Hours
- 9am - 3pm
Ages
- Rising Pre-K 3 - 4
Ratio
- 6:1
Locations
- Bethesda, MD
- Cathedral Heights, NW DC
- Oakton, VA
- Palisades, NW DC
Junior Day Camp
Our Junior Day Camp sparks imagination and builds early confidence through hands-on activities in art, music, sensory play, and outdoor exploration. For our youngest campers, this program creates a warm, structured environment where they can practice independence, develop early listening and transition skills, and feel seen, known, and celebrated every day.
Each week features a playful, story-based theme – superheroes, robots, fairytales, and more — that transforms our classrooms and activities. Campers step into a new world through art, STEM, music & movement, storytime, moonbounce, and sports & games, making learning feel natural and exciting.
Our staff look for moments when a child is ready to try something new and support those breakthroughs using our Spot–Create–Celebrate method. These are the Headfirst Moments that help campers discover what they can do — and they’re built into every day of Junior Day Camp.
Junior Day Camp includes daily instructional swim at our Bethesda, MD & DC locations. In Oakton, VA, campers enjoy daily water play. See below for more information.
What Makes this Headfirst Program Special
Young children learn best through story and play – and we design our themes to spark their imagination while strengthening early social-emotional skills like resilience, optimism, and teamwork. Each week’s narrative shapes our crafts, games, classroom environments, and group activities, so campers learn without even realizing it.
Junior Day Camp also introduces the foundations of our Super Six confidence-building skills, helping campers practice transitions, express themselves, and build independence in joyful, age-appropriate ways.
Every day is intentionally designed to help our youngest campers explore, try, and grow.
Swim & Water Play
At Mater Dei (Bethesda, MD), St. Albans & National Cathedral (NW DC) & St. Patrick’s (NW DC), Junior Day Camp includes daily instructional swim, taught in small groups with a 3:1 swimmer-to-staff ratio. Our trained swim team sets individualized goals – from putting faces in the water to jumping in independently – and families receive regular progress updates to celebrate each child’s growth.
At our Flint Hill (Oakton, VA) location, campers enjoy daily water play, featuring sprinklers, splash activities, and sensory-rich water games. It’s a refreshing, active way for young campers to cool down and have fun.
Sample Schedule
Notes:
- This schedule is representative of the schedule one group would follow. Each group follows a different schedule each day.
- Given the variance in schedules, lunch time is different for each group.
- Sunscreen is applied throughout the day in a scheduled manner.
- Water and Bathroom breaks are also taken throughout the day in a scheduled manner and always when needed.
- At camps in Virginia, campers are required to have 60 minutes scheduled for quiet/nap time.
