🏕 Summer Camp Research 2026

Ben + Ellie version, built from the restored layered base · 5058 William St, Pickering · about 30 min radius

Current family context

Priority filter: same camp/site first. If not possible, separate nearby options are fine for easy dropoff. Holiday weeks still matter: Jun 30 and Aug 31. Adventureland is already booked for Aug 10, so that week is excluded.

📝 General Notes

✓ Saved
Current reality: Willowgrove is still the strongest same-camp-first fit found so far, but Claremont Nature Centre absolutely belongs in this file and should have been here already. Ajax now has much better verified municipal detail than the current file had before. Pickering is convenient but still lighter on exact summer stream detail from the public page. Whitby, Stouffville, Uxbridge, Pivot, and Markham add useful backup coverage.
⏰ Target weeks
Jun 30 week
Holiday week. Some programs may run 4 days only.
Jul 27 week
Good week for strongest same-camp or split-program options.
Aug 3 week
Likely broadest program availability.
Aug 31 week
Holiday week again. Backups matter here.
📋 Availability quick reference
Option Jun 30 Jul 27 Aug 3 Aug 31 Fit Cost Notes
Willowgrove Day Camp ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely Excellent same-camp Base weekly fee not captured yet. Known: $200 deposit per child, before care $45/week, after care $90/week. Best-supported policy and strongest outdoor family fit. Need exact live week seats.
Town of Ajax municipal camps ✅ season covers ✅ season covers ✅ season covers ✅ season covers Strong same-site / possible split by age band Still not cleanly captured from public source. Weekly camps run Jun 29 to Sep 4, 2026. Good mix of outdoor, sports, and arts.
City of Pickering camps ⚠️ possible ⚠️ possible ⚠️ possible ⚠️ possible Convenient local backup Still not cleanly captured from public source. Public page confirms 5 to 12 age range, 9 to 4 day, and arts/adventure/sports examples. Exact summer stream list still thin.
Camp Riverwood ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely Strong same-site outdoor Base weekly fee not captured yet. Known extras: bus $60/week + HST, before care $65/week + HST, after care $65/week + HST, illness insurance $15/week. Petticoat Creek location is a plus. Need exact week grid and live seat check.
Whitby camps / Station Gallery arts ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely Good split-program backup Extended care verified at $44.85/week. Base camp pricing still not captured. Useful especially if Ellie needs a stronger art option than Ben.
Markham Museum arts camps ✅ verified ❌ not target week ❌ not target week ❌ not target week Ellie arts-specific backup Verified: Half Day Pottery Jun 29-Jul 3 $216 resident. Other weeks previously surfaced higher, but need a direct source pass before I hard-code more. Very solid arts detail, but farther and only clearly verified for Jun 30 from current pass.
Claremont Nature Centre (TRCA) ✅ verified ⚠️ split fit ✅ verified ✅ verified Strong outdoor local option $350/week standard, $280 for Aug 4-7 four-day week, Jun 29 week is $130 for Mon/Tues and/or Thurs/Fri blocks, extended care $100/week. Closest true nature camp. Great for outdoors, but Jul 27 is art-themed and better for Ellie than Ben.
Stouffville municipal camps ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely Good backup system Pricing not cleanly extracted yet. Summer 2026 resident registration open, but public page is too thin and PDF extraction failed.
Uxbridge camps ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely ⚠️ likely Good farther backup Pricing not yet extracted. 2026 camp guide exists and appears to bundle UxCamps, library, and historical centre programs.
Pivot Fitness half-day camps ❌ not target week ❌ not target week ❌ not target week ❌ not target week Half-day sports backup Price not shown on public page. Verified summer half-day weeks are Jul 6, Jul 20, Aug 10, Aug 24, so none match the current target weeks.
