Amy’s child loved the camps, telling us that her child “learned lots of amazing tricks with Redstone and loved the building projects. This class is perfect for someone who knows Minecraft controls and the basics of building, but is ready to do more complicated and automated builds and contraptions like self-propelled roller coasters, or electrical circuits that can power functioning clocks.”
4. Game Design
These camps appeal to all kids. Kids love playing games, so why not learn to design them too?! We offer Game Design camps in both Roblox and Minecraft, plus girls-only options and a camp for advanced designers.
Parent Magdalen appreciates that the counselor “allowed the students to learn at their own pace and was always helpful. It was great when the kids got to create their own Roblox worlds and then got to play in each other’s worlds.” Another parent described the Minecraft camp: “My child had a blast creating games with other kids. The instructors were very helpful and had fun games for the kids to design. Would definitely recommend this class.”
These are the most popular camp options, and we have many more too! Our camps run daily for a single week; we also offer similar themed courses and clubs that meet once a week for a month or more. Choose what works best for you!
If your kids have special interests like theater or STEM, esports or Pokemon, check out our full line-up. Kids enjoy our camps because the content is fun and challenging, and they build a bond with each other throughout the week. Plus, with Connected Camps, they don’t have to say sad good-byes at the end of camp; they can continue playing and creating with their camp friends on our free Minecraft server.
Our programs will help kids hold onto the positive digital skills and interests they gained during the pandemic, even as they look forward to more in-person camp options this summer. These top-rated options give you flexibility, peace of mind that your kids will be safe while playing online, and they’re affordable! Camps are filling up fast; sign up for your favorites now.