Each summer, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation hosts more than 100 neighborhood day camps and a dozen theme camps throughout the city. These include:
Summer day camps held at neighborhood parks, recreation centers, and playgrounds. Day camps offer arts & crafts, sports, educational activities, games, field trips, and more.
Read below to learn how to register including access for non-English speakers.
Theme camps focus on specific activities and interests. These include performing and visual arts, natural discovery, team sports, skateboarding, swimming, rowing, and more. Theme camps vary in length from one to six weeks or longer. Some theme camps offer before and/or after care for an additional fee.
Camp Philly — a week-long overnight camp with scholarships for a limited number of campers. This camp is offered in partnership with the YMCA. Find out about Camp Philly.
Who
More than 7,000 campers attend Parks & Rec summer camps each summer, including:
- Neighborhood day camps for young people ages 6-12.
- Theme camps for youth and older adults.
- Camps for people with intellectual and physical disabilities.
- An overnight camp experience in partnership with the YMCA.
How
Register for a summer day camp
- Find a playground or recreation center near you.
- Use Parks & Rec’s Finder app.
- Enter your address in the search bar labeled “Address or zip code.”
- Click on the blue “Locations” tab.
- Choose a site.
- Scroll down to look for a summer day or theme camp at that site.
- Call or visit the location to confirm that space is still available. Or, look for another site with a camp near you.
- Once you confirm that a space is available:
- Print the Youth Registration and Waivers form (PDF).
- Fill it out, and bring it to the location.
- If you are not able to print the form, please visit the location to fill out a form.
Fee waivers available for summer camp
A limited number of fee waivers are available for Parks & Rec summer camps. Waivers help reduce the cost of camp by 50% or 100%. Fee waivers are based on the funds available.
- Choose your program and location.
- Fill out the youth registration form. Search our camp applications page to find the form in languages other than English.
- Complete “fee waiver” part of the form. You can ask for:
- A waiver of the full fee, or,
- A waiver of 50% of the fee.
- Go to the site where you want to apply for a program. Bring these documents:
- Filled-out youth registration form.
- Filled-out fee waiver request.
- If you are applying for more than one child, you must submit a registration form and fee waiver for each child.
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Program registration is first come, first served.
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Parks & Rec staff will respond to the status of your fee waiver request within two weeks of submission.
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Submitting an application does not guarantee a fee waiver.
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Receiving a fee waiver does not guarantee a fee waiver for future programs.
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Available funds vary each year.
Questions about fee waivers? Contact your local rec center.
Register for a theme camp
- Use the Finder app to find a theme camp that interests you.
- Click on the name of a camp to see additional details such as dates and hours of operation.
- Check to see if a camp has space available by looking for the camp’s registration status. Closed camps will include the text “Closed: Check back again.”
- Some theme camps include a registration link after the text “To sign up visit”. If there is no link, please follow steps #3 and 4, listed under “Register for a summer day camp,” above.