The Way Summer is Supposed to Be!
Covering yourself with paint while you and your friends “celebrate your inner Jackson Pollack”. Learning to play “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay” on the harmonica on the docks of the waterfront. Traveling back in time for an “80’s Aerobic Workout Challenge” and still making it back to the Dining Hall for lunch. These are just some of the things that you can do during a summer at Camp Wingate*Kirkland.
Summer is supposed to be about FUN
It’s a break from the routine of the school year and an opportunity to explore. There is no better place to do that than at Camp Wingate*Kirkland. We offer children activities in a variety of areas such as sports, drama and arts in a supportive environment where you can try new things each and every day!
Summer is supposed to be about FREEDOM
The daily choice program at Camp W*K incorporates athletics, arts & craft, swimming, boating, performing arts and community service while encouraging individuality and ensuring skill development. We offer children an experience to discover who they are and to follow their own passions and interests.
Summer is supposed to be about GROWTH
Our campers walk away with increased self-esteem, new-found independence, a willingness to try new things and strong connections with both campers and staff. A summer at Camp W*K is more than just acquiring new skills – it’s about learning skills for life.
Summer is supposed to be about INSPIRATION
At Camp Wingate*Kirkland we pride ourselves on being unique and encouraging diversity. A Wingate*Kirkland camper is inspired to explore the endless possibilities that Camp, and life, have to offer.
Summer is supposed to be on Cape Cod
Located on Elisha’s Pond in Yarmouth Port, campers are exposed to all that Cape Cod has to offer, where trips to the National Seashore, whale watches and deep sea fishing excursions enhance traditional camp activities. And being a camp on Cape Cod means living the Cape Cod Life! We are 90 minutes away from Boston and 4 hours from New York.
Food & Health
A camper’s experience here at W*K is about having the best summer ever! Chef Tom, our resident culinary magician of 10 seasons, easily adjusts menus so everyone enjoys meal times. The Dining Hall is a place for bonding and connecting, not concerns about food!
In addition to being completely peanut, tree nut and sesame free, we are able to accommodate all food allergies and dietary restrictions. Vegans and Vegetarians also appreciate our menu options. Chef Tom uses only fresh ingredients, cooks and bakes from scratch, and ensures there is no cross-contact of food products.
- The entire camp is peanut, tree nut and sesame free, not just the Dining Hall
- All staff are trained in epinephrine use
- Epinephrine is stocked in the health center, dining hall and the camper’s bunk
- 4 Nursing staff members on site
- 5-7 minute response time to Cape Cod Hospital
- We do not have a canteen-this helps manage cross-contact and keep our campers safe!
Bunk Life
W*K campers live in bunks with kids their own age. While campers choose their own activities during the day, much of their time is spent with bunkmates – preparing evening activity skits, going on Sunday hikes, and serving meals to the rest of camp.
Bunks are modern buildings, complete with bathrooms, showers and electricity. Each bunk has two or three counselors specially trained to teach children how to live cooperatively, share, and listen to each other. Counselors facilitate bunk meetings each week, during which campers discuss any issues pertaining to the group.
With over 20 different options to choose from for each period, campers have the opportunity to try a full range of traditional camp activities and also some zany stuff like Potions with Professor Scott, Mailman Training, Tennis Baseball, Zombie Hunters, and Intense Sandcastle Building.
Signature Activities
At Camp W*K we are famous for our original blend of activities that you are sure to have never heard of. With a willingness to step outside of your comfort zone and be silly you are sure to find fun in some of these.
Earn Your Stripes
Test your mettle against the bog! Explore The W*K Bog with your very own platoon. Soaking in the filth of the bog you will play some awesome games to test your wit and strength. A great activity for your most ruined of clothes.
Balloon Animal Hospital
Whether you’re a nurse practitioner, surgeon or professional paper-pusher, your first residency at W*K Balloon Animal Hospital will leave you so fulfilled you’re sure to pop! The cast of sick dinosaurs, giraffes and dogs can’t cure themselves. Only you can save them through means of dedications, resilience and (surgical) red-tape.
Ethical Dilemmas
What Would You Do? A Camp W*K favorite creates a healthy conversation around a decision-making problem. Campers are posed with a situation with two different outcomes.
40/40 Home
Calling all swift sleuths! 40/40 home requires the quickest moves for not being found and catching your opponents. It’s a unique hide and seek game mixed with tag that travels all across Camp.
Athletics
Camp W*K offers a variety of athletics all day, everyday. Campers can choose to spend time on the basketball court, tennis court, soccer fields, archery range, baseball fields, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Arts & Crafts
The Camp W*K Art Barn is a community hub where creativity and inspiration flow all day long. Counselors from all over the globe bring ideas and skills that create unique and fun programming each and every day.
