Belmont Day Camp

We strive to make Belmont Day Camp as accessible as possible and offer a range of activities for everyone. We are also a large camp with over 350 campers on site every day!

Successful participants in our program are able and cleared by a doctor to actively participate in the scheduled camp activities, including, but not limited to, swimming, arts and crafts, nature, yoga, sports, tennis, woodworking, archery, ropes, movement, music, science experiments, innovations, and games. 

All children must be fully toilet-trained to participate in our program (able to independently identify their need to go and use the facilities themselves). We are happy to help with accidents (they happen!). We are not equipped to serve campers who rely on diapers or pull-ups, and both are explicitly not allowed in the pool.

We are happy to discuss a specific fit with individual families. If you are interested in our program for your child, but you anticipate that they will need assistance (either physically or socially) in participating fully, please contact the Director of Summer Programs to determine if Belmont Day is the right fit and, if so, how to make your child’s experience successful.

We proudly welcome campers from Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Concord, Medford, Lexington, Lincoln, Newton, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, Woburn, and all around the Belmont, MA area. Contact us today to find out more about our summer day camps.

Sample Daily Schedule

Our Voyagers program builds on a child’s Ramblers experience by adding more opportunities for social interaction and new activities for each grade. Our Voyager groups focus on creating a positive social environment for all our campers and encouraging the social-emotional learning that is a main focus of our summer camp. Typical Voyager groups are 15 to 20 campers and 4 to 5 staff (first grade, 4:1) or 20 to 26 campers and 4 to 5 staff (second and third grades, 6:1).

New Voyagers activities include:
Woodshop – grade 2
Archery – grade 2

Other activities include:

• swimming lessons
• free swim
• art
• crafts
• sports
• games
• music
• drama and movement
• nature
• yoga

Sample Daily Schedule

Our Pioneers program continues growth at camp by creating a larger, cross-graded community and introduces elements of choice into the schedule through electives. Pioneer campers move through most of the same activity areas as Voyagers during the morning but have the ability to choose two afternoon activity blocks based on the daily offerings of our electives staff. These electives can include normal camp activities, like a sport or craft, or unique activity opportunities, such as butter making or ice block sledding. Some days will include special guest elective programming.

Pioneers activities include:

• swimming lessons
• free swim
• arts and crafts
• sports 
• nature
• music 
• drama and movement
• create and design
• woodshop
• archery 
• electives
• games
• yoga

Sample Daily Schedule

Activities

Below is a list of activities we offer at camp:

• Swimming lessons: detailed information about our Red Cross swimming lessons is available in the section about swimming
• Free swim: free time in the pool
• Art: drawing and painting with different media, learning about different art styles, forms, and genres
• Crafts: build, glue, construct, mold—hands-on projects to create something awesome to take home
• Sports: soccer, wiffle ball, volleyball, kickball—sports you’ve heard of with rules you know (and some you don’t)
• Games: teambuilding and camp games—games you may never have heard of that you probably haven’t played anywhere but at camp—Lord of the Rings, Go for 20, Star Wars, Messy Backyard, Treasure Island, Gaga
• Nature: learn more about the habitats on and around the campus through walks, explorations, and activities focused on hands-on learning
• Garden: spend time caring for our garden and learning about process of growing food
• Drama and movement: improv games, commercial-making, comedic skits, drama games, tap, stomp, choreographed numbers, rhythm exercises
• Music: learning camp songs, drumming, name-that-tune, musical hangman, and other simple music-focused activities
• Archery: technique and safety lessons, target shooting games to improve aim and form
• Woodworking: simple woodworking projects like toolboxes, clocks, knock hockey, sailboats that children can take home
• Electives: cooking, jewelry making, World Cup soccer, digital photography, self-defense, scavenger hunt, ice block sledding—anything can be an elective
• And more!

We engage with our staff each year to determine the best options for our campers’ specialty blocks. A specialty activity always works best with an expert to teach it. We will add and remove specials every year based on the expertise of our staff and what we think will provide the campers with the best dynamic and engaging experience.

Group Placements and Friend Requests

Children are placed into groups by entering grade in the coming fall. Groups are all gender. There are multiple groups at most grade levels during most sessions. You can request a group mate for your child during the online registration process. You can do this for each session your child is enrolled in. You may request the same child for each session or request different children for different sessions based on the enrollments the two children have in common. We assign groups in early June and make every effort to honor one friend request per camper.

Camp Overnight

Open to Pioneers, grades 4 through 7, participation is optional and requires an additional fee. Overnights take place on the final Thursday of Sessions B and C. There are no overnights in Session A or D. Campers will stay on campus participating in a variety of fun activities, including an extra free swim, crafts, an all-group activity such as a scavenger hunt or hide and seek, dinner and dessert, and chill time before bed (lights out by 10 p.m.). Campers who stay the night will be provided breakfast and lunch the following day as part of the program fee. If your camper is interested in participating in Overnight activities but not the sleepover, there is an 8 p.m. pick-up option.

