Summer Camps in Flushing, Queens

Flushing is the most underrated camp neighborhood in this directory, and I mean that. Seven programs anchored by Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 897 acres that hosted two World’s Fairs and contains the New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum, the Queens Zoo, and the Queens Botanical Garden. Four of the seven camps in this neighborhood use those institutions as their actual campus. That’s a level of institutional backing that most neighborhoods can’t touch.

NYSCI Innovation Camps at the New York Hall of Science is the marquee STEM option (museum-based science and maker programming for ages 5–13 at $450/week. The Queens Museum runs arts, design, and STEM camps for ages 5–14. Queens Zoo Summer Camp puts kids in direct contact with wildlife for ages 4–13. And Queens Botanical Garden runs nature, gardening, and environmental science for ages 2–14 at $450/week) one of the better values in this price range, given that kids are essentially doing hands-on environmental education in a working botanical garden.

Flushing is also the most culturally diverse neighborhood in this directory. Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue are anchored by one of the largest Chinese-American communities in the country, with Korean, South Asian, and Latin American communities throughout. If cultural exposure and a non-bubble camp environment matter to you, Flushing delivers that almost by default.