Getting campy

Deirdre Newman

If you want to avoid hearing your children utter the quintessential

summer phrase, “I’m bored,” there are a slew of innovative summer camps

and workshops that will satiate the most restless, inquisitive child.

In Newport Beach, children can live out their Harry Potter fantasies

at the Harry Potter Camp. The camp, which is offered by the city of

Newport Beach, will offer the opportunity to participate in experiments

with “astonishing demonstrations” and a chance to learn the game of

Quidditch, a version of lacrosse played in the air.

In the Ultra Rocket Science camp, another Newport Beach offering,

students can build different rockets and take a virtual journey through

space. They can also adopt an “alien.”

And for the first time, teenagers can get a feel for what it’s like to

be a police officer with the new Teen Police Academy. Newport Beach

Police Department experts in SWAT, canine, narcotics, patrol, traffic law

and firearms will conduct the eight-week program.

If your child displays a dominance of either right or left brain

tendencies, you might want to check out the Whole Brain Learning With

Brain Gym Exercises workshop. The experience, provided by Orange Coast

College, promises to clear blockages preventing access to both

hemispheres with fun and easy exercises.

For budding entrepreneurs, there’s the Future Millionaires and Junior

Entrepreneurs workshop. This class for fourth- through eighth-graders

includes developing a business plan and creating marketing strategies. A

Business Expo will showcase students’ businesses on the last day of

Orange Coast College class. The workshop is taught by 12-year-old

entrepreneur Joshua Ballard and his mother.

For parents who want to try something new with their kids and impress

their friends at parties, there’s the Celtic Bagpipe Workshop. The OCC

class, open to adults and children 10 and older, will teach five songs on

the Great Highland bagpipe.

If your kids like to wrestle with each other around the house, they

might be interested in an LA Boxing camp offering boxing, kick-boxing,

karate, jujitsu, wrestling and self-defense. The two-week sessions, which

run from June 24 to July 5 and July 15 to July 26, will also help to

build a sense of fitness and self-confidence in kids.