Best summer camps on the Upper East Side (2026 guide)
If you live between 59th and 96th, east of the park, you already know the drill. Camp brochures start landing in November. By February, the WhatsApp threads are buzzing. By April, the good weeks at the good camps are gone, and someone in your building is texting around for waitlist tips.
We’re Sheridan Fencing Academy — we’ve been training kids on East 95th Street since 2007, and we run our own summer programs every year. Which means we spend an unreasonable amount of time looking at what other Upper East Side camps are doing, what’s worth the price tag, and what’s just trading on a fancy school’s name.
Below are the 13 summer 2026 camps we’d actually recommend to a friend. We dug into 2026 dates, pricing, who runs the program, and what kids actually do all day. None of these are sponsored — it’s just a real list, with the caveats noted where we couldn’t verify a 2026 detail.
1. Caedmon Discovery Camp
Location: The Caedmon School, 416 East 80th Street
Ages: 2.8–12
2026 Dates: June 29 – August 7, 2026 (closed July 3)
Cost: Tiered weekly pricing with multi-week and 10% sibling discounts; $1,000 deposit per child ($500 non-refundable). Early-Bird rate by February 15, 2026.
Website: caedmonschool.org/beyond-the-classroom/discovery-camp
Caedmon’s Discovery Camp is one of those programs that does the unglamorous things really well: small groups, in-house chef-prepared lunches, ACA accreditation, and counselors who are mostly Caedmon’s own Montessori-trained school-year teachers. Kids are grouped into themed cohorts (the Brooklyn Beavers, the Manhattan Monkeys, the Queens Penguins) and rotate through swim, art, music, science, and movement, with regular field trips to the Empire State Building, the Bronx Zoo, and the Coney Island Aquarium for the older groups.
Why we like it: The teacher-counselor ratio is the rare thing that genuinely changes a kid’s day, and Caedmon is one of the few UES camps where you’ll consistently see year-round educators on the lawn instead of college kids hired in May.
2. The Hewitt School Summer Camp
Location: The Hewitt School, 45 East 75th Street
Ages: Rising K through 8th grade (co-ed)
2026 Dates: June 15 – July 17, 2026, plus an August 24–27 session (closed June 19 for Juneteenth)
Cost: $695–$1,200 per week, varying by camp (Summer Stars robotics $865 / $1,085; Creative Writing $795; Finance Club $695; NYC Exploration $1,200)
If your kid has graduated past general day camp and needs something with more bite, Hewitt’s specialty weeks are unusually thoughtful. The Bulls and Bears Investing Club for middle schoolers is the only middle-school finance camp we know of in the neighborhood. The Lemonade Stand Biz entrepreneurship week is new this August. And NYC Exploration with Hewitt teachers is exactly what it sounds like — a week of guided trips through the city with the school’s own faculty.
Why we like it: Specialty camps usually cap out at “robotics” and “drama.” Hewitt actually pushes into investing, entrepreneurship, and journalism for middle schoolers — topics most camps avoid because they’re hard to staff well.
3. Marymount Summer
Location: Marymount School of New York, 1026 Fifth Avenue (across from Central Park)
Ages: Pre-K through rising 9th grade
2026 Dates: Multiple weekly sessions across summer; Advanced Drama is a 4-week commitment (weeks 2–5)
Cost: Pricing not posted publicly — contact summercamp@marymountnyc.org or (212) 744-4486 for the 2026 rate sheet
Website: marymountnyc.org/summer-camp
Marymount’s summer program runs three parallel tracks: a traditional day camp, an Inventors & Explorers STEAM camp built around the school’s actual makerspaces and labs, and a serious Drama Camp that culminates in a fully realized musical-theater performance for rising 7th–9th graders. The Fifth Avenue address is enviable for pickup — it’s a half block from the park.
Why we like it: The Advanced Drama track is a four-week commitment with a real production at the end. That’s harder to find in NYC than it should be — most theater “camps” run a week and stage a 20-minute scene.
