How To Find The Best Summer Camps In Texas For Kids
Growing up in the 90s was very different than it is today! When I was 10, my mom would send me out the door on my bike (no shoes, no helmet) and I'd bike a mile to our neighborhood pool. I'd spend the entire day swimming with my friend (sunscreen? Naaah, don't need it!) and I'd only come home when I was absolutely famished and needed to heat up some bagel bites in the microwave for lunch.Â
I mean, those were good ol' days! But also, growing up in a quiet suburb in the 1990s is very different from raising my kids in Austin in the 2020s. (I mean, thank goodness for all the safety precautions we have in place and also 3 cheers for sunscreen.)Â
Like many of you, I'm a working mom raising my children in a big Texas city. Summers always present a puzzle of finding adequate childcare that actually helps my children grow, learn, and develop independence and life skills while also letting, well, kids be kids!Â
Researching Summer Camps In Texas: Where To Start
I used to just ask around and see where my friends were doing summer camps, and then I'd go to a google search and scroll through endless pages of results. 0 out of 5 stars. Do not recommend.Â
Recently, I've been trying out a platform called All Camps Kids, which was, interestingly, created by an Austin dad who was tired of struggling to find cool camps in Austin for his kids. He went on a mission to remove the pain points of booking Texas summer camps.Â
And y'all, I love it! It's a fun website where you create a profile for each of your kids, selecting up to 6 things they're interested in (archery, coding, gardening, dance, etc.) and then a few other specifics (age, full/half day, dates), and the concierge-style website gives you a list of results that are a match for you.Â
All Camps connects you to the camp, and the rest is easy.Â
Use the code SOMUCHLIFE to try All Camps Kids for free for the summer 2026 camp season!
Factors To Consider When Choosing A Summer Break Camp
After booking summer camps for kids for a few years, here are the main factors to think about when you're booking a camp;
How many weeks do you need your kids to be in camps?
I know it's annoying to be practical for the first factor, but this one really matters the most. Do you need a full-day camp for every week in the summer? Weeklong sessions are the most common, but there are also 2-week sessions and 3-week sessions if you look hard enough.
What activities do you want for your child?
There are THOUSANDS of options, so ask your child what they want to do! Literally everything from horseback riding to ceramics to theater and pretty much everything in-between.Â
Think through the time factors.
By that I mean half day vs full day vs overnight camp. They're all available but they're very different camps! Decide what you need.Â
Co-ed or not?
Again, you have options! Summer camps are such a great way to make new friends and create lifelong memories...your child will absolutely make new friends! You can decide if you'd like a co-ed camp or not.
Price $$$$.
Price is just...oof. I used to think hiring a summer nanny is an insane luxury until I looked at the alternative (12 weeks of summer camps) and realized a nanny is usually more cost effective! But the trade off is that then kids don't get to have all the cool summer experiences you get through camps (new skills, friendship building, and experience growth in some of their favorite interests and activities!) Think about how much you're able to spend on camps throughout the summer, because that's obviously a huge factor. This is one of the filters they have on All Camps Kids, obviously. Price matters!
Location And Accessibility
Dear Texas: you are giant.Â
Ha! And finding summer camps in Texas is not for the faint of heart. The old school online search for "summer camps near me" is not an effective way to look for the best options for your child.Â
Using a platform like All Camps Kids will save you HOURS of time.Â
Age Appropriate Activities
Camps are pretty good about sharing age restrictions online, but just keep in mind that there are certain activities that are only available for certain ages.Â
(This absolutely crushed my 4-year-old when he found out he wasn't old enough for tennis camp. The good news is that I found a rock climbing camp that was equally exciting!)Â
Most of the best overnight summer camps in Texas start at an older age range than week-long day camps (duh, because children have to be a little bit older for overnight camps!)
Personal Experience: How I Found The Best Camps For My Kids
I've found that the healthy balance, for me, is finding a few curated camps that specifically cater toward my children's interests, specific areas they could use some growth in (right now it's literacy!), and also some good, safe, energetic fun because I'm raising two boys who seem to ALWAYS have more energy than me.
Try All Camps Kids and let me know what you think! It's a really powerful tool that has the capacity to save you SO much time.Â
Here's a screenshot of how it found a few awesome camps that matched the criteria I set for my son:
Use the code SOMUCHLIFE to try All Camps Kids for free for the summer 2026 camp season!
Cheers to a fun summer ahead! Hope you try this tool and love it as much as I do! Searching for summer camps for kids, historically, has been the WORST. I'm really excited about how All Camps is making it a lot easier to quickly find the perfect camps in Texas for your kids.