Ball for Life Camp is full of play, exercise, friendship, and creativity. Located in the beautiful Codornices Park among Redwoods and Oak Trees, campers spend their days in nature learning to move, connect and explore in new ways.

  • Codornices Park
    (1201 Euclid Ave, Berkeley)

  • Summer Camp, Week 1 (May 28-31, 2024)

    Summer Camp, Week 2 (June 3-7, 2024)

    Summer Camp, Week 3 (June 10-14, 2024)

    All summer camps run from 8:30-3:30. (Aftercare until 5pm is available upon request for an additional charge)

  • Kindergarten to 5th graders (rising 1st to 6th for summer camps)

  • One Day Camps: $100

    Summer Camp Week 1 (four days): $350

    Summer Camp Week 2: $425

    Summer Camp Week 3: $425

  • At Ball for Life Camps we have profound respect for the genius of young people and the power of child led play. We carefully plan our camps to nurture relationships, belonging and mixed age child led play in engaging natural settings which cultivate imagination, cooperation, leadership and “stretch zone” challenges. Our experience aligns with the wisdom of ancestral societies as well as cutting edge child development research: children are born to learn and grow physically, socially, and psychologically through child led play. We constantly seek to strike the perfect balance between structure and freedom in order to provide young people with the opportunity to take healthy risks knowing that a caring adult is always there but not always needed.

    Michaeleen Docleff’s (author of Hunt, Gather, Parent) T.E.A.M. acronym, which she developed as a way to synthesize her child development learnings from traditional cultures, aligns well with our philosophy and practice.

    Togetherness: We’re always ready to jump in and be part of play. We develop relationships through togetherness, not “authority”.

    Encouragement: We constantly share authentic positive praise and reinforcement to our amazing campers but avoid superficial praise (kids are too smart for that!)

    Autonomy: We encourage autonomy by allowing campers to lead their own play and navigate their social worlds while emphasizing the community.

    Minimal Interference: We’re always there when necessary and are not afraid to stay out of the way in order to empower campers to play independently and stretch their inner and outer strength!

    Download our flyer HERE

    Questions? Contact us!

What families are saying…

  • "Our daughter had a blast at Ball for Life- the staff engaged her with creative and empowering activities- for example, making a boat out of craft materials and getting to actually try it out in a little stream. She came home happy and tired, just as a camper should. :) The staff all had great, positive energy with the kids and this made our daughter immediately comfortable even on her first day of camp."

    Kindergarten Parent

  • "Ball for Life provided a great combination of sports, team building, leadership development with fun! All in a beautiful park with lots of access to nature. My kid was excited to go to camp every morning. And, every afternoon he came home happy, tired and with a story about the fun he had and the new friends he was making."

    5th Grade Parent

  • "Our campers came home happy and tired. I especially loved seeing them making friends and caring for each other across different ages. Ball for Life Camp built community among the campers in a short time. Wish we had had another week!"

    1st Grade and 5th Grade Parent

  • "My son LOVES your camp!! He really liked the walk with a map and adventures along the way. He just loves everything about your camp. I don't even "need" a camp for him on Nov 10 but I know he loves it so much that we are sending him again."

    Kindergarten Parent