ABC for Kids is a unique athletic facility focused on developing agility, balance, and coordination in young children. Classes and programs are offered in a specially designed room, sized to challenge and entertain kids.

In addition to summer and school vacation camps, ABC for Kids offers drop-off/drop-in options. The facility is located in the Boulder Rock Club, providing additional climbing options for kids who are ready for the challenge.

Each engaging, educational Abrakadoodle art workshop, camp, or party introduces children to different materials and art-making techniques. Lessons never repeat, and every child leaves each class with a new piece of framed art.

Classes are held at locations in Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Hills, Englewood, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton, and Parker for different age groups. Additional information about classes and locations is available online.

Birthday parties: Abrakadoodle books parties for children ages three through 12, and can also bring the party to you. Select an art activity; materials and a teacher are provided.

Summer camps: Half-day art camps are offered for ages three through 12, in partnership with Crayola. Children are grouped by age and introduced to a wide variety of materials and techniques, including sculpture, mosaics, collage, and paint.

The week-long Academy of Rock day camp exposes young musicians to the life of a professional recording artist. Students can learn about songwriting, recording, and performing in a professional setting, and at the end of the week, students can take home a recording of their band's work as well as perform at a local venue! Guitarists, drummers, bassists, vocalists, and keyboardists are welcome for the experience of a lifetime.

Academy Stables offers horseback riding lessons, week-long horse camps, parties with horses, pasture rides, and lots more.

Kids can be the hero of a mythic quest during Adventure Quest programs offered throughout the Denver/Boulder metro areas. Since 1995, AQ has provided kids with the opportunity to solve mysteries and riddles, swashbuckle with foam swords, and even negotiate peace treaties. For more information, visit RenaissanceAdventures.com, or call (303) 786-9216.

American Dance Training Camp offers overnight dance camp programs in Winter Park where kids can learn the latest jazz, funk, and hip hop moves. The week-long programs run Sunday through Saturday and are held at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge.

The Art Students League of Denver is a non-accredited fine arts school, gallery, and site of freqent neighborhood art fairs and events. Regionally and nationally recognized working artists offer classes and workshops in a wide selection of media.

Kids' classes are available for kids in grades K- 12, meet most Saturdays from September through May. Most students sign up at the beginning of each month or earlier to assure a space, a prorated schedule offers the flexibility of joining a class at any time during the month.

Ongoing evening classes for high school students are
structured to complement high school art courses, and are also offered September through May. The courses give students opportunities to specialize in areas of portfolio review, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, or ceramics. The League also welcomes high school students to many adult classes, but they must be 16 or older and have parental release for classes with nude models.

Summer KidArt Camps are one and two-week morning or afternoon camps for kids in grades one through nine. Classes are offered in an assortment of media and themes and are divided by age and ability. Supervised care is offered before, in-between, and after all workshops.

Artful Journey offers fine-art classes for children,
teens, and adults. Small class size and individualized instruction allows kids to join at any time. Birthday parties, summer camp, and out-reach programs to schools, businesses, and Scout programs are also available.

Explore music, art, and dance in one place at Arts All-Around at the Art Underground summer camps. Courses include Musical Theater Scene Study, Audition Prep, Choir, Recorder, Jambe Drumming, Music Theory, Group Piano, Preschool-High School Art, Jewelry Making, Drawing, Sculpture, Mural, and Dance. All instructors are background-checked and possess degrees in their fields. Prices are based on full-day, half-day or individual classes and family discounts are offered.

A paint your own pottery and glass fusing studio. Private parties for kids and grown-ups are also available. Events start at $10 per person and include complimentary invitations and a dedicated party host for the entire party.

The Arvada Center offers award-winning, professional regional theater (both plays and musicals); Denver's best children's theater; a wide variety of concerts; classical and contemporary dance performances; nationally recognized gallery exhibitions; a history museum; and over 600 arts and humanities classes each year for students of all ages.

First, of course, you have to get the kids to leave the fabulous playground! Designed by local artist Bill Gian (known for his metal sculptures in downtown Denver as well as his candle-holders at the Wynkoop Brewery), the 343-foot-long Squiggles is the focal point; the multi-colored, multi-textured concrete sculpture, its head raised, its body moving in and out of the earth is a magnet for climbers of all ages, and parents are especially grateful for the padded surface underneath!

Seven other sculptures keep Squiggles company when kids go home; three are concrete creatures' heads, which were completed during the construction of the playground.

The best surprise for newbies, though, are the talking trash cans, including a voice that says "Hey baby, it's hot down here" and a variety of animal sounds including pigs and horses.

When you finally get inside, check out the children's theater season, which features at least three productions each year, one of which is usually an original script commissioned by the Center.

Kids' classes include ArtStart, performing arts, music (instruments and theory), visual arts, ceramics, ballet, and more. Call 720.898.7200 for further information or to request a class catalog.

