Summer Writing Camp
Grades 2-9
Unleash your inner author! Dive into a world of mysteries, fantasy, poetry and more in our unforgettable week-long camps. Led by published authors, artists, and storytellers, our days are packed with imaginative writing and arts activities designed to stretch your mind, transform your ideas into stories, and most importantly, have a blast.
To receive email updates about children's education programs, please use the sign up form at the very bottom of this page.
Deadline to register is May 4.
2026 Summer Writing Camp
Grade levels refer to the grade that the camper is entering in fall 2026.
Rising 2/3 Grade
July 27-31 from 12:30-4 pm
$200 + $25 registration fee
The day is short but our activities are packed! You’ll write your own Magic Tree House Adventure, make pop-up cards, create pet adventures, and so much more.
Rising 4/5/6 Grade
June 1-5 from 9 am-4 pm -OR-
June 8-12 from 9 am-4 pm -OR-
June 15-19 from 9 am-4 pm -OR-
June 22-26 from 9 am-4 pm
$355 + $25 registration fee
Think like a detective, make cartoons, write about things that go bump in the night, try your hand at script writing, make new friends, and laugh along the way!
Rising 6/7/8 Grade
July 6-10 from 9 am-4 pm -OR-
July 13-17 from 9 am-4 pm -OR-
July 20-24 from 9 am-4 pm
$355 + $25 registration fee
Break out of your boredom with us! We’ll have adventures writing ghost stories, developing worlds, making our own games, and cryptids, just to name a few.
Deadline to register is May 4.
In the meantime, check out the fun we had in 2025…
Post-Camp Note from the Camp Director
That’s a wrap! The Thurber Center rooms are quiet, the pencil sharpeners are taking a well deserved breather, the snacks have all been eaten, and the juicer, I mean craft supplies, have all been put away. It is always bittersweet (and way too quiet) after the last day of camp but looking through all of the photos, anthologies, and remembering all of the stories, poems, and inside jokes keep me going. What a great summer it was! Eight weeks of writing, imagining, creating, illustrating, cartooning, sharing, sometimes even acting, crafting, and laughing. Over 300 campers, 65 high school interns, 12 counselors, 10 teachers, about 1000 pencils and erasers, numerous magazines, recyclables, pieces of fabric, and glue for our characters/maps/creations on Friday Craft Day, and countless times I tried to learn the group names each week. How in the world can I memorize them when they’re so long?! It’s always good for a laugh at what I do remember though.
Thank you for sharing your young writer with us this summer. Hopefully, they will remember it as fondly as I do! Check out some of the adventures we had with the photos below. (This is actually only a fraction of the photos and fun we had!) Thurbear and I hope to see your writer again next year!
Have a great school year!
Miss Meg
Camp Director and possible alien 👽
2025 Camp Photos
Photos from Grades 2-3:
Photos from Grades 4-6:
Photos from Grades 7-9:
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—All camp sessions are held at Thurber Center (91 Jefferson Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215), next door to Thurber House.
—Enrollment is first-come, first-served and each week of camp is limited to forty students.
—Campers will be split into four groups of ten, with one counselor per group.
—The camp schedules for each grade level are the same for each week, so please register for only one week.
—Grade levels refer to the grade that the camper is entering in fall 2026.
—Campers bring their own lunch each day; Thurber House provides an afternoon snack.
—Tuition covers all supplies, a camp t-shirt, and daily snack.
—Our camps fill quickly, so don't wait to register!
Full payment must be received to confirm each registration. We will be confirming receipt of online registrations via email. If you are unable to register online, please contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org to register.
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Camp is held at Thurber Center (91 Jefferson Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215).
Free, easy street parking is available all along the Jefferson Avenue oval for up to three hours. Note: only the spots along the one-way oval are free; the spots along the two-way ends of Jefferson Avenue (near Broad Street and Long Street) are not free.
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We encourage the involvement of all students and will do our best to make accommodations. Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org to discuss any accessibility needs.
The first floor of Thurber Center is handicap/wheelchair accessible, including the first floor restrooms.
How to reach the wheelchair ramp:
—If you park on Jefferson Avenue: There is a slight curb (some wheelchairs can navigate this). The closest “ramp” cut is the entrance to the large parking lot on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Long Street (here). Follow the sidewalk through the Thurber Center front gate. Take the sidewalk around the porch on the right side of the building. The entrance to the wheelchair ramp will appear on your left, past the porch.
—If you park in the Thurber House rear parking lot: Follow the sidewalk between the handicap parking signs (here). The sidewalk will take you around the north side of our multipurpose building, Thurber Center. The ramp will appear on your right and leads up to the front porch.
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—Students who need financial assistance may enter a lottery for one of a limited number of scholarships.
—We are only able to offer one scholarship per family at this time.
—To apply, fill out the regular registration form and fill out the applicable scholarship fields.
—We will notify all scholarship applicants of their status in early May.
—For questions about scholarships or how to apply, please email megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
—Scholarship spaces are reserved in the requested week along with all other registrations.
If we are unable to provide you with a scholarship, we will work with you on a plan or try to help you as much as we can.
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The registration cost includes a non-refundable administration fee of $25. If a camp session is full or is canceled by Thurber House, a full refund minus the administration fee will be given. Tuition is 70% refundable for cancelations received no later than two weeks before the scheduled start date for your chosen week of camp. There are no refunds of any kind within two weeks of your chosen week of camp.
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Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org. To receive email updates about children's education programs, please use the sign up form at the very bottom of this page.
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Disclaimer: Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by teachers and counselors in all mediums are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Thurber House, its affiliates, or its staff/board.
Special thanks:
Thurber House would like to thank G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers, Inc. for their donation of drinks for our campers all summer long.
