By LINDA CHION KENNEY
From camping to reading, from movies to museums, the word is out that no parent should fret and no child should wonder how best to fill the long, hot days of summer with activities that don’t involve staring endlessly at digital screens.
Nevertheless, quick searches are fruitful for ways to fill the time, including with the 2025 summer camp handbook published online by Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation officials. It details summer camp offerings at 24 recreation centers, including in Apollo Beach, Balm, the Gardenville area of Gibsonton and Ruskin. Noted also are two locations in Riverview, at the Providence Skate Park and the Riverview Civic Center.
Traditional, teen, eco-adventure, skate and adaptive recreation summer camps are set to run in two sessions, with varying costs. To download the handbook, visit https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blteea73b27b731f985/blt22e6657234f57400/Summer_Camp_Parent_Handbook_English.pdf/.
The Tampa Family YMCA is also in the summer camp business, with locations that include YMCA Camp Cristina in Riverview, a 65-acre outdoor adventure facility, at 9840 Balm Riverview Road, and the newly expanded Spurlino Family YMCA in Riverview, at 9650 Old Big Bend Road.
Throughout the Y system are offerings for art, basketball, golf, gymnastic, junior lifeguard training, outdoor high adventure, soccer, swimming, volleyball and adaptive camps. The summer camp season runs June 2 through Aug. 8, with 10 weekly sessions. The camps run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, with varying costs. For more, visit https://tampaymca.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/CAMP-S-25_FlyerBranches-Web_TPA_2.15.pdf/.
Registration for The Art of Reading, presented by the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC), is underway for a challenge that runs June 1 through July 31. Participants in the newborn through age 12 category and in the category for teens (ages 13 to 18) earn digital badges for each hour of reading up to 24 hours. The submission goal in the adult category is four books.
Incentives for the youngest readers include a badge and a color-on tote bag, filled with bookmarks, crayons and more. Each additional time a child comes to the library, they will receive a free book to read. Teens receive a badge, water bottle sticker and a free book. Adults receive a free book and enamel pin.
Participants are eligible for a drawing at the end of the summer to win tickets to ZooTampa and for tech prizes, such as an AirPod Pro, Nintendo Switch Light, Echo Show and more. Prizes are scheduled to be drawn August 1. The deadline to claim prizes is August 31. For more, visit https://hcplc.org/summer/.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay museums offer summer camps, deals, discounts and free admission to fill the hours during summer break. To wit, Glazer Children’s Museum offerings include free admission the first Tuesday of the month. The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) offers Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) camps for students in pre-k through grade 12.
Available on a first-come, first-served basis for library card holders, the Discovery Pass, offered through the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, offers free admission or tour pass to select museums and attractions. Participating museums and attractions include Imagine Museum of Contemporary Glass Art, Tampa Bay History Center, Glazer Children’s Museum, American Victory Ship and Museum, Tampa Theatre, Henry B. Plant Museum, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, and Tampa Museum of Art. For more, visit https://hcplc.org/services/discoverypass/.
As for the big screen, Xscape Theatres Riverview offers a Summer Movie Series for kids, including “Minions, Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “The Lego Movie,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” “The SpongeBob Movie 2,” “Sing,” “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Migration.” Admission to all movies, and for all ages, is $2.00 per ticket plus tax. For dates and times, visit www.xscapetheatres.com/.
Also in Riverview, AMC Riverview 14, in Gibsonton, offers an animated film every week through its Summer Movie Camp, now through Aug. 13. The cost is $3 per flick. Titles include “The Bad Guys,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “The Wild Robot,” “Shrek,” “Migration” and “The Secret Lives of Pets.” For more, visit https://www.amctheatres.com/events/summer-movie-camp/.