Camps & Programs

There are several summer camp programs in Massachusetts and beyond that have been developed for children, teens, and families who are grieving the loss of a family member. Most offer free or discounted programs. The programs listed below are not affiliated with The Children’s Room but may be of interest to your family.

All camps are subject to individual state COVID-19 directives and should be contacted directly for an update.

Camp Angel Wings

Telephone: (508) 973-3227
Location: Camp Welch, North Main Street, Assonet, MA
Ages Served: 6–15 years old

Description: Southcoast VNA will be hosting its annual Camp Angel Wings, a two-day bereavement camp experience for children and teens, who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

Camp Erin Boston

Telephone: (508) 309-5107
Location: Camp Avoda in Middleboro, MA
Ages served: 6–17 years old

Description: Camp Erin® Boston is a FREE, weekend bereavement camp for youth who are grieving the death of a significant person in their lives. Children and teens ages 6 to 17 attend a weekend camp experience that combines grief education and emotional support with fun, traditional camp activities.

Camp Kangaroo

Telephone: (847) 692-1000
Locations: Sharon, MA (Also nationwide locations)
Ages served: 5–13 years old and families

Description: Camp Kangaroo is a bereavement camp experience offered free of charge to children in the community who have suffered the death of a loved one. Participants receive grief education and emotional support combined with fun camp activities.

Camp Kesem

Telephone: (253) 736-3821
Locations: Camp Kesem locations can be found nationwide, but they have 9 New England chapters.
Ages served: 6–18 years old

Description: Camp Kesem is a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. Camp Kesem serves children who have lost a parent to cancer, have a parent undergoing cancer treatment, or whose parent is a cancer survivor. NOTE: Camp Kesem does not serve children and teens who have been affected by a sibling’s cancer.

Camp Kita

Telephone: please use website, campkita.org
Location: Agassiz Village, Poland, ME
Ages served: 8–17 years old

Description: Camp Kita is a summer bereavement camp, located in Maine. Open to children ages 8-17 who are survivors of a loved one’s suicide. Camp Kita provides all of the quintessential experiences of a rural summer camp. In addition, the camp provides clinical professionals who lead small peer support sessions and offer 24/7 trauma support. The camp is tuition free for all campers.

Camp Stepping Stones

Telephone: 888-283-1722
Location: Glen Urquhart School (74 Hart St., Beverly, MA)
Ages served: Children and their families

Description: The Bertolon Center for Grief & Healing, a program of Care Dimensions, has developed a day camp to support children and their families who have experienced the death of someone close to them. The camp offers a combination of child-focused activities including arts and crafts, water activities, and games. The camp also offers relaxation activities and workshops for adults. The entire family will have fun while learning new coping skills.

Camp Sunshine

Telephone: (207) 655-3800
Location: Casco, ME

Description: Camp Sunshine provides retreats combining respite, recreation and support, while enabling hope and promoting joy, for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families through the various stages of a child’s illness. Camp Sunshine’s program is offered year-round and has the distinction of having been designed to serve the entire family in a retreat model. The program is free of charge to families and includes on-site medical support. A bereavement session is also offered for families who have experienced the death of a child from a supported illness. Camps are offered by type of illness.

For 2023 summer camps Click Here

Circle Camps for Grieving Children

Telephone: (770) 687-3066
Locations: Maine, West Virginia, Georgia
Ages served: 9 – 14 & 15 – 18 for returning campers. Female identified.

Description: Circle Camps is a free summer camp and leadership program for girls who have experienced the death of a parent. Their camp program encourages fun, engagement in traditional summer camp activities, and community building through shared grief. Our Leaders in Training program offers four years of leadership and skill-building, community engagement, and outdoor adventure for grieving teens. We run programming out of Georgia, West Virginia, and Maine.

Comfort Zone Camp

Telephone: (866) 488-5679
Locations: Listed below
Ages served: 7-17 years old (18 years old, if still in high school)

Description: Provides Family Programs (one-day camps) and weekend-long camps that will include confidence-building programs and age-based support groups that break the emotional isolation grief often brings. There will also be fun activities including a challenge course and bonfire. Because everyone here has had a loss and can relate on a level that few others can, lasting friendships are formed. There are also times to hear others’ stories.