Swimming

Our head of pool is assisted in teaching and guarding by experienced American Red Cross Water Safety Instructors™ and certified lifeguards.

Lessons
Red Cross swim lessons happen in the morning. Swimmers are divided by ability. To determine appropriate placement for swim lessons, each child is evaluated on their first day at camp. These evaluations consist of a progression of skill assessments. Children are then further observed in their level to be sure the appropriate placement has been made. Children are monitored daily for progress and promoted when they have completed the requirements necessary to complete the exit assessment for the level. 

Assessments are done on Tuesdays/Thursdays at the recommendation of the swim staff and Head of Pool, based on Red Cross’s specific tasks to complete for exit assessments. Belmont Day swim certificates are issued after a child has been promoted to the next level.

Swim lessons are an important part of “growing safely as an individual” and “taking risks and participating,” two of our core camp goals. No alternative activities are offered during swim times. Children are encouraged to participate every day.

Free Swim
Free swim happens each afternoon. Groups come to the pool, and children are given the opportunity to have free time in the pool. We limit the area children may swim in based on their morning swim level. This helps us ensure that all children are safe in the pool and are not getting into situations they cannot handle while swimming. Campers must participate in daily swim lessons in order to participate in free swim.

Facilities
We have two pools at Belmont Day. Our practice pool is 20 feet x 40 feet and is 2 feet deep for the entire pool area. Our big pool is 40 feet x 80 feet and ranges from 3 feet to 9 feet.

Both pools are licensed by the Board of Health.

Weather
Swimming is an important part of our program at camp. We aim for each group to swim twice each day unless it is unsafe to do so.

Circumstances in which we close the pool include:

• When there is thunder and lightning in the area. The pool remains closed until 30 minutes after the last instance of thunder or lightning.
• When it is raining so hard, we can’t see the bottom of the pool.
• When there is a weather advisory or warning issued by the state for our area.

Our summer staff is composed of an administrative team, activity specialists, swim staff, head counselors, junior counselors, and interns. Each person plays an important role. Together, we work to ensure your child’s safety, well-being, and success at camp.

Head counselors, counselors, and interns make up the direct childcare team. Each group has at least one head counselor – an experienced, older staff member to help lead the group – along with several counselors and an intern. Interns are 15-year-old volunteer staff not yet old enough to be a full counselor, and they act as an additional support person that does not count towards our camper-to-staff ratio.

Activity specialists and swim staff are the staff that offer programming during activity blocks. Activity specialists run specific activities like arts, crafts, sports, or games, and the swim staff deliver swim lessons and are lifeguards during free swim periods. On days when the pool is closed, they will join groups to do activities with them during their planned swim block.

Zach d’Arbeloff, director of summer programs, Denali Kikuchi, auxiliary programs coordinator, and Laura Rodriguez, general day camp director, together lead the summer administrative team. The administrative team is composed of a variety of experienced staff, including the head of pool. Each unit—Ramblers, Voyagers, Pioneers, Journeys—has at least one unit leader. That unit leader supervises their program area, assists counselors with camper behavior, corresponds with parents as appropriate, and acts as an extra hand when needed. The team provides extra resources for camper and staff support.

Camp staff members are a group of diverse individuals with an assortment of skills, abilities, and experiences. We hire staff members who are team players, patient, self-motivated, enthusiastic, and good communicators with the ability to keep up with school-aged children. Our staff must be interested in being part of a community, able to understand the diverse needs of children, and know how to have fun! Most of our staff members were longtime campers who share a deep love of Belmont Day Camp and are excited to pass that on to the next generation of future counselors.

Zach d’Arbeloff, director of summer programs, and Denali Kikuchi, auxiliary programs coordinator, are available year-round to answer questions and help you organize the summer for your children. You can reach both of them at any time by emailing summer@belmontday.org

Payment is due based on the following schedule:

• 25% due upon enrollment until April 15
• 50% of balance due April 15, or upon enrollment between April 15 and May 15
• 75% of balance due May 15, or upon enrollment between May 16 and June 15
• 100% of balance due before June 15, or upon enrollment after June 15

CampMinder allows you to keep a card on file that we will charge for you at these payment deadlines.

We are willing to work with any family on payment plans if this schedule does not work for you. Please contact Director of Summer Programs Zach d’Arbeloff to establish a payment plan or discuss financial assistance that will ensure your tuition is paid by your child’s first day of camp.

Refunds

Full refunds are only give in the case of a medical or family emergency that was unforeseen regardless of date of event.

Partial refunds may be available as follows:

• $100 per 2-week session administrative fee is non-refundable until April 15
• 25% per session is non-refundable after April 15
• Tuition is not refundable within 2 weeks of the session start date

School extension for snow days:
In the event that school runs later than expected because of snow days or other missed days, Belmont Day will prorate a session for the days that school is still in session provided the family decides to attend school and not camp.