Enrichment Camps are skills-driven specialty summer camps in topics like science and coding, reading and writing, outdoor exploration + more at Friends Academy in Dartmouth, MA!
2026 Season: June 22 to August 14 (8 weeks)
All specialty camps are organized by week, and then by incoming grade (in parentheses) from youngest to oldest. Choose camps marked for the grade your child will enter in Fall 2026.
2026 Enrichment Camps by Week
Click on a camp name to read the description and details:
| Camp Week/Dates | Enrichment Camps |
| Week 1: June 22-26 | Outdoor Skills (3-5) Ethics Bowl (6-8) |
| Week 2: June 29-July 2* *no camp Friday, July 3 | no Enrichment Camps |
| Week 3: July 6-10 | Farm to Table Camp (3-5) FULL Video Game Development (4-6) FULL |
| Week 4: July 13-17 | Video Game Development (2-4) FULL The Science of Baking (3-5) |
| Week 5: July 20-24 | Bookworms (5-8) |
| Week 6: July 27-31 | Forest Fun (1-2) French Language & Culture (3-5) Outdoor Skills (5-8) Gardening Camp (6-8) |
| Week 7: August 3-7 | Geology Camp (1-3) Writers’ Workshop (3-8) Woodshop (5-8) |
| Week 8: August 10-17 | Science Camp (4-8) Brain Builders (6-8) Outdoor Explorers (6-8) |
☀️ Extend any half day specialty camp into a FULL DAY of camp! ☀️
Week 1: June 22-26
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Tanner McMullen
Want to learn how to make a fire, build a shelter, pitch a tent, and just simply have fun outdoors? Explore it all in Outdoor Skills camp, taught by an avid scout instructor! In this week-long session for grades 3-5, campers will gain important outdoor skills that they’ll be able to use for the rest of their lives.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Dr. Erik Kenyon
If your middle schooler likes to argue, then check out Ethics Bowl! A spin on traditional debate, Ethics Bowl explores real-world issues about rights, respect, and relationships through competitive collaboration. Using ethical case studies written by middle and high school students, campers work together to craft compelling arguments and engage in respectful dialogue.
Week 2: June 29-July 2*
*no camp July 3 (Independence Day observed)
No Enrichment Camps during Week 2
Week 3: July 6-10
Half Day (9am-12pm) | FULL
Instructors: Chef Chris Chaput & Ben Haylight
Join our very own Chef Chris on a culinary tour of Dartmouth! Campers will explore several local farms to harvest fresh ingredients and learn more about locally grown foods. Back at FA’s kitchen, Chef Chris will teach campers how to use their ingredients to create nutritious, delicious snacks and meals. The week ends with a camper-made lunch at Eva’s Garden.
Full Day (9am-3pm) | FULL
Instructor: Kate Mooney
Learn how to create video games using Scratch, the world’s largest coding community for kids. Using coding language and Scratch’s simple visual interface, campers will create digital stories, games, and animations, including storyboarding, planning, and producing their game. Campers will also learn about safe and effective media usage and explore the outdoors in an engaging (and video game-related) way!
Week 4: July 13-17
Full Day (9am-3pm) | FULL
Instructor: Kate Mooney
Learn how to create video games using Scratch, the world’s largest coding community for kids. Using Code.org and Scratch’s simple visual interface, campers will create digital stories, games, and animations, including storyboarding, planning, and producing their game. Campers will also learn about safe and effective media usage and explore the outdoors in an engaging (and video game-related) way!
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Hayleigh Chenard
Do you love baking? Have you ever followed a recipe, but it still didn’t turn out right? Are you curious about how baking works? If your child said yes to any of these questions, then join us at The Science of Baking! In this hands-on camp, we will examine various ingredients, from flours and sweeteners to baking soda and baking powder, understand cook times and temperature changes — and bake some yummy treats, of course!
Week 5: July 20-24
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Abi DeRego ’14
In Bookworms, campers will dive deep into poetry, short stories, and a short novel, engaging in friendly and thought-provoking discussions about the texts. This enrichment camp is a great opportunity for your middle schooler to meet like-minded friends, practice annotation and critical thinking skills, and stretch their literary analysis muscles. It’s a book lover’s dream!
