Fill Your Teen's Summer with Long Island's Low Commitment Programs

The start of summer vacation doesn't have to coincide with the start of a gap in teenagers' schedules. Short, drop-in, and week-long trip programs offer ways for teens to stay involved with just enough free time to spare.

Twin sisters Jenna and Mara Goldfarb, both 15, of Plainview, plan to fill school breaks with Kenwal Day Camp's Extreme Teen travel program. Camp Melville brings together nearly 80 campers in grades seven through ten on overnight trips to destinations in upstate New York and beyond.

“It’s like the best of both worlds because you can go away during the week and come home on the weekend,” says Mara.

If a week-long commitment or drop-in program is more suitable for them, there is a program for that. Here are some:

TEACH AND STILL HAVE TIME FOR THE BEACH

At Yoga Moksha in Huntington, students in grades eight through 10 can earn a certificate of completion on how to teach yoga to young children. Owner Kim Bienia says you don't have to be a yoga pro to participate in “Kids Teaching Kids” since the program is a “kid-friendly version.”

Teens will learn common yoga poses and turn them into poses that kids can do. For “cat pose,” children get on all fours with their spine raised, chin and tailbone tucked under, and sing “meow.” Games involving yoga poses follow instructions, like freeze dance yoga. “When the music stops, the children enter the yoga pose announced by the leader,” explains Bienia.

Teenagers also learn breathing techniques to relax. Bienia explains: “We exhale and imagine that our breath is our favorite color. We all project our colors upward in a rainbow. It's the concept of taking deeper inhales and longer exhales, like in adult yoga.

SUMMER SESSIONS: June 27-July 3, July 29-August. 1

COST: $375 per teenager

MORE INFORMATION: 195 East Main Street, Huntington; 516-527-5233; yogamokshali.com

TRAVEL AND ROAMING, NO MORE WEEKENDS AT HOME

Sign up for a minimum of four weeks in Kenwal Day Camp's Teen Extreme program and travel to amusement parks, state fairs and more. Summer trips will include the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; Morey's Piers Water and Amusement Parks in Wildwood, New Jersey; and the Ohio State Fair.

Mara Goldfarb explains: “The first week of camp, we don't go on overnight trips so we can get to know everyone. » Instead, teens participate in activities on the Kenwal campus and take day trips to sites across Long Island. During weeks two, three and four, teens travel and stay overnight. They start with two-day trips and turn into five-day trips. They always come back on the weekend.

Jenna Goldfarb says her favorite trip was last year to Washington, DC. “I had never gone away from home alone, so it was a really cool experience to do this with my friends,” she says.

Daniella Messina, 15, of Woodbury, is also in the program. She adds: “The bus ride is one of my favorite parts of every trip, even if it is very long. We all listen to music together, watch movies, laugh and have a good time.

SUMMER SESSIONS: Starts June 27

COST: See website for trip prices

MORE INFORMATION: 100 Drexel Avenue, Melville; 631-694-3399; kenwaldaycamp.com

LEARN ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS WITH FRIENDS

Members of the Young Environmentalists Society (YES) will meet several times over the summer and continue throughout the year. Past activities have included tracking endangered species in local ponds, recording data on horseshoe crabs, interviewing scientists on LTV (East Hampton's local television station), and attending movie nights related to horseshoe crabs. 'environment.

“The goal of our conversations with members is to find practical solutions and applications that they and their families can use,” says director Mare Dianora. “For example, we met a woman expert in zero waste. His waste for the whole year fits in a medium-sized Ziploc bag. None of us were able to keep up with this, but since that meeting we have all tried to reduce our single-use plastic and other items.

SUMMER SESSIONS: Marine biology “Camp” day on June 28; East Hampton Seafood Nursery Tour July 15; Evening discussion with author Carl Safina on August 18.

COST: Membership: free

MORE INFORMATION: South Fork Museum of Natural History; 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton; 631-537-9735