Monkey Business Camp — Local services in Berkeley

Monkey Business Camp is fantastic! Our family has attended for the last 5+ years, and my three kids love it so much. It's just a beautiful time in nature with really warm and experienced teachers. It's a super loving, welcoming environment including for kids who may face social or other anxieties -- the teachers are really great at helping kids out, and they foster a very friendly atmosphere amongst all the kids.

The activities are fun and engaging -- the kids can do art projects, hikes, write stories & do other creative stuff. There's a great balance of organized group activities as well as choice time where the kids can gravitate towards their favorite activities. One of my kids loves really active sports play, and two tend more towards quieter activities like art, reading, writing -- they all get the chance to do all of it, but they can also choose to spend more time in their particular areas of interest or based on how energetic they're feeling that day. Last summer, one of my kids spent several days working on a shared writing project with a couple other kids where they alternated writing lines - she was so enthusiastic about it.

There are lots of hikes and opportunities to explore nature, as well as Little Farm and nearby attractions. My kids never want to come home! My oldest gets to be a counselor-in-training this summer and she is so excited -- she's been talking about wanting to do that ever since her first summer at Monkey Business Camp when she was about 5 years old!

The teachers/counselors really set Monkey Business apart from other camps, in my family's experience. I always feel completely confident that my kids are in wonderful care all day long. The camp staff and owners are all very communicative, friendly, and helpful. It’s been an excellent experience throughout for us. I highly recommend Monkey Business anytime friends are looking for camps, and we intend to keep sending our kids...

I mean, these people are the best rated camp in Berkeley for a reason. We've been to 4 different outdoor/nature camps and 3 other non-nature camps over the years, and Monkey Business has been the one the brings the most joy, positive social interaction, long term friendships and bonding and it's also fabulously organized.

The administration is really empathic and thoughtful and personalized-feeling about each child despite the giant pile of kids that revolve through camps all summer.

We ended up bringing half a dozen of our friends this year, and will likely try to get more next year-- our kid and 3 of their friends were all, um, reluctant adopters of summer camp, but they all ended up adoring it. This is kind of hard to describe, but after having been in a bunch of programs-- you know how some camps / classes / programs kind of put a social strain on kids' social worlds and they have to come home and unwind, and the good ones deepen / energize their social world, and they come home with new friends or better relationships with old friends or just ready to focus and spend time with more people? MB is in the latter group, it's like we end each day with more social energy than we started in this ineffable way.

Note, you really do want to jump on signups the moment they open...

An Exceptional Experience for Our Son

Our son has had the most incredible time at this camp, and we couldn't be happier with our experience. The camp's focus on playing in nature and engaging in fun, interactive games has been a perfect fit for him. The counselors are not just knowledgeable and engaging, but they are also incredibly sweet and understanding. They have a unique ability to spot and enhance the positive traits in each child, which is something we truly value.

One of the most impressive aspects is how the counselors encourage the kids to take care of themselves, like applying sunscreen, which is no small feat. But what really stands out is how the camp has managed to keep track of our son's belongings. Typically, he loses something almost every day at school, but during his three weeks at camp, he didn’t lose a single item! This speaks volumes about the camp's attention to detail and the care they provide to each child.

The camp is consistently well-organized, and the communication with parents is fantastic. We love getting daily pictures of the activities, allowing us to see just how much fun our son is having. This was our first time at this camp, and we are now huge fans. My son loves it and we love it as well. We’ll definitely be signing...