It’s officially spring, and you know what that means?
Time to start preparing for summer, and for those with kids, it’s time to start thinking about what you’re going to do with them during the school break.
One way to get your kids out of the house and provide them with fun and educational experiences is summer camps, whether a traditional overnight camp in nature with bonfires and ropes courses, or day camps where you can touch a brain! Northern Kentucky has plenty to offer kiddos this summer.
Keep reading for some Northern Kentucky summer camp options for every family:
Camp Ernst
If you’re looking for a classic summer camp, look no further than YMCA Camp Ernst in Burlington.
Overnight campers stay in cabins or lodges, and all campers can enjoy a variety of activities, including our ropes course, a waterslide, crafts, archery, horseback riding and more.
“They make new friends, discover and try new activities, really grow in confidence and feel a sense of belonging,” Elizabeth Cochran, Executive Director at Camp Ernst, told LINK nky. “Being unplugged from their devices and outside of their normal everyday activities helps them connect with each other. It’s a classic, kid-summer American activity, just being at summer camp.”
Registration opens in October (while many of the weeks still have availability, Cochran suggests signing up sooner rather than later), and Cochran said over 5,000 campers come to Camp Ernst each summer.
In her experience, Cochran said many of the kids say their favorite camp activity is the zip line, but others say it’s Gaga Ball. Cochran loves that the camp offers equestrian opportunities, “We’re in Kentucky, and I think horseback riding is really interesting and different and also teaches kids confidence and communication.”
The Camp Ernst ranch has a 28-stall barn, two riding arenas, a fluctuating herd of over 30 horses and miles of trails.
“I love to see kids try something for the first time and that face that they make when they’ve just ridden a horse or ‘I made a s’more’ or when they tell their counselor they made a new friend, I think that’s gold,” said Cochran.
Camp Ernst offers week-long overnight camps for ages six to 15 from Sunday until Saturday during June, July and August; 24-hour “intro to overnight” camps for ages five to nine; and a three-day mini-camp for ages six to eleven.
For older kids, aged 15 and/or rising tenth graders, the camp offers the Crew program, a leadership camp that offers the traditional overnight camp experience along with leadership training and service learning.
There are also day camps for ages six to 15 offered Monday through Friday in June, July, and August. In the spring and fall, Camp Ernst offers weekend camps in the same age range, as well as options for families and even adult retreats.
Camp Ernst is located at 7615 Camp Ernst Road, Burlington. Find more information at myycamp.org.
Summer Camps at NKU
Over at Northern Kentucky University, summer camp looks a little different.
Every year, NKU’s summer camp program allows young students to explore career options and develop skills. Activities range from nature exploration and board game design to filmmaking, finance and cybersecurity.
Camp Norse offers week-long, four-day, and three-day day camps to grades two through six. These camps allow students to glimpse what a college experience could be like. Nearly 200 campers will participate in week-long themed camps, which include meeting NKU students to learn about college life, participating in hands-on and experiential activities and engaging in interactive learning.
Program director Carolyn Noe told LINK nky that each week has a different theme, and the campers get to try something unique. The one she’s most excited about is the first week: board game design. In her free time, Noe runs an organization called Super Heroines, Etc., which, among other things, hosts events where attendees can teach, learn and workshop board games.
“Obviously, that has a special place in my heart,” said Noe.
Other themes include storytelling through comics, Vikings & Valkyries, science of the human body, a life skills lab and more.
One week of camp, Noe said, is designed to give kids an idea of what it takes to be a content creator, “You know, how many kids are like, ‘I want to be a content creator’? It’s basically making that a camp, but showing them how hard it is, so they’ll actually learn things like setting up a kit, a phone camera to take a good picture and a good video.”
Overall, Noe said she loves Camp Norse because, “I like to see kids’ creativity. I like to see the ideas that they come up with. The storytelling through comics, the creative inspiration, I just like to see the things that they come up with.”
For kids more interested in STEM, NKU also offers camps with The Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics, or CINSAM, for students in grades 2-12.
CINSAM STEM Camps and Academies allow students to gain experiences that are not often found in the classroom. The summer 2025 camp offerings include Lase Light Spectacular, The Art of Nature Exploration, Elementary Engineers, Coders & Creators, Robots to the Rescue and more.
Noe said that being on a college campus offers lots of advantages, “one of the great things about being at a university is we do have so many resources on campus.”
The academies are designed to allow campers to work with university-level equipment and facilities, meet like-minded people and connect with NKU students and professionals.
In one of the sessions, called “Brain,” Noe said the campers “get to hold real brains. I mean, yeah, it’s so cool.”
The Haile College of Business and the Center for Economic Education host a Future in Focus Summer Camp, a five-day camp designed for high school students interested in learning about the business world. This camp offers students an opportunity to explore the industry, gain hands-on experience, and learn about what careers in the business world look like.
This year, NKU is launching the inaugural Documentary Film Camp for high school students who are passionate about filmmaking’s technical and creative aspects. The camp offers training in storytelling techniques, technical skills, research and interviewing, ethical filmmaking and post-production through workshops, seminars, group projects, screenings and feedback.
At the end of the camp, students will have created their own documentaries.
Northern Kentucky University is located on Nunn Drive in Highland Heights. Find more information at nku.edu.
Behringer-Crawford Museum summer camp programs
For kids looking to dive into history, the Behringer-Crawford Museum offers two different day camps, each focused on exploring Northern Kentucky’s past.
The Mini Explorer “C” Camp is a three-day summer camp for children ages four to six. Campers learn while exploring the wonders of words beginning with the letter “C”—like Cats, Caterpillars, Crabs, Cheese and Crazy Chicken.
Kim Gehring-Cook, Education Director at BCM, said that the mini explorer camp is currently full, but they are accepting names for a waitlist in case spots open up.
For older kids, Exploring the Past Camp is still accepting campers. This four-day camp, for kids entering second through fifth grade, offers activities inspired by BCM’s exhibits and stories from the last 75 years.
Campers can learn through archaeology, Ice Age mammals, early peoples and settlers in NKY, local artists and more.
Gehring-Cook said her goal for the camper is to “teach them that they can have fun learning. I want them to come out of the program learning something about Northern Kentucky’s history and be excited to share that with other people.”
This year, the museum is turning 75, so the camp wraps up with a birthday celebration.
The Behringer-Crawford Museum is located at 1600 Montague Road, Devou Park, Covington. Find more information at bcmuseum.org.