Summer Camp at the Lightner

Join the Lightner Museum for four weeks of creativity, discovery, and fun during our new summer camp program! Campers will work with a Lightner Educator each week to explore a new theme related to the museum, its historic building, and collections. Every camp day will be different, with unique hands-on activities, games, and exploration of the museum.

Registration now open!

General Information:

  • Camp runs from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
  • Campers can be dropped off as early as 8:30 a.m., with the camp day starting at 9 a.m. 
  • Camp pick-up is between 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. During this time, campers will be encouraged to eat lunch while they wait for their guardians. 
  • Campers must bring a bagged lunch and snack (the museum cannot provide any food to campers).
  • Bring a refillable water bottle
  • Wear closed-toed shoes and light sweatshirt as some spaces in the museum can be chilly.

50% refund available until June 1. No refunds available after June 1, 2025

Week 1 | June 23 – June 27, 2025
Find Your Hobby!
Ages 6 – 10

$125 per child | $100 Lightner Museum Household Members

Let’s find a Hobby! Founded in 1948 as the Lightner Museum of Hobbies, the Lightner Museum has its origins in the hobby boom that swept America in the early twentieth century. Explore the history of hobbies and their connection to the Lightner Museum. Through hands-on activities, campers will learn a new hobby each day inspired by the museum’s unique collection.

Week 2 | July 7 – July 11, 2025
The Art of Nature
Ages 6 – 10

$125 per child | $100 Lightner Museum Household Members

Hop, crawl, or fly into this week’s camp as we explore nature and the fascinating animals, insects, plants and flowers found in works of art in the Lightner Museum collection. Campers will discover how artists have incorporated art and nature in their work and learn how we can use the natural world around us to create our own works of art

Week 3 | July 14 – July 18, 2025
Innovative Inventors
Ages 8 – 14

$125 per child | $100 Lightner Museum Household Members

From electricity to automobiles and x-rays to elevators, 19th-century America witnessed a burst of innovation in engineering, science and technology, which brought about some of the modern era’s most brilliant inventions. 

Be the engineer in this week’s camp as we explore the technological advancements in the Museum’s historic building and collection. Through hands-on activities, campers will learn the science of bicycles, how elevators work, how the lightbulb was invented, and more!

Week 4 | July 21 – July 25, 2025
Ready, Set, Action!
Ages 11 – 14

$125 per child | $100 Lightner Museum Household Members

Explore the museum through the lens of a camera in this week’s camp. Campers will explore the history of the camera, photography, and the early technique of stop-motion film. Throughout the week, campers will become directors, videographers, and creators as they develop and film their own stop-motion films.