4. Trevor Day School June Camps
Location: Trevor Day School Lower School, 1 West 88th Street, and Upper School, 312 East 95th Street
Ages: Rising Pre-K through rising 6th grade
2026 Dates: Two-week June program — exact 2026 dates not yet posted (2025 ran June 9–20; expect a similar window). Confirm directly before registering.
Cost: Tied to Trevor’s BackPack billing system; not publicly posted
Website: trevor.org/student-life/after-school-programs/summer-program
Trevor’s June program is the perfect bridge between the school year and main summer plans. The week menu has included Theatre & Dance themed around Stephen Schwartz songs, Taylor Swift–themed performance weeks, iPad Games & Pokémon, Food & Fun, and a pure Playground Fun option for younger kids who just need a transition week. Open to non-Trevor families.
Why we like it: It fills the awkward two-week gap when school’s out but main camp hasn’t started — and it’s staffed by Trevor’s own faculty, not seasonal hires.
5. Steve & Kate’s Camp – Upper East Side
Location: Trevor Day School Upper School, 312 East 95th Street
Ages: 4–12 (Mentorship Program for ages 14–15)
2026 Dates: Up to 49 camp days across summer 2026
Cost: Day passes around $134/day at the 15-day rate; Mentorship Day Pass $119 ($104 for 15+); Summer Pass for Mentorship $3,120
Steve & Kate’s is the camp that made “self-directed” a real category. Kids choose all day among arts and crafts, sewing, baking, a media lab, coding, dance, karaoke, sports, and water play. Lunch and snacks are included. Drop-off and pickup are flexible from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. — a meaningful detail for working parents.
Why we like it: The flexibility model genuinely works. If your kid hates Tuesday, you can hold them out and not lose money — the day-pass system credits unused days. That’s not a small thing in a city where most camp deposits are non-refundable.
6. The Art Farm in the City
Location: Trevor Day School East Campus, 312 East 95th Street
Ages: 3–10
2026 Dates: Weekly summer sessions — specific dates not yet posted publicly. Confirm directly.
Cost: Not posted publicly
Website: theartfarms.com/summer-camp-ues
The Art Farm is one of the few NYC camps with a genuine animal-science curriculum built into the day. Live animals, patio gardening, farm-to-table cooking, music, art, gym sports, and terrace water play — and for kids 4 and up, weekly swim lessons at the 92nd Street Y. It’s a strange and wonderful concept that somehow works in a Manhattan school building.
Why we like it: It’s the only camp on this list where your kid will probably hold a chinchilla on a Tuesday and bake bread on a Wednesday. The animal-care curriculum is the actual program, not a once-a-week novelty.
7. The Art Studio NY Summer Art Safari
Location: Drop-off varies; UES weeks center on The Met, Guggenheim, Cooper Hewitt, and Central Park
Ages: 6–11; teen track 12–18
2026 Dates: Multiple weeks across summer (UES weeks alternate with UWS weeks)
Cost: Half-day (4 or 5 days/week) $499–$549; full-day $875+
Website: theartstudiony.com/summer-art-camp-in-person-kids-teens-outdoor-and-indoor
This is the camp that walks. Each day, a small group of kids hikes to a different UES museum or park — Monday at the Met’s Asian Art galleries, Tuesday at the Guggenheim, Wednesday in a “secret” UES garden — and works on plein-air projects in drawing, painting, and mixed media. Teens get a separate, more rigorous track.
Why we like it: It’s the rare camp that treats the Upper East Side itself as the curriculum. Kids end the week knowing the museums the way native New Yorkers do — by which galleries are quiet at 11 a.m. and where the good benches are.
8. Art Adventures Summer Camp at The Met
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Ages: Explorers (5–8) and Innovators (9–12)
2026 Dates: Week 2 confirmed: July 13–17, 2026, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Additional Week 1 typically offered.
Cost: Family-level Members & above $730; Global, Individual, Dual & non-Members $860. Family-Member priority registration March 11; general March 18; closes April 10 or when full.