The Arvada Center also houses two gallery spaces - one upstairs and one downstairs across from the box office - that feature 12 to 15 exhibitions annually. The shows tend to focus primarily on contemporary art from local, national and international artists.

The Historical Museum may be visited by appointment. If you have a group, museum tours and accompanying participatory plays can be booked by calling 720.898.7255.

Watch for Family Arts Days, a great, affordable way to treat your family to an afternoon of arts experiences. Each Family Arts Day includes tickets to a family performance along with a backstage tour, gallery or museum tour, and/or a special, hands-on workshop. Kids must be five years or older and accompanied by an adult.

An eight-court lighted facility, the center opens for the season in May. The public may use the courts prior to May, weather permitting. Court reservations may be made up to two days in advance.

The Aurora Fox Arts Center offers an array of entertainment for all ages. Plays, musicals, children's theater, concerts, guest artists, and performing arts classes for kids starting as young as four years old.

Aurora Hills is a 6,735-yard, par 72 public course with a layout that is great for the casual golfer.

Avid4 Adventure camp programs offer fun, diverse, age appropriate, and safety focused outdoor pursuits for kids. Each week kids can rock climb, mountain bike, hike, kayak, and canoe. Travel, sleep-away, and day camp itineraries are available. Programs are offered throughout the Denver metro area.

Ballet Nouveau has been training dancers of all ages (toddlers through adults) and abilities since 1992. Classes in ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, contemporary, and more are designed to be fun, inspiring, and challenging; many are taught by members of BNC's professional company.

Bits, Bytes, and Bots offers morning and afternoon week-long half-day programs in robotics and programming, movie making, game creation, and 3D game creation. Kids can learn skills that help them in school and beyond. Each child is provided with their own computer to work on during class. Students receive both individual and group instruction. Register online at www.bitsbytesbots.com.

Classes are offered throughout the Denver metro area.

Blue Egg Arts offers arts and crafts classes, summer camps, workshops, studio space, and birthday parties for children and adults. Artistic supplies and gift items are available with free gift wrapping.

One of the most popular activity options is dollmaking using fabric, buttons, ribbons, bangles, scraps of trim, and more to bring new friends to life. All materials are provided. Classes can be held for as few as two participants.

The Bob L. Burger Recreation Center is a testament to a smaller community's ability to successfully build a great recreation center. The facility includes:

A Leisure Pool which is irregularly shaped and ranges in depth from 0 to 3 1/2 feet deep. Water temperature in the low 90's makes play especially enjoyable for tots and seniors. Features of this pool include a large rock waterfall, raindrops, bubble mattress, vortex, small waterslide and three rocking squirt toys.

The rectangular Lap Pool is 25 yards long, 6 lanes wide to accommodate competitive swimming and lap swimming.

The Swim Channel/Splashdown Pool is a channel seven feet wide and 150 foot long that winds around and connects with itself to create a constant flowing "Lazy River". The island created by the channel contains a splash down pool for a 20 foot high, 150 foot long water slide. Special features include inner tube rides, fountain spray and a static swim area where a nozzle in the wall can be adjusted by a swimmer to allow them to stay in one place and swim against the current. Whirlpool, Steam and Dry Sauna: are provided between the aquatics area and locker rooms. These features are co-ed.

Raquetball courts, exercise rooms, circuit equipment and free weights are also available. As well as an indoor track that is 1/16 of a mile and overlooks the pool, fitness, and gym areas of the center.

The recreation center is housed on 20 acres of parkland. The multi-use land features a 4-field youth sports complex, an inline hockey rink and the city's outdoor classroom. The recreation center, the sports complex and the outdoor classroom provide the community a wonderful focal point for great family recreation.

The Boulder Circus Center fosters, incubates, grows, and promotes circus skills, with an emphasis on juggling, as theatrical art forms.

Boulder Indoor Soccer is Boulder's first indoor soccer facility. In addition to soccer leagues, BIS offers camps, clinics, birthday party packages, and more.

The Boulder JCC provides programs and services to the Boulder community based in Jewish values and traditions.

Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art offers guided educational and informative tours for individual classes and/or small groups. To schedule a tour, or for more information, contact the museum at 303.443.2122.

In addition, BMoCA hosts Art Stop, free, guided art activities to children of all ages. Held each Saturday from 9am-1pm during the Farmer's Market (April to October), Art Stop visitors are provided with materials and ideas from the current exhibit cycle.

The Boulder Outdoor Center specializes in selling outdoor gear and teaching/running outdoor adventures. In the summer - kayaking, rafting and fishing, and in winter - snowshoeing, avalanche classes, snowcat trips, heli-skiing, and year-round hut trips. Kids can be accomodated on many of the trips/clinics, including Kids Kayak Day Camps - one to five-day beginning and intermediate programs just for kids ages eight to 18.

The Boulder Rock Club is Colorado’s largest guide service and indoor climbing gym. It offers indoor and outdoor courses and climbs, avalanche education, backcountry skiing, and international expeditions.

