Find Summer Youth Activities in Louisville

Louisville offers dozens of programs designed to keep students’ minds and bodies active during the summer break.

“Lifelong learning is a pillar of our city, and that includes summer-time learning. We cannot afford for our students to spend the summer losing knowledge they’ve gained during the school year,” Mayor Greg Fischer says. “All of these programs help students enhance their learning, not lose it.”

The city-organized programs complement the hundreds of camps and enrichment activities organized by non-profit organizations, local colleges and universities, museums, churches, libraries and arts organizations.

Louisville summer youth programs include:

Cultural Pass

The passes will be available at all 18 Louisville Free Public libraries and Metro Parks Community Centers, starting on May 23. They will be valid June 5 – Aug. 6.

Louisville Free Public Library

The library is launching Beanstack, an online parent-engagement tool that connects families with free reading recommendations, as well as educational programs like Summer Reading and the Cultural Pass.  Beanstack allows parents, caregivers and educators to preregister online for those programs, and, by creating custom profiles for young readers, receive learning tips and recommendations of age-appropriate books available for checkout. Parents can also easily track their child’s reading progress on a personal dashboard, while their children can earn special badges for reaching goals in the Summer Reading program and participating in the Cultural Pass – all in a simple, fun and easy-to-use format! To preregister for the Summer Reading Program and the Cultural Pass, visit LFPL.org/SummerReading or LFPL.org/CulturalPass today.

Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods

 The office is partnering with the Library on a Summer Violence Prevention program, offering events and activities designed to keep teens active; sponsoring Waterfront Field Days with Hope by Hope; and will be training One