Website: engage.metmuseum.org
Yes — your kid can spend a week of summer working inside the Met. Campers tour the galleries each morning, meet with teaching artists, and produce original work in painting, sculpture, and mixed media using all materials provided. It books up immediately, especially for members.
Why we like it: It’s not a camp that “uses” the museum. The museum is the camp. If you can get a spot, take it.
9. Sheridan Fencing Academy Summer Camp
Location: 1801 First Avenue (between 93rd and 94th)
Ages: 7–17
2026 Dates: June 15–19; July 13–17, 20–24, 27–31; August 3–7, 10–14, 17–21, 24–28
Cost: $750 per week, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Website: sheridanfencing.com
Full disclosure — this is us. Our Manhattan flagship runs eight weeks of summer fencing camp out of our six-strip Upper East Side facility. Kids spend the day on bladework, footwork, conditioning games, and bouts, with newer fencers grouped separately from competitive-track kids. Our head coach, Jason Sheridan, is the first American-born coach in history to train a sabre World Champion, and the coaching team includes athletes who’ve fenced internationally and trained NCAA champions.
Why we like it: We obviously have a bias here. What we’d actually say is this: fencing camp works best for kids who like puzzles and a little intensity — it’s mental as much as physical. It’s not for every kid. If yours is the kind who watches chess matches or builds elaborate Lego scenes, give it a try. Free trial classes are available year-round if you want to test before committing to a week.
10. Oasis Day Camp – Upper East Side
Location: The Ramaz Upper School, 60 East 78th Street, with daily Central Park excursions
Ages: 3–15 (Early Start preschool, Lower, Upper, Junior Teen Travel, LIT/Mentorship)
2026 Dates: Summer 2026 — full date range to be confirmed; early-bird pricing through April 1, 2026
Cost: Not consistently posted publicly — call for the 2026 rate sheet
Website: oasischildren.com/location/upper-east-side-central-park
Oasis is the closest thing the UES has to a traditional outdoor summer day camp — arts, theater, music, gardening, themed days, and daily Central Park outings, paired with structured swim instruction at Goldfish Swim School (twice weekly for Early Start, three times for Lower/Upper). The kitchen is fully Glatt-Kosher and the facility is ADA-accessible.
Why we like it: It’s a bus-route camp. Routes run from West 14th to East 96th — useful if you’re picking up after work and don’t want to deal with crosstown logistics every afternoon.
11. iCAMP STEAM at The Dalton School
Location: Hosted at The Dalton School’s adjoining townhouses, East 91st Street between Park and Madison
Ages: Roughly 5–12
2026 Dates: Multi-week summer schedule (June–August). Specific 2026 calendar not yet fully posted — confirm directly.
Cost: Not posted publicly
Website: icamp.com/ues-steam-summer-camp
iCAMP runs a STEAM-rotational model where kids cycle through topic-specialist workshops each day — engineering, coding, design, animation, art, music tech — building toward a Friday gallery walk. Daily Central Park breaks. Hosted at Dalton, which doesn’t hurt.
Why we like it: The “topic specialist” model means a kid’s week is taught by a real animator, a real coder, a real designer — not one generalist counselor running every block.
12. Lavner Camps – Upper East Side STEM
Location: Lavner Education’s UES site (TCS – the Computer School)
Ages: 6–14
2026 Dates: June 29 – August 21, 2026 (weekly sessions)
Cost: Variable by week; $79 annual registration fee per child; early-bird discount up to $150 per week if enrolled by April 20; $65 off second week
Website: lavnercampsandprograms.com
If your kid wants to go deep on one tech topic for a week, Lavner has the deepest UES menu — robotics, coding, game design, Minecraft, Roblox, AI, 3D printing, YouTube content creation, “Spy Tech,” and STEM & Medicine. Catered lunch and supervised outdoor recess included.
Why we like it: Most “STEM” camps cover one or two topics. Lavner’s weekly menu is granular enough that a kid can spend a summer doing different things — Minecraft modding one week, AI projects the next.
