Summer Activities For KC-Area Homeschoolers

We have a number of summer activities for homeschoolers in the Kansas City area! While many of them are local, a few are online and available to a nationwide audience.

See the ones we’ve compiled in this list (and add your own in the comments below).

NOTE: The MPE Board of Directors does not necessarily endorse any of the organizations or people offering these opportunities. Several of these opportunities may not be available this year due to COVID-19 policies. Fees are involved for many of these programs.

Summer camps and classes, grades K-12

• Camp Shakespeare. The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival offers numerous opportunities for children to get involved with the playwright’s works and theatre, with arts programs designed for ages 5-18. Find more info here.
• Camp Wornall/Majors summer camps (available slots starting July 23 and ending Aug. 6). These camps use interactive activities and experiences to introduce children to an exploration of daily life on the frontier. Masks are required. Find more info here.
• Library summer reading programs. Check out your area library’s summer reading programs, since many offer prizes and other incentives for participation. One example is the Johnson County library, which has featured summer programs for years! Find more info here.
• Johnson County Park & Recreation District (JCPRD) summer camps. Camp offerings include nature, fine and performing arts, leadership, and science. Find more info here.
• Juni Learning: Online coding classes. This website teaches the fundamentals of computer programming in online coding classes with a private instructor. For students age 8-18. Find more info here.
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art summer classes. Personalize your art-making experience with multiple week sessions, one-time workshops, full-day summer camps, and more! These are virtual only this year. Find more info here.

Summer courses

• Summer Youth Enrichment Programs at Johnson County Community College. For children grades 6-12, these enrichment programs feature a range of classes, including science, computers, performing arts, languages and sports. Find more info here.
• Online animation and drawing classes. Chad Stewart, former Disney animator and homeschool father, is offering online animation course for ages 11-18. He also teaches online drawing classes for elementary and upper-grade level students. Find more info here.
• IQ Weather. Created by local celebrity Mike Thompson, this video-based course on weather and science is designed for grades 4-8. We’ve had personal experience with this course and highly recommend it for budding meteorologists! Here’s our affiliate link:https://www.iqweather.com/a/2147486646/DeWPhWAM

Summer ministry activities

• Summer missionary training programs for pre-teens and teens. The Child Evangelism Fellowship of the Greater Kansas City Area has a Christian Youth in Action (CYIA) and Jr. CYIA program where young people can impact children for eternity and have their own life changed. Many of its participants come from homeschool families. Find more info here.
• Camp CumCITO. Sponsored by City Union Mission, this summer camp experience serves low-income children from the urban KC area and rural Benton County. They need more than 400 volunteer positions, including ones that last for a week and ones that last only for a day. To qualify, volunteers must be growing, maturing Christians who are at least 16 years old and have participated regularly in an evangelical Christian church for the preceding year. Find more info here.
• Summer of Service with Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater Kansas City. This eight-week program is hosted by the Y and is for youth ages 11-18. Each service project lasts four days and includes ice-breakers, team-builders, volunteering, and service-learning lessons. Find more info here.

We have updated this blog post, originally published in June 2015, for timeliness and detail.

Did we miss anything? Add your own favorite summer activities in the comments below!