At Fessenden Day Camp, children have fun at activities they love and discover new and exciting passions to pursue. Every day, campers participate in a wide range of activities, from our renown swimming program, archery and tennis, to arts and crafts and multimedia arts. Through exposure to a range of activities, campers learn which ones they enjoy most, while building self-confidence and creating friendships that will last beyond the summer.
Share the joy of summer with friends new and old
Just Right – Not too Big, Not too Small!
Fessenden Day Camp makes the summer such a fun and warm learning experience for children because we’re big enough to provide the full range of activities and facilities found at large camps, yet small enough so that we get to know every child well.
Why Campers Keep Coming Back
Many campers come back to Fessenden summer after summer – here’s why:
- An incredible staff of passionate, experienced educators and mature counselors who dedicate themselves every day to ensuring campers are happy, healthy, and engaged. On average we have a 1:5 staff-to-camper ratio.
- A range of program options, including flexible weekly enrollment and morning and afternoon extended day options that work around your family’s schedule and fit seamlessly into children’s plans for summer fun.
- Exceptional facilities – like beautiful pools, our state-of-the-art Center for Innovation, exciting playgrounds, top-notch fields, and a brand-new Center for the Arts – that make the camp experience energetic, fun, and diverse. Learn more about our facilities.
DAY CAMP ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS
Fessenden offers many different activities for all age groups and tailors them to the age of the campers.
Swimming
Swim twice each day, once for an instructional swim lesson in our Red Cross swim program, and once to practice techniques while playing with friends.
Music
For Lower and Middle Campers:
Sing, play instruments, learn the fundamentals of music, and discover a wide range of familiar and new camp songs.
Media Arts
Become director, writer, producer in video making and capture the excitement on campus in digital photography.
Archery
For children entering Grade 1 and older:
Become a young Robin Hood, learning the basic techniques of aim, stance and safety and gaining expertise in hitting the target, all under the guidance of a certified instructor. Bullseye!
Woodworking
Build pinewood derby cars, plaques, animals, and other wooden toys while learning the techniques of sanding, shaping, and design and how to work safely with tools in the shop.
Arts and Crafts
Enjoy a broad range of craft projects geared to age and ability in our brand-new art classrooms. Skilled specialists teach art through painting, sculpture, and a variety of other imaginative media. Tie-dye, make candles, be an “Iron Artist,” or for younger campers, create a range of projects, such as making caterpillars based on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
Theater
Explore the many aspects of theater, including set design, improvisation, scene development, producing, and acting in the brand-new Fessenden Auditorium.
Sports
Focusing on teamwork, coordination, and skill-building, play a variety of outdoor and indoor sports, including soccer, floor hockey, basketball, ultimate Frisbee, and gaga ball.
Nature/Science
Learn about organic gardening and cooking, help take care of our chickens, raise tadpoles, and get to work with ant, worm, ladybug, and butterfly farms. Explore engineering with Hexbug mazes, gyroscopes, and geodesic domes, and discover what goes on in volcanoes.
Special Events
Special events during the summer include Carnival, Fessy Games (for Upper Camp), Camp at Twilight (for Middle Camp), Family Evening (for Lower & Middle Camps), and outside entertainers, such as magicians, jugglers, puppet shows or musical variety acts.
Ceramics
Work with clay, make wind chimes, create Claymation videos, and for younger campers, learn how to make cups and pots, animals, faces and more in our brand-new Ceramics studio.
Dance
Explore self-expression through dance and movement while learning basic to more advanced steps in different genres, and even get the opportunity to choreograph routines in our brand-new Center for the Arts.
Tennis
Practice tennis fundamentals like forehand, backhand, and footwork, and play games that reinforce this skill building. The emphasis for younger children is on imaginative games and drills to help acquire skills. Older campers showing strong interest receive more advanced instruction to sharpen their technique.
Imagination Station
For Lower Campers:
Be creative and collaborative. Build a skyscraper to the ceiling out of blocks, put on a show with or for friends at the puppet theater, or create a restaurant. This is an unstructured free play space where campers guide their own play while counselors join in their games.
Ciongoli Center for Innovation
For Campers in Innovation + Day Camp and Makerspace + Day Camp:
Code, tinker, design, and problem-solve in the Ciongoli Center for Innovation.