Week 6: July 27-31
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructors: Abi DeRego ’14 & Jorie Daniel
Be a kid and play in the woods with friends in this freeform summer enrichment camp. Using Friends Academy’s 65-acre campus as our playground, campers will explore the forest to find bugs, build forts, look at plants, and so much more. We’ll discover what lives at the water’s edge, and construct tiny boats to race down the river. We will be our own guides and let the forest fun take us where it will!
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Analise Brower
Calling all young foodies, art lovers, and travel buffs! Discover the joys of France, the world’s most visited country, in this new enrichment specialty camp. From Parisian boulevards to French Riviera beaches and Alpine ski resorts, campers will explore French language, culture, traditions, food, art, and much more — without even needing to get on an airplane.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Tanner McMullen
Want to learn how to make a fire, build a shelter, pitch a tent, and just simply have fun outdoors? Explore it all in Outdoor Skills camp, taught by an avid scout instructor! In this week-long session for grades 5-8, campers will gain important outdoor skills that they’ll be able to use for the rest of their lives.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Ben Haylight
Let your green thumb grow at Gardening Camp! Explore how simple seeds transform into vigorous plants that provide us with fresh produce. Through observation and hands-on activities, campers will learn how to identify common crops and practice essential gardening skills like seeding, weeding, harvesting, and soil cultivation — while occasionally sampling some of the garden’s many delicious offerings!
Week 7: August 3-7
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Rebecca Vasa
Do you know why crystals sparkle in the light and make rainbows? Or what gives gems their colors? In Geology Camp, campers will discover amazing details about all kinds of rocks, gems, crystals, and fossils. Through science and art projects, we’ll let our inquiring minds take us on amazing geologic explorations — including some nature collections of our own.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Jamie Ross-Cory
Unleash your inner author at Writers’ Workshop! Campers will try their hands at all aspects of the writing process, dive into the traits that make for good writing, and explore many different kinds of writing — including memoirs, historical fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, poetry, and more — in an enriching workshop environment.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Tanner McMullen
Is your middle school-aged child a builder? Sign them up for a camp week in the Friends Academy woodshop! Campers will design and create simple woodworking projects, as well as essential woodshop safety basics. Using real tools, they will learn how to bring their ideas to life!
Week 8: August 10-14
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Rebecca Vasa
Explore the wonderful world of science, this time with a special theme! Have you ever wonder how the Olympics come to life? In honor of “Camp Olympics” theme week, campers will discover the exciting world of the Olympics. Through adventure and hands-on science and engineering projects, we’ll find out what it takes to make this extraordinary global spectacle happen every four years.
Half Day (9am-12pm)
Instructor: Analise Brower
Full Day (9am-3pm)
Instructor: Mark Young
How do you make a fire, navigate trails, plan ahead, stay warm and dry, and “leave no trace” outdoors? Work together to build outdoor skills and confidence while having fun! Campers will also learn hands-on skills like creating a shelter, tying knots, cooking outdoors, and basic first aid. Includes a field trip to Blue Hills Reservation in Milton.
Optional overnight camping experience! ($95 overnight fee includes dinner, breakfast, and use of a tent.)
Explore more Friends Academy Summer Camps
Friends Academy offers several different summer day camps on our North Dartmouth, MA campus for kids from preschool to high school. Choose one — or any combination of these!
Questions? Contact us at summerfriends@friendsacademy1810.org.
Summer Friends
Our original and longest-running summer camps! A mix of traditional day camp activities like crafts, sports, music, water play, science experiments, and nature exploration — plus fun weekly themes, field trips, and special guest presentations.
Creative Camps
Express your imaginative side in one of these specialty camps for creative minds! Activities include art, crafts, games, design, sewing, music, nature, and more.
Sports Camps
Get up and moving in our athletics-based specialty camps for kids who want to try out sports like soccer, basketball, running — or maybe a little bit of everything! All levels welcome.
Sally Borden Program (SBP) Camps
Six-week Orton-Gillingham and writing/math maintenance courses for students with language-based learning differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia, and/or dyscalculia) and identified vulnerabilities in written expression.