Locust Valley Day Camp Adds Science Programs

Friends Academy Summer Camp, a day camp in Locust Valley, is adding three new science-related programs to its day camp offerings: CSI, Marine Science, and Mindcraft game programming.

friends academy summer camp soccer

Campers can choose to participate in sports such as soccer in addition to other specialty activities.

Friends Academy Summer Camp is adding more camp programs geared toward computers and science. With more than 30 programs already offered at the nonprofit campus, kids ages 8-13 can now enroll in CSI, Marine Science, and Computer: Mindcraft camps.

The CSI camp explores forensic science. Kids will use fingerprinting, handwriting, and hair fiber analyses to solve a mock murder. In Marine Science, kids will go on a field trip to the Oyster Bay Waterfront Center to study marine life, such as fish, crabs, clams, and oysters along the beachfront. During Computer: Mindcraft, kids will create their own video game, from the design to the processing and planning. This camp ties in the concept of Minecraft, in that the game will be set in a virtual world.

Camp director Richard Mack noticed that the arts, science, and computer camps are becoming more popular and kids want to have more choices. “I think kids enjoy the options of being outdoors and indoors, and the variety of playing sports, and also doing stuff like science and art that they’re interested in doing,” Mack says.

Friends Academy is also updating its travel program to be a two-week camp with overnight and daytime excursions to locations such as the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains in PA, Lake Placid in Essex County, NY, Hershey Park in Hershey, PA, and Boston, MA. Campers will travel Monday-Friday and return home for the weekend.

The summer camp will run June 29-Aug. 31 from 9:30am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday. Camp prices vary and registration will be open through the summer. Program sizes are small to ensure that each camper receives the individual attention they need, so it is encouraged to register early.