💵 Cost snapshot
✅ Best same-camp-first options
🌲 Claremont Nature Centre (TRCA)
4290 Westney Road North, Pickering · true local nature camp
Should have been included Very close to home Best for outdoor-first weeks
Ages
5 to 12 works for both on key weeks
Hours
9:00 to 4:00
Extended care 8:00 to 9:00 and 4:00 to 5:30
Target-week fit
Jun 29 Kick Off Summer, Jul 27 Nature Art, Aug 4 Forest Magic, Aug 31 Celebrate Summer
Cancellation clue
TRCA snippet: over 14 days before start receives 75% refund of fees paid
Cost: $350/week standard. Jun 29 to Jul 3 is sold as $130 for Mon/Tues and $130 for Thurs/Fri blocks. Aug 4 to 7 is $280. Extended care is $100/week, or $80 for the four-day week. Conservation Parks members can get 10% off.
✅ This is one of the best true-local outdoor answers for Ben and Ellie. The only caution is Jul 27 is specifically Nature Art, which tilts more toward Ellie than Ben.
Live availability found: Aug 31 looked especially strong, with spaces shown for both ages 8 to 9 and 10 to 12. Jul 27 looked split, Ellie age-band sold out while Ben age-band still showed space.
✓ Saved
🌿 Willowgrove Day Camp
Outdoor-focused day camp, east of Markham / Stouffville area
Best overall fit Same camp for both Need live seat check
Ages / grades
JK to Grade 8, grouped by Fall 2026 grade
Hours
9:00 to 4:00
Before care 8:00 to 8:55
After care 4:00 to 6:00
Program mix
Nature, canoeing, climbing, sports, gardening, creative activities, daily swim
Refund policy
Full refund with at least 1 month notice before the camp week. No refund after that unless medical note.
Cost: Base weekly fee still not captured cleanly from the public page in this pass. Verified add-ons: $200 deposit per child, before care $45/week, after care $90/week. Discounts: 10% sibling discount, multi-week discounts also available.
✅ Strong same-camp answer for Ben and Ellie. Ben gets outdoor movement. Ellie still gets enough creative variety without forcing Ben into arts-focused programming.
Why it matters: this is still the cleanest family option because the program is broad, outdoors-first, and has the most clearly documented cancellation terms of anything in the shortlist.
✓ Saved
🏞 Town of Ajax municipal camps
Ajax · weekly camps from Jun 29 to Sep 4, 2026 · before/after care available
Best municipal depth Outdoor + arts options Policy still incomplete
Season coverage
Jun 29 to Sep 4, 2026
Hours
9:00 to 4:00
Before / after care available
Outdoor programs
Camp Taparac, Camp Mtigwaki, Lake to Land, Day Trippers
Arts programs
Creative Kids, Dance Camp, Musical Theatre Camp, Jr. Circus Camp
Cost: I still do not have clean public pricing for the individual Ajax camps in this pass, so I am leaving this marked unverified rather than guessing.
⚠️ Ajax is excellent for same-site planning, but not always the same exact camp because many options split by age band. It is still one of the best places to build a close dropoff pair.
Best use: if Willowgrove does not line up, Ajax is probably the best place to pair Ben into outdoor / sports or nature and Ellie into either the same outdoor camp if age band fits, or a nearby arts program.
✓ Saved
🌲 Camp Riverwood
Petticoat Creek Conservation Area area · outdoor / traditional camp feel
Outdoor strong fit Close to home Need week-by-week detail
Location
Petticoat Creek Conservation Area
Transport note
Bus options referenced for Pickering / Ajax / Whitby
Policy snippet
Cancel by May 15, 2026: refundable less $100 service charge per camper
Gap
Full week grid and exact fit for requested dates still not fully verified
Cost: Base weekly fee still not captured cleanly. Verified extras: bus $60/week + HST, before care $65/week + HST, after care $65/week + HST, optional illness insurance $15/week. Credit card payments add a 2.4% non-refundable service fee.
✅ Strong same-site outdoor candidate, especially if convenience and traditional camp feel matter more than niche specialty programming.
✓ Saved
🏛 City program research, deeper pass
🏙 Stouffville camps
Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville municipal day camps
Worth including Public page too thin
Cost: not yet extracted cleanly from source.
