Mary Sears Summer Camp
Mary Sears Children's Academy – Joliet, 300 Caterpillar Dr., Joliet, IL 60435
About
Mary Sears Summer Camp includes daily sport and water activities such as basketball tournaments, field hockey, softball, soccer, track and field, t-ball, potato-sack races, water balloon contests, and swimming. Campers also take part in arts and crafts, water slides, sprinklers, Friday Bar-B-Q’s, ice cream socials, playground time with slides, jungle gyms, swings, tag, ball toss, and indoor options like computers, video games, board games, foosball, table tennis, Bingo, ring toss, “Bozo” buckets, and bean bag toss. Additional activities listed for the program include pony rides, visits with baby farm animals, apple picking, and snowmobiling, as well as use of children’s pools and swimming pools with lifeguards for splishing and splashing.
• Ages: 5–12 years old
• Schedule: Daily schedule runs from 8:30am to home time, with swim suit changing and lotion/bug spray from 8:30–9:00am, alternating sport and water activities in half-hour blocks between 9:00–11:30am and 12:30–2:00pm, lunch from 11:30am–12:00pm, playground equipment from 12:00–12:30pm, clean up from 2:00–2:30pm, snack time from 2:30–2:45pm, and activity recaps and discussion of the next day’s events from 2:45pm to home; Wednesdays are field trip days with a signed permission slip and arrival by 8:30am, and Fridays are Bar-B-Que Days with arrival by 9:00am; 2025 Summer Camps start in early June, with the exact start date depending on location.
• Price: Registration and tuition depends on location.
Mary Sears Summer Camp is part of Mary Sears Children’s Academy, which offers summer camps at all five of its locations along with before and after school programs, preschool, and kindergarten, and care for children from 6 weeks to 12 years. The program includes daily water activities such as swimming, water slides, sprinklers, waterslides, slip and slides, and children’s pools, as well as Friday Bar-B-Q’s with hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, and ice cream in the afternoon, and rainy-day Carnival Days with games and prizes where prizes are awarded in all categories and everyone receives a prize. Families are asked to bring a copy of the child’s physical form at registration, and campers change into swim suits at 8:30–9:00am and use lotion and bug spray, which are applied throughout the day.
Mary Sears Children’s Academy reports loving, dedicated teachers and a nurse on staff, and provides a daily progress report, rhythm time with musical instruments, creative playfulness, and daily exercise to the sound of music in a wholesome environment to motivate a child’s natural curiosity for learning. The Academy describes its playgrounds as three acres of playground in a quiet, clean country atmosphere called “a Child’s Paradise,” with a private infant-toddler playground, heated floors, hot nutritious meals, and a clean, safe, and secure environment, and notes that summer camp is available for all ages within its stated age range up to 12. Mary Sears Children’s Academy was founded in 1964 by Mary Sears, a mother of seven children with a Doctorate’s Degree in Early Childhood Development, and states that it has been dedicated to early childhood development since 1964.
The stated mission includes the phrases “Love through Respect is our first concern for our precious children!” and “Our goal is to meet the total needs of young children with high quality child care, education, and guidance. It is extremely important that we create a warm, loving environment so we can instill in our young children a love for learning. The purpose of Mary Sears Children’s Academy is to meet the total needs of your child emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually, through love and understanding.” Mary Sears Children’s Academy is state accredited and notes that, in accordance with Federal law and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, the institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, and it lists a non-discrimination policy per USDA.
Last updated January 12, 2026.
• Ages: 5–12 years old
• Schedule: Daily schedule runs from 8:30am to home time, with swim suit changing and lotion/bug spray from 8:30–9:00am, alternating sport and water activities in half-hour blocks between 9:00–11:30am and 12:30–2:00pm, lunch from 11:30am–12:00pm, playground equipment from 12:00–12:30pm, clean up from 2:00–2:30pm, snack time from 2:30–2:45pm, and activity recaps and discussion of the next day’s events from 2:45pm to home; Wednesdays are field trip days with a signed permission slip and arrival by 8:30am, and Fridays are Bar-B-Que Days with arrival by 9:00am; 2025 Summer Camps start in early June, with the exact start date depending on location.
• Price: Registration and tuition depends on location.
Mary Sears Summer Camp is part of Mary Sears Children’s Academy, which offers summer camps at all five of its locations along with before and after school programs, preschool, and kindergarten, and care for children from 6 weeks to 12 years. The program includes daily water activities such as swimming, water slides, sprinklers, waterslides, slip and slides, and children’s pools, as well as Friday Bar-B-Q’s with hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, and ice cream in the afternoon, and rainy-day Carnival Days with games and prizes where prizes are awarded in all categories and everyone receives a prize. Families are asked to bring a copy of the child’s physical form at registration, and campers change into swim suits at 8:30–9:00am and use lotion and bug spray, which are applied throughout the day.
Mary Sears Children’s Academy reports loving, dedicated teachers and a nurse on staff, and provides a daily progress report, rhythm time with musical instruments, creative playfulness, and daily exercise to the sound of music in a wholesome environment to motivate a child’s natural curiosity for learning. The Academy describes its playgrounds as three acres of playground in a quiet, clean country atmosphere called “a Child’s Paradise,” with a private infant-toddler playground, heated floors, hot nutritious meals, and a clean, safe, and secure environment, and notes that summer camp is available for all ages within its stated age range up to 12. Mary Sears Children’s Academy was founded in 1964 by Mary Sears, a mother of seven children with a Doctorate’s Degree in Early Childhood Development, and states that it has been dedicated to early childhood development since 1964.
The stated mission includes the phrases “Love through Respect is our first concern for our precious children!” and “Our goal is to meet the total needs of young children with high quality child care, education, and guidance. It is extremely important that we create a warm, loving environment so we can instill in our young children a love for learning. The purpose of Mary Sears Children’s Academy is to meet the total needs of your child emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually, through love and understanding.” Mary Sears Children’s Academy is state accredited and notes that, in accordance with Federal law and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy, the institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, and it lists a non-discrimination policy per USDA.
Last updated January 12, 2026.
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