Our Art barn is fully equipped with a kiln to get messy making pottery as well as all the supplies you could dream of to stimulate the inner artist in any Camper.
Waterfront
The Camp W*K waterfront is a place full of the most fun and the utmost detail to safety. It is a place to cool off and make lasting memories with friends. Whether you are catching your first fish or sliding down the water trampoline slide, it’s hard to not smile at the waterfront.
Some of the activities you may see down by the water:
Paddle Boarding, Water Trampoline
Canoeing, Fishing
Corcling, Sailing, Kayaking
Olympic Diving, Tips for living like a mermaid
Skim Boarding, Log Rolling
….and that’s just the beginning
The Challenge Program is designed to challenge the campers as individuals and as a group outside of the familiar Camp environment.
Every Tuesday is Challenge day for older Campers. Each Challenge group heads in a different direction to participate in different outdoor activities including hiking, biking, kayaking, overnight camping and community service. The intent of these activities is for the campers to help, rather than compete with each other.
Challenge I focuses on team building to foster trust and respect for each other. Challenge II and III focus more on group and physical challenges. The Challenge II and III summers culminate in a hiking and camping trip in New Hampshire.
The Challenge Program emphasizes the crucial process of building and working together in a group. As trust is built, individuals feel safe enough to stretch themselves in new ways.
Typically, these activities involve leaving camp and going on day or overnight hiking, biking and canoe trips or staying in camp for ropes course activities. During overnight trips, groups stay at campsites where they cook their own meals and sleep in tents. Challenge groups also work together performing community service projects.
Tuesdays
With the oldest campers out of Camp for Challenge, younger campers have the entire Camp to themselves!
Tuesdays begin with choosing two morning activities. In the afternoon they will enjoy a special group activity. Past Tuesdays have included Backwards Day, Harry Potter Day and a Water Carnival. The day winds down with a younger camp Evening Forum with Sandy & Will followed by a special evening activity.
Sundays
Sundays are a little different from other days at Camp W*K.
We start by sleeping in, a much welcomed privilege after a long week and Saturday night’s campfire. After a leisurely breakfast, Sunday mornings are spent on Super Cleanup and Balancing.
Balancing?
Balancing is a time on Sunday mornings for each camper to sit down one-on-one with his or her bunk counselor. Together, they review the activities the camper chose during the previous week and discuss how things are going in the bunk and around Camp.
Parents receive the results of these balancing sessions on the last day of each session.
Sunday Afternoon
Sunday afternoons are reserved for special bunk activities such as hikes in the area or a trip to the beach. Camp Leaders prepare a special Barbeque/Cookout on Sunday Evening for the whole camp.
If you do not find the date/time you are looking for or have a question, click above button to contact the provider.
*Mini Camp Sessions are for first-time campers completing grades 1-5 for the school year.
It is strongly recommended that first-time W*K campers attend either First Session or Mini Camp 1.
These rates are all-inclusive – meaning, no extra cost for trips or transportation!
Deposits and payments for all programs are 100% refundable until June 1.
Camp Wingate*Kirkland is a safe place where campers can try new things without the social pressures of what’s considered cool or not cool! We are a traditional camp in many ways, staying true to old fashioned values. And like it was over 60 years ago – W*K is not a “plugged in” camp.
Philosophy: What Makes Us Different?
Some of our new traditions have grown from our belief that children learn better and are more enthusiastic when they get to choose what they learn.
Our Daily Choice program is one of the most unique ideas anywhere in camping today, and we offer a full range of traditional camp activities and some zany stuff like Archery Tag, How To Be a Gentleman, Tennis Baseball, Zombie Hunters, Balloon Animal Hospital, How to Train a Dragon, and Ethic;al Dilemmas.
Owner/Director:
Sandy Rubenstein
Sandy is warm, friendly and an amazing camp professional – most importantly, she is a Mom who understands kids. And she likes wearing a clown nose!
Sandy spent her youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Bala Cynwyd and went to camp for 10 years. She was a camper, counselor and worked part-time in the winter office. She graduated with a BA in Film Studies from Ithaca College.
Our Staff:
Wingate*Kirkland has over 75 staff members; approximately half of our staff grew up at W*K as campers, and our counselor return rate from year to year is 75 percent.
Oh, and our “staff” also includes some very special 4-legged friends, too!
Our Cape Cod Location
Located on Elisha’s Pond in Yarmouth Port, MA, campers are exposed to all that Cape Cod has to offer, where trips to the National Seashore, whale watches, and deep-sea fishing excursions enhance traditional camp activities. And being a camp on Cape Cod means living the Cape Cod Life!
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