⚠️ Include as a backup municipal system, but it still needs a direct guide/manual extraction pass to be as useful as Ajax.
🏙 Uxbridge camps
Township guide appears to bundle municipal, library, and historical centre camps
Broader backup Site extraction messy
Cost: not yet extracted cleanly from source.
⚠️ Useful backup bucket, but I do not yet have enough clean structured detail to rank it strongly.
💪 Pivot Functional Fitness half-day camps
Stouffville · sports / tumbling / ninja-style half-day option
Half-day only Strong Ben-style movement fit
Format
1:15 to 4:15 p.m.
Program style
Gymnastics, tumbling, sports skills, relays, group games, ninja obstacles
Verified summer weeks
Jul 6 to 10, Jul 20 to 24, Aug 10 to 14, Aug 24 to 28
Booking style
Select days or full week
Cost: public page did not show pricing in this pass.
⚠️ Good half-day movement backup, but none of the currently verified summer weeks line up exactly with Jun 30, Jul 27, Aug 3, or Aug 31.
🏙 City of Pickering camps
Closest municipal option
Local convenience Exact summer listings still fuzzy
Verified ages
Most camps 5 to 12
Verified day
9:00 to 4:00
Extended care
At Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex camps only on verified page example
Staff ratio
1:12 for ages 5 to 12
Cost: Not yet cleanly captured from the public Pickering source.
⚠️ Pickering is still more useful as a convenient local backup than as the best-researched answer today, because the public site did not expose the exact 2026 summer week-by-week stream list cleanly.
🏙 Town of Ajax municipal programs, exact categories
Best public municipal detail found so far
Season and categories verified Good for both kids
Cost: Program-by-program Ajax pricing still needs a direct extraction pass.
✅ Ajax gives the best municipal pairing flexibility. If you need same-site easy logistics with stronger detail than Pickering, this is probably the best city system to mine first.
🏙 Town of Whitby camps
Useful backup municipal system, especially for split programs
Non-resident reg Apr 1 Program detail thinner than Ajax
Ages
4 to 16
Extended care
7:30 to 9:00 and 4:30 to 6:00
$44.85 per week
Release note
Children age 10+ can be released on their own with consent
Refund clue
Search snippet suggests transfer / withdrawal requests up to 4 days before start
Cost: Extended care verified at $44.85/week. Base camp fee still not captured from source.
⚠️ Whitby has useful structure and logistics, but exact camp-by-camp matching still needs more extraction than Ajax.
🎨 Ellie arts-specific research
🎭 Ajax arts and performing arts streams
Good first municipal arts layer for Ellie
Strong arts coverage Within preferred area
✅ This fills the arts gap much better than the older version. Ajax now gives Ellie several legitimate arts choices without leaving the municipal system.
🎨 Whitby Station Gallery arts camps
Arts-heavy backup if Ellie wants a more dedicated art experience
Search-snippet verified Needs direct program-page confirmation
⚠️ Best viewed as a real lead, not fully closed research yet. It strengthens the arts lane, but I would still rank Ajax above it for easier planning until direct page detail is pulled.
🏺 Markham Museum arts programs
Detailed arts backup, especially for Jun 30 week
Best arts detail Farther drive
Verified arts camps
Half Day Pottery Camp, Teen Pottery Wheel Throwing, Science and Ceramics
Relevant age band
Half Day Pottery Camp is ages 7 to 12
Jun 30 week
Verified for Week 1, Jun 29 to Jul 3
Format
Half day pottery option 9:00 to 12:00
Cost: Verified for Jun 29 to Jul 3: Half Day Pottery Camp (ages 7 to 12) at $216 resident. I have seen higher prices for later weeks in prior research, but I want a direct source refresh before adding those numbers here.
⚠️ This is probably too arts-forward for Ben, but it gives Ellie a genuine art camp option that is much better documented than most municipal arts pages.
