Camp Cabot at Waltham YMCA
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PUDDLESTOMPERS™ Nature ExplorationCamp Cabot is a co-ed daycamp run out of the Waltham YMCA for children entering Grades 2- 5. The camp runs in 1 and 2 week sessions, and offers activities like archery, arts and crafts, dance, sports, swimming and more.
Cabot campers have the unique opportunity to develop their own daily schedule to fit their personal interests. On the first day of the camp session campers will choose activities they would most like to participate in for each of the five daily activity periods.
Campers will then spend the rest of the week participating in their chosen activities and working towards a final goal, performance, or project.
All of the activities that Cabot campers choose from are developed and implemented by our Cabot counselors. The variety of choices is endless, and can include but is not limited to jewelry making, fort building, ultimate Frisbee, dance, water volleyball, archery, lacrosse, trust games, and skit performances.
Cabot campers will have the opportunity to interact with different Cabot counselors and a different group of Cabot campers during each activity period. However, they will still have a consistent 'home base tribe' and 'home base counselor' in which they will meet with for opening and closing ceremonies, lunch, and swimming lessons. Our camper staff ratio is 10:1.
General Hours of the YMCA Waltham
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday:
5:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday:
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
www.ymcaboston.org/waltham/programs/day_camps/summer_day_camp/youth_camps_5_-_13_years/camp_cabot/
725 Lexington St, Waltham, MA, 02452
mapPhone: (781) 894-5295
From Points North
Take 128 South to Exit 28/Trapelo Road
At end of ramp, take left onto Trapelo Road
Go straight on Trapelo Road for approximately 1.5 miles
At intersection, take a right onto Lexington Street
Stay on Lexington Street for 1 mile, pass Burger King
YMCA is on your left
From Points South
Take 128 North to Exit 27A/Totten Pond Road/Wyman Street)
At end of ramp, take a right onto Totten Pond Road
Follow Totten Pond Road to 2nd stop light
Turn left onto Lexington Street
YMCA is on the right side, after Waltham High School
From Points East
Take Route 2 to Waltham Exit/Waltham Street
Take right onto Waltham Street
Waltham Street turns into Lexington Street
Travel Lexington Street for approximately 2 miles
YMCA will be on your left.
- Find more ideas for unique Boston Summer Camps 2025 in our handy summer camp guide. The Greater Boston area is chock full of amazing summer camps for kids. You can find a summer camp near Boston for almost every interest a kid could have.
Not enough structureI honestly felt sad when I walked my son to the outdoor pool. The reason was the looks on the kids' faces watching us with a bored but wistful look in the hot sun behind the chain-link fence. I had picked my son up at noon from the same place, since he was in the half-day preschool program.
I think this camp has a lot of promise, and there are some (not all) good counselors, but there was no structure or accountability to plan anything except during the first week, which I think was a training week. My son was left to the wiles of preschool kids looking for things to do, and their running around aimlessly turned ugly fast. My son felt repeatedly bullied and did not know where to go to feel safe. On hearing this, I tried to communicate and work with the counselors themselves, but the counselor in charge later that day seemed determined to point out the wrong my son had done. This was probably true but didn't reassure us of his safety. So we took him out of the camp mid-week and left them our money for a week never used. My son has thrived in more structured environments. The Y is a paradox to me with kids. I am always surprised that there isn't more equipment that can be used outside in the summer and that the kids can't run anywhere inside. No one seems to use that expanse of property except for the summer camp. But it's a good plot of land for Waltham.
The Worst We tried this camp as a filler at the end of the summer, and it was the most chaotic place, with the poorest supervision, that I have ever experienced. Even more chaotic on rainy days, when they have 3 camps stuffed into the gym for most of the day. My son, who is very camp savvy, and had no trouble at other camps, was bullied and hit multiple times on the first day, and it was clear from the nature of this that supervision was almost nil. Also, they had no idea where his allergy/asthma meds were when I picked him up on the first day, and it turned out a counselor had taken them home -- leaving him unprotected for the 2 hours of after-camp! To top it off when I arrived to pick him up on the 4th day, they had actually lost track of him!! He was found safe after several minutes of me and the counselors frantically searching. Suffice it to say, we are filing a complaint and will never go back.
Find Something Else My kids went to a few different sessions at this camp for fill-in in 2008. It was not well-organized. They were not particularly safe there (there were a lot of accidents and other problems). A few counselors were very nice, but most of them were just interested in talking to each other or talking on their cell phones. They stuck the kids out in the pool for hours during the sunniest part of the day. Kids and counselors alike ended up with sun poisoning, etc. Not a good experience. Some of the facilities were filthy.
My Kids Had A BlastWhat a treasure! We were so happy to find a 'traditional' day camp in the heart of Waltham. The kids got to do activities I remember from camp...archery, nature activities, arts and crafts, games, and swimming. Their outdoor pool with the water slides were a big hit.
For me though, it was the staff. This wasn't a group of high school students. The counselors were mature, caring and full of enthusiasm. My kids didn't want me even picking them up at the end of the day.
Info changes frequently. We cannot warrant it. Verify with Camp Cabot at Waltham YMCA before making the trek. If you find an error, please report it...
