February is a great time to make snowmen and drink hot chocolate start thinking about summer camp. Dulles Town Center is hosting a summer camp and activities fair on Saturday February 26 and Sunday February 27, 2011. It’s a perfect opportunity for those who wish to meet representatives from many local camps at once.

If you like to do your researching online, here are a few local options to check out:

YMCA Summer Camp

My six year-old tried a week of nature day camp at Camp Highroad last August and he loved it. I signed him up thinking a full day camp experience might be helpful in the transition to first grade, and he came home completely exhausted and missing some item he had taken with him (lunch box, socks, towel, etc.) every day. I’m not sure I’ll send him again, but he can’t wait to go back. They offer before and after care, which allows for working parents to drop off and pick up without taking time away from the office.

Audubon Society Nature Camps

The Audubon Nature Society (ANS) is my go-to source for nature-based early education in the DC Metro area. They offer camps at the Broadlands Nature Center in Ashburn, the Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg, and the Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, MD. Both my kids enjoyed first camp experiences at the Rust Nature Sanctuary in Leesburg. The camps are small enough to be intimate, true to ANS’ mission of connecting people with nature in the DC Region, are lots of fun, and manage to stay low key enough not to overstimulate and exhaust the average child to the point of meltdown. To preview the ANS style of working with kids, I encourage you to stop by their annual Spring Nature Fair.

Vacation Bible School (VBS)

I know very little about the many vacation bible school options, but from what I hear the local churches often offer summer camps quite cheaply, so if budget and/or faith are a top priority, VBS might be a fit for your family. The following churches have offered vacation bible schools in past years. You can check their websites for 2011 information as summer approaches.

• Ashburn Presbyterian
• Bethel Presbyterian (Leesburg)
• Blueridge Bible Church (Purcellville)
• Cornerstone Chapel, (Leesburg)
• Hamilton Baptist Church
• Loudoun Bible Church (Ashburn)
• Our Saviour’s Way Lutheran Church (Ashburn)
• Purcellville Baptist Church
• St. Francis deSales Catholic Church (Purcellville)
• St. James Episcopal (Leesburg)

There are many other options!

• C3 Cyber Club (Ashburn)
• Destiny Preschool for the Arts (Leesburg)
• Ida Lee Summer Camp (Leesburg)
• Loudoun County (guide available online 3/4/2011 includes camps @ Douglass and Claude Moore)
• Red Gate Farm (Hamilton)
• Sportrock (Sterling, ages 9+)

You can also search the American Camp Association database of ACA accredited camps if you are looking for camps for a specific activity or age group.

Please don’t hesitate to use the comments feature to share your Loudoun County area camp offerings or camp experiences. The more local families who post, the better this resource becomes for all of us!

Dulles 28 Centre
22000 Dulles Retail Plz
Dulles, VA 20166 (map it)
(703) 904‑0001

One glimpse of this play area and I came to the conclusion that the chain stores of America have realized that some of the best ways to reach folks with small children is to provide a place where our kids can safely play while we sip a beverage and take a minute to regain our sanity, and have clean bathrooms with changing tables nearby.

I made an unplanned stop because the play area looked like a fun place to kill some time, and then made an unplanned purchase at Starbucks when we needed a potty stop. (Their master plan is working.)

This play area is the perfect place for pint-size mulch-eaters to lower their fiber intake — no mulch! This outdoor playground is surrounded first by a fence, then benches, then snack spots (Starbucks, PotBelly, Cold Stone… and Pei Wei if you’re willing to walk another 50 yards), and after that the parking lot. It offers fresh air without any actual contact with nature. My two year-old had fun, there were other kids to play with — even in the afternoon when most kids are home napping — and the place seemed well maintained. I especially appreciated the latching gate which reduces the likelihood of kids straying into the parking lot.