♻️ Good carry-over leads from the restored 4-kids file
🏌️ Pickering Playing Fields - Ultimate Sports Camp
Pickering · very close to home · sports-first half-day option
Strong Ben fit Half-day only Ages 7 to 12 in one group
Format
9:00 to 12:00 half day
Age fit
Ages 7 to 12 all together, so Ben and Ellie fit the same broad band
Program style
Golf, baseball, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, batting cages
Cost
Still needs direct confirmation
⚠️ This carried over as a smart local sports lead, but it is much more Ben-coded than Ellie-coded and still needs current 2026 week confirmation for Jun 30, Jul 27, Aug 3, or Aug 31.
✓ Saved
🤸 AIM Gymnastics - Ajax
Ajax · broad age range · one of the cleaner carry-over same-space options
Half + full day Ages 4 to 15 Real pricing captured
Full day
$350/week classic, $315 platinum
Half day
$242/week classic, $218 platinum
Extended care
Free, 7:00 to 8:30 and 4:30 to 6:00
Extra cost
One-time membership fee $45 to $65 per child
✅ This is one of the strongest old-file carryovers because it already had real pricing, broad age coverage, and flexible format. It is more movement/gym than outdoor nature, but it works well for Ben and is still plausible for Ellie.
✓ Saved
🦡 Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue
Clarington area · wildlife / nature experience · strong thematic fit
Outdoor / animal-heavy Ages 4 to 16
Hours
9:00 to 4:00, extended care available
Style
Wildlife rescue setting, hands-on nature programming
Price
2026 lower pricing mentioned, but still needs direct pull
Fit
Great for outdoor curiosity, less polished than municipal systems
✅ This is a genuinely good synthesis candidate from the old file because it overlaps Ben's outdoor interests and still feels fun and unusual for Ellie.
✓ Saved
🐍 Reptilia Zoo - ReptiCamp
Whitby · unusual animal-focused camp · likely good same-space fit
Unique backup Ages 5 to 12
Program style
Animal handling, zookeeping, backstage tours, crafts
Age fit
Both kids fit the published band
Research gap
Need summer 2026 registration and target-week confirmation
Cost
Not yet pulled
⚠️ This is a fun carry-over lead and probably stronger for a novelty week than as the default plan, but it absolutely deserves to stay in the Ben + Ellie version.
✓ Saved
🏡 Camp Robin Hood
Markham area · polished traditional camp option from the restored file
Worth a call Broad activity mix
Activities
Canoeing, archery, arts, theatre, rock climbing, campfire
Deposit
$500 per child
Transport
Door-to-door or neighbourhood bus options
Main question
Need current target-week fit and grouping flexibility for ages 8 and 10
⚠️ This was a strong old-file lead because it had good breadth and transport, but it is still more of a call-first premium backup than a primary answer.
✓ Saved
🌲 Bruce's Mill Nature Centre (TRCA)
Very close to the old search area · great nature programming, but age-banded
Good same-site split option Nature / outdoor strong fit
Price
$275/week, or $220 four-day week
Extended care
+$80/week
Theme examples
Wilderness Survival, Forest Magic
Constraint
Strict age grouping means same site, not same group
⚠️ This should be synthesized in as a useful same-site split option for Ben + Ellie, not as a same-group answer. Still a very real outdoor backup.
✓ Saved
🧭 Recommended pairing logic
Best current strategy
What I would prioritize with the research in hand
  1. Try Willowgrove first for a clean same-camp solution across multiple target weeks.
  2. Use Ajax second if you need more exact municipal choice by week, with Ben in outdoor / sports and Ellie either in matching outdoor if band fits or in one of the arts programs.
  3. Use Pickering as the convenience backup when closest-location value beats deeper program detail.
  4. Use Whitby Station Gallery or Markham Museum if Ellie should have a real art-first week and Ben is okay being in a different nearby program.
🔎 Biggest gaps still open
Best next question For each target week, is the goal still one same-camp answer first, or do we want me to actively optimize split pairings like Ben outdoor plus Ellie arts when that gives a better overall week?