Experience Camp

Telephone: (833) 226-7385.
Location: Camps Manitou in Oakland, ME
Ages served: For boys entering grades 4-12 and girls entering grades 4-10.

Description: Experience Camps is a national, no-cost program for grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. Our one-week, overnight summer camp programs help to reframe the experience of grief and empower kids to develop invaluable coping skills that enable them to move forward with their lives. Through compassion, connection, and play, Experience Camps empowers grieving children to embody a life full of hope and possibility.

Fleur de Lis Camp: Circle Week

Telephone: 603-585-7751
Location: Fitzwilliam, NH
Ages served: Ages 8 (summer before 3rd grade) to 15 (summer before 10th grade)

Description: Fleur de Lis Camp’s Circle Week integrates traditional overnight camp activities and fun with the opportunity to do some “grief work” in a safe and caring setting, under the guidance of an experienced Grief Team, surrounded by supportive peers. The program is entirely free to campers ages and free transportation will be provided from one location in MA and one in NH.

For 2023 summer camp: Sign up here

Camp Date: August 14th-19th

The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp

Telephone: (860) 429.3444
Location: Ashford, CT
Ages served: 7 – 15 years old

Description: Their signature summer program includes 7 weeklong sessions for children with serious illnesses and one session for their healthy siblings. Campers ride horses, create crafts, swim, and so much more as they bond with other children facing similar challenges and learn they are capable of much more than they ever thought possible.

For 2023 Summer Camp: Sign up here

Outward Bound Programs – Expeditions for Grieving Teens

Telephone: (866) 467-7651
Location: Oregon & Delaware
Ages served: 14 – 17 years old

Description: Grieving Teens Programs offered by the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School are now enrolling. These 7-day journeys are a life-changing opportunity. They are for those seeking a fresh challenge in a unique environment and in an intense team setting. Grieving Teens expeditions help participants acquire coping skills, build an ongoing supportive peer network, and to honor the griever through compassionate, purposeful grief processing and activities. Through the generous support of the New York Life Foundation and other donors, this program is being offered at reduced tuition. Additional need-based scholarships are available.

Rett’s Roost: Open to Healing Retreat

Email: info@rettsroost.org 
Location: Ogunquit, ME

Description: Rett’s Roost ‘Open to Healing’ bereavement retreats are for families that have lost their child to a chronic illness. We share our children’s stories, and give strategies for moving forward in grief, while at the same time being sensitive to the fact that everyone’s process and timeline is different. Empathy is a word you would use to describe these retreats.This is an opportunity for families whose child died of cancer or other chronic illness to participate in an intimate, supportive bereavement retreat at our Rett’s Roost.

Summer 2023 Retreat: Sign up here

Retreat Date: June 9th-11th

Wildflower – Support for Summer Camp Experiences to Grieving Children

Telephone: (781) 861-1413
Ages served: campers up to 18 years old.

Description: Wildflower provides the gift of summer camp and enrichment opportunities to children who have lost a parent. Our unique program provides individually tailored support for grieving families. Wildflower provides emotional and logistical support to the surviving parent, and the opportunity for at-risk children to receive the incredible experiences that summer camp brings.

TAPS National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp for Survivors

Telephone: (800) 959-TAPS (8277)
Ages served: Children, teens and adults
Location: New England area including Boston

Description of program: The TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) Good Grief Camp for children and teens provides support and comfort for children and teens facing the loss of a loved one in military service. The safe and supportive atmosphere offers opportunities to learn coping skills, establish and identify support systems and create awareness that they are not alone in the grief of their loved one. Children and teens meet others of their own age to share and learn together. Each Good Grief Camp participant has a military mentor who serves as a companion throughout the weekend, providing them with special one-on-one attention and showing them that the military has not forgotten about them. Other summer camps are offered across the US.

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