Camp FAQs



For Holiday camps during the 2023-24 school year:

Full day programs (ages 4-6 and 7-11) are $125 per day. Camp meets 9a-3p.

For Summer 2024:

Half day programs (3K-PreK) are $400 per week. Sessions meet 9a-12p daily, from Monday-Friday.
Full day programs (K-8th Grade) are $725-$745 per week depending on location. Camp meets 9a-3p, from Monday-Friday.

 

Yes! A sibling discount will automatically apply at checkout when registering two or more students.

Scholarship opportunities may be available for families facing hardship, for BIPOC students, and for those from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the arts. Please contact us to discuss possibilities.

At this time, we are unable to offer early dropoff or extended day hours.

Please contact us with any questions.

You can see example camp schedules here for Adventure Series (3K-PreK), Players Series (PreK-1st grade) and Showmakers Series (2nd-6th Grades).

All cancellations must be submitted via email to emily@childsplayny.com. Please state the child’s name and camp session you are cancelling. There will be no refunds.

  • If you need to cancel 4 weeks or more before camp starts, a full credit will be added to your account.
  • If you cancel between 2 and 4 weeks before camp starts, a 50% credit will be added to your account.
  • If you cancel less than 2 weeks before camp starts, no credit will be issued.

In the event that your child is unwell and unable to attend camp last minute, please let us know and we will do our best to work out a solution together.

Credit can be used toward future camps or classes. Credit cannot be used for birthday parties or private coaching.

Yes! All food and drink will be brought from home.

There is one snack time allotted for every camp, and one lunch time for Players Series (PreK-1st), Showmakers Series (2nd-6th) and Acting Ensemble (5th-8th). There is no lunch for half-day Adventure Series (3K-PreK).

Snack time and lunch time are generally conducted outdoors, weather permitting.

 

The City of New York does not authorize us to administer any kinds of medications. If your child has a regular prescription medicine, they must be able to administer it themselves. Please write to us directly if you have any questions or concerns about this policy.

Adventure Series (3K-PreK) sessions are meeting at Cobble Hill Ballet, 193 Columbia Street* in Carroll Gardens. We also visit the playground at Mother Cabrini Park.

Players Series (PreK-1st) sessions are meeting at Cobble Hill Ballet, 232 Carroll Street in Carroll Gardens. We also visit Carroll Park.

Showmakers Series (2nd-6th) sessions are meeting at the First Unitarian Church, 121 Pierrepont Street* in Brooklyn Heights and South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street* in Fort Greene. In Brooklyn Heights, we visit Cadman Plaza Park and Pierrepont Playground. In Fort Greene, we walk to Fort Greene Park or South Oxford Playground.

Acting Ensemble (4th-8th) sessions meet at South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford Street* in Fort Greene. We also visit Fort Greene Park and South Oxford Playground.

*Denotes wheelchair accessible space.

Campers are broken into small groups by age. Students will be broken into groups of 5-6 students.

Much thought goes into casting and all the faculty of a given session is involved in decisions. We find auditioning at this age too stressful for the children and so roles are assigned in the first few days after the teachers have gotten to know the campers through games, improvisations and a reading. Many factors go into creating the cast: Age and experience are certainly factors but we also look to stretch campers and allow them to experience new characters and roles they might not normally play. Plays are selected with the ensemble in mind and great effort is gone into making sure the company knows that they are to work together as a team. There are no “stars” or “leads” but nor are all parts created equally. When a camper has fewer lines, they will invariably have more stage time, as well as the opportunity to devise their own scenes!

Students who are in PreK are able to participate in our holiday camps during the 2023-24 school year.

Students who are beginning 3K in September can join our Adventure Series summer camps at 193 Carroll Street, though they must be fully potty trained and used to drop off programs.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Our goal is that each child find their unique abilities and be honored as an individual. We celebrate inclusivity and individuality and we work together on challenging things. In order for campers and staff to feel respected and safe, we establish Community Agreements at the start of each session.

First, we talk about being Kind and being Brave. From there, the campers add on agreements that they want to uphold. Finally, they create a unique chant to honor to the pact and/or add their signature to the document when appropriate.  

While the pacts differ slightly from session to session, we always have a central goals that the children know and agree to. Here are the basic points that groups will speak about as they make their community agreements: 

  1. 1) Participate in camp activities to the best of your abilities: Try things! Be brave!
  2. 2) Be respectful of teachers and follow directions
  3. 3) Be kind and inclusive toward fellow campers. Support and celebrate everyone’s efforts. 
  4. 4) Be respectful of the spaces we are in, both outside & in our studios.
  5. 5) Be safe with your body, including staying with the group outside and adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. 

Our goal is to help each camper have a successful session and positive camp experience. If a camper’s behavior is negatively affecting the rest of the group and/or if there is any kind of safety concern, the following consequences will be implemented. 

Each incident will be looked at individually and in terms of the degree of seriousness. 

  1. – First Time – Camp staff will talk to the child, write up an incident report to share with camp administration, and an email will be sent home to families.
  2. – Second Time – Camp administration will have a phone call with families. 
  3. – Third time – The camper will miss at least one day of camp in order to understand that there were better behavioral choices to be made relative to the incident. A second phone call will be had with camp administration to determine if the child can continue.

Thank you for helping us make a safe and nurturing environment for the Child’s Play NY community. 

We have a long history of supporting neurodivergent kids in various programming. Should your child have a diagnosis that impacts their ability to participate, please share that with us as soon as possible.

Our staff is comprised of actor-teaching artists. While we have some training around the smoothest ways to transition, and techniques that can help kids with focus and attention, we are not as well equipped as traditional classroom teachers to handle certain neurodivergences.

In a phone call before camp, we can make a decision together about the best ways to support your child in the session, which group is right for them and will be honest if we feel like we need additional staff in the room to assist. If, during camp, we determine that Child’s Play NY is not a good fit or we can not serve the camper (based on their ability to work within the Community Agreements, as discussed in question #12) we will be upfront and communicative and seek a fair recourse together. 

Our Tax-ID number is 45-3252442.