Private and group classes are offered for climbers of all ages and skill levels, including beginner, in a safe and supportive environment. Summer camp programs include trips to local climbing sites as well as indoor experiences.

Full service YMCA facility. Includes a gym, indoor track, full cardio and weight training equipment, program rooms, childcare program, aerobics studio, and a full-size ice rink.

Full service YMCA facility. Includes a gym, indoor track, full cardio and weight training equipment, program rooms, childcare program, aerobics studio, and a lap pool.

The Broomfield Summer Youth Players, an annual summer drama program created and implemented by Broomfield youth, supports the tradition of lifelong access to the arts. Students from local middle and high schools come together to present a different production each summer. Acting, crew work, marketing, costumes, make-up, and ushering are all managed and handled by students.

Camp ArtReach provides an intensive and ongoing arts experience that compliments and enhances a child's curricular education. Workshops include choices in visual, performing, and cultural arts ranging from one to two weeks, based on the adventure subject. Three hour workshops are offered as morning and afternoon sessions. The program is offered at the First Universalist Church of Denver, 4101 E. Hampden Avenue. Before, lunch, and after care is also available.

Camp Gan Israel Westminster is a Jewish day camp that welcomes Jewish children from all backgrounds. In 2008, camp runs from July 1 through July 25. New for '08 is icamp, a hands on computer adventure workshop in robotics, animation and digital video production, digital art, and video game design.

Inspire a passion for science in your kids at the Camp Invention program, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country.

Students entering grades one through six participate in five hands-on classes every day. The courses are presented by local teachers, and children learn the basic concepts of engineering, physics, and creative problem-solving. Children work on projects both individually and in small groups.

The program was created by The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Visit the website for a complete list of local Denver locations.

Inspire a passion for science in your kids at the Camp Invention program, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country.

Students entering grades one through six participate in five hands-on classes every day. The courses are presented by local teachers, and children learn the basic concepts of engineering, physics, and creative problem-solving. Children work on projects both individually and in small groups.

The program was created by The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Visit the website for a complete list of local Denver locations.

Inspire a passion for science in your children at the Camp Invention program, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country.

Students entering grades one through six participate in five hands-on classes every day. The courses are presented by local teachers, and children learn the basic concepts of engineering, physics, and creative problem-solving. Children work on projects both individually and in small groups.

The program was created by The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Visit the website for a complete list of local Denver locations.

Inspire a passion for science in your kids at the Camp Invention program, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country.

Students entering grades one through six participate in five hands-on classes every day. The courses are presented by local teachers, and children learn the basic concepts of engineering, physics, and creative problem-solving. Children work on projects both individually and in small groups.

The program was created by The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Visit the website for a complete list of local Denver locations.

Inspire a passion for science in your kids at the Camp Invention program, a weeklong day camp offered in elementary schools across the country.

Students entering grades one through six participate in five hands-on classes every day. The courses are presented by local teachers, and children learn the basic concepts of engineering, physics, and creative problem-solving. Children work on projects both individually and in small groups.

The program was created by The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Visit the website for a complete list of local Denver locations.

Camp Jam is a summer program that brings together young musicians and teaches them band dynamics, secrets of the trade, performance skills, and rock history, and provides them with the opportunity to interact with industry professionals.

Camp Jam Rock 'n' Roll Summer Day Camp, for kids ages 11 to 17, provides a place for teens to convene with other aspiring musicians, bands, and vocalists. Participants can hone their musical chops by learning from - and performing with - professional musicians with experience in the music industry, in an environment that promotes skills such as teamwork and communication. The five-day camp offers instruction in guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and vocal performance, as well as a songwriting clinic, an open mic showcase, a class on performance skills, and a course in audio engineering and production.

Camp Jam Kidz is for pint-sized rockers ages seven to ten. This unique program offers a fun, interactive musical experience for younger kids, giving them the chance to play the instrument of their choice under the watchful eyes of the camp counselors. Camp Jam Kidz offers an experience that's similar to that of older campers, but with a more hands-on focus from instructors. Participants play their very first gig at the end of the week, performing on stage with a real rock band.

After-camp care is available until 5:30pm for an additional $20 per week. Advance registration is required and discounts are available for early registration and multiple session enrollment. Registration forms are available online.

Camp JCC at the Denver Campus will be in full swing during the summer of 2006, offering a host of programs and activities not found at traditional day camps. Half day and full day programs offer top quality special interest and sports programming for campers. The camp is sponsored by the Denver Campus for Jewish Education in partnership with the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center and is held on the expansive 18-acre Denver Campus in southeast Denver.

Camp JCC at the Denver Campus offers a wide variety of programs including robotics, video game creation, filmmaking, rocket science, sports broadcasting, scrapbook publishing, Spanish, chess, art, martial arts, soccer, lacrosse, SNAG golf, cheerleading, basketball, and baseball.

Extended care and a supervised lunch program are also available.

Catchpenny Kids Theatre's offers training in acting, singing, and dancing for kids in SE Denver.