For Kids and Teens, Eagle Offers Plenty of Summer Fun—and Opportunities to Expand Your Mind
Story by Liza Long, Photos by Cy Gilbert
Summer is that magic time when anything and everything is possible. For Eagle’s kids, summer might mean wading in the Boise River, biking or skateboarding at the Eagle Sports Complex, or horseback riding. Or it might mean building a robot, learning about space travel, improving dance or gymnastics skills, or even relaxing at an 80s style arcade. How will you spend your summer of fun? Here are a few suggestions right outside your door.
PCS Adventures
Just because school’s out doesn’t mean the learning has to end. What’s better than STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)? Try STEAM! At PCS adventures, students explore fundamental STEM concepts and principles using everything from robotics to gaming. From 3-D printers to digital media and solar powered robots, students in PCS Adventures work at their own pace in a supportive, creative, fun environment, earning badges in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics (STEAM). Attend a class or camp, or purchase a do-it-yourself learning kit. And check out Girls Can Build for ages 6-8 or 9-11. Developed by Kristina Drlik, a local teacher, this camp builds confidence and creativity.
Summer camps range from $75-$295. For a full list of camps, visit www.edventureslab.com
Bricknowlogy Mind Builders
Spend your summer building your brick skills at everyone’s favorite Treasure Valley Lego destination. Bricknowlogy’s basic classes like “Build Your Mind” include a 
Lego Creative set. More intensive Mindstorms camps help kids ages 8-14 to develop their robotic skills, while Space Academy teaches 6-11 year olds about space as they construct their own rocket ships and moon bases. While the kids are in class, Lego-loving parents can check out the extensive collection of unique mini figs.
Classes: $28- $37
Camps: $125-$189
For a full list of camps, visit www.bricknowlogy.com
Danik School of Gymnastics
Danik’s athletic summer camp features a different theme every day. Mondays, kids will be Rollin with the Oldies, with a different decade each week. On Tuesdays, kids will learn to talk (and tumble) like pirates. Wednesdays feature Hawaiian themed parkour; Thursday’s theme is Disney with trampoline fun. Fridays are Wild and Crazy show off days.
Cost: $125/week, $30/day drop in
For more information visit www.danikgym.com
Eagle Performing Arts Center
Start a life-long relationship with the art of dance this summer at one of the best dance training programs in the Pacific Northwest. New dancers ages 3.5-6 can learn ballet basics at the Eagle Performing Arts Center’s half-day dance camps.
$100 per week-long camp, three sessions available in July and August.
For more information visit www.epacdance.com
Skyhawks Sports Camps
The leading national youth sports franchise now offers summer sport camps at Eagle’s Merrill Park. Designed to introduce young beginning to intermediate athletes from ages 6-10 to the joy of sports, this multi-sport week long camp teaches your child the basics of two-three sports while also promoting values of respect, teamwork, and self-discipline.
$110 four day camp, July 13-16 or August 10-13.
For more information visit www.skyhawks.com
Grinkers
Who needs summer camp? If you were a teenager in the 80s, you probably spent those hot summer days in a cool, dark arcade gobbling dots or shooting space invaders. Now your teens can have the same experience at Grinkers Grand Palace, Eagle’s very own arcade. You can grab a cold one and enjoy a sub while your teen is transfixed by the crude graphics and retro joysticks of everyone’s favorite games.
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11:00 a.m.-Midnight, Sunday 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
For more information, visit www.grinkers.com
Eagle Island State Park
Cool off with the kids on a hot summer day at Eagle Island State Park. Enjoy the beach, rent a paddleboard, or twist and turn on the park’s thrilling waterslide at a fraction of that other waterpark’s cost. You can bring pets (on a leash), and the park even has wi-fi for checking those work emails. There are also horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, and a disc golf course. There’s even a confirmed rumor that the park will be adding a zip line this September! Buy an Idaho State Park passport for just $25 and enjoy your local state park all summer long.
Open sunrise to sunset daily.
Family Event Saturday, August 22, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Enjoy food vendors, demonstrations, educational seminars, free fishing, casting lessons, safe paddling, and much more!
For more information, visit www.parksandrecreation.idaho.gov.
Backyard Camping with Backcountry Pursuit
What better way is there to spend a summer evening than camping under the stars? If you can’t get away this weekend, the kids can still enjoy the thrill of being one with nature, right in their own backyard! Backcountry Pursuits is a unique outdoor gear store, providing an economical and environmentally friendly way for outdoors enthusiasts to sell their high quality, gently used gear to the next nature enthusiast. Pick up a lightweight backpacking tent and teach the kids to pitch it near the patio. Add s’more from the grill or the firepit, and you have everything you need for a summer adventure.
Backcountry Pursuit is now open in Eagle!
1545 E. Iron Eagle Drive, Suite 106 on the corner of State St/Hwy 44 and Edgewood. Visit www.backcountrypursuit.com for more information.