13. 92NY Summer Programs
Location: 92NY (the 92nd Street Y), 1395 Lexington Avenue at East 92nd
Ages: Tweens and teens (varies by intensive)
2026 Dates: Programming pages reference 2026 enrollment open; specific dates per academy posted on individual program pages
Cost: Varies by academy
Website: 92ny.org/children-family/camps
Worth knowing about: 92NY’s flagship general day camp (Camp Yomi) runs at a Rockland County campus with Manhattan bus routes — that’s not what we’re listing here. What we are listing is the Lexington Avenue building’s intensive arts academies — Musical Theater Intensive, Adventure Clubhouse, parkour-themed programming, and various performing-arts intensives drawing on 92NY’s deep cultural roster.
Why we like it: For a teen who’s serious about theater or dance, 92NY’s intensives are taught by professional teaching artists who actually perform in the city. That’s a different ceiling than a typical drama camp.
How to choose the right Upper East Side summer camp
A few honest things to think about before you write the check:
Counselor ratios matter more than camp prestige. A 1:8 ratio at a no-name camp will give your kid a better week than 1:15 at a famous one. Ask explicitly about ratios for your kid’s age group, not the camp’s overall average.
“Specialty” should mean specialty. A real specialty camp has instructors who do that thing for a living — a working coder teaching coding, a working artist teaching art, a working coach teaching the sport. Ask who’s teaching, not just what’s on the schedule.
Session length should match your kid’s stamina. First-time campers often do better in two- or three-week sessions than full-summer ones. Most UES camps offer flexible weekly enrollment, so you don’t have to commit to eight weeks in February to find out whether your kid likes it.
Pickup logistics will determine your summer. If you’re working full days, the difference between a 3 p.m. pickup and a 6 p.m. extended-care option is enormous. Don’t over-index on the program and forget the schedule.
Rolling admission is your friend. Most UES specialty camps (including ours) accept registrations year-round and don’t fill the way municipal camps do. If the perfect specialty camp has a wait, ask — they often have flexibility.
Frequently asked questions
When do summer camps on the Upper East Side open registration?
Most UES camps open registration between November and February, with early-bird pricing typically expiring in February or early March. Member-priority windows at places like the Met and 92NY open even earlier. By April, the most popular weeks are usually full.
What’s the average cost of a UES summer camp?
Specialty weekly camps generally run $700–$1,200 per week. Traditional all-day camps with bussing and swim are typically $1,000–$1,500 per week. Museum-based camps land in the $700–$900 range, with member discounts. Free or low-cost options on the UES are limited — the city’s free programs (Summer Rising, NYC Parks camps) are mostly elsewhere in Manhattan.
Are there free or low-cost camps on the Upper East Side?
Few that are exclusively UES. The Asphalt Green programs are scholarship-eligible. NYC Parks runs day programs at recreation centers (the closest are Carl Schurz and the Asphalt Green facilities). Mommy Poppins maintains a regularly updated list of free and cheap NYC summer camps that’s worth bookmarking.
What’s the youngest age for UES day camps?
The Art Farm starts at 3, Caedmon’s Discovery Camp at 2.8, and Oasis Early Start at 3. Most other camps start at 4 or 5. For under-3, you’re looking at toddler programs at preschool-affiliated summer schools rather than traditional camps.
Do UES camps include swim?
Some — Oasis bundles structured Goldfish Swim School lessons, the Art Farm sends 4-and-up campers to the 92Y pool weekly, and Caedmon swims as part of its rotation. Many specialty camps don’t. If swim is a non-negotiable for your kid, ask explicitly before registering.
One final thought
The honest secret of Upper East Side summer is that there’s no single “best” camp. There’s the right camp for your kid this year — the one that matches their stamina, their interests, and your family’s logistics. We’ve sent kids to almost every camp on this list at one point or another (parents on our team live in the neighborhood), and the camp that was perfect for one kid was wrong for another in the same family.
If you want to test fencing as part of your summer mix, we offer free trial classes for kids at our Upper East Side location year-round. No commitment, no sales pitch — just an hour to see if the sport clicks. We’d be glad to meet your family.