summer camp

noun

plural summer camps

1

: a camp (see camp entry 1 sense 1d) for children or adolescents that operates during the summer and that often provides lodging for stays of days or weeks

… traditional summer camps—where your child rides a horse, paddles a canoe, reads a compass, and roasts s'mores around a campfire …

—David Lansing

… summer camp is about campfires, trail hikes and goofy skits. It's a chance to meet kids from different cities and to learn to sleep through the snores of cabin mates.

—Emily Seftel

also : such a camp that provides instruction of a specified kind

went to an arts summer camp

compare day camp

2

: an online usually educational program for children or adolescents offered during the summer

… a virtual summer camp offering free classes in everything from slime-making to dinosaurs to make-your-own Lego movies. Kids aged five through 18 can create their own schedule, with hour-long classes five days a week for each session.

—Lisa Milbrand

Examples of summer camp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The wedding festivities spanned two days in New York’s Hudson Valley and incorporated a summer camp theme. —Assistant Editor, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026

In 1942, a researcher tried to get twenty boys at a summer camp to stop biting their nails. —Shayla Love, New Yorker, 1 May 2026

Camp Mystic, a Texas summer camp where 27 young girls and camp counselors died during a 2025 flood, will not be reopening this summer, with the state's governor saying the investigation into the camp continues. —Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 1 May 2026

The original 1950s-era center was a popular spot for after-school activities and summer camp. —John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 1 May 2026

Deputies in Oakland County, Michigan, are investigating the circumstances surrounding a flyer seeking donations for a summer camp on behalf of children with special needs, despite no evidence that the program exists. —Paula Wethington, CBS News, 30 Apr. 2026

Fireplaces feature prominently in many rooms, adding to that cozy summer camp feeling, especially on foggy coastal San Diego mornings. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Apr. 2026

Even households making six figures are struggling to afford child care, rent, groceries, health insurance, summer camp, and student-loan debt. —Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026

In practice, working parents will have to shell out for another week of summer camp — if programs offer it — or make other child care arrangements. —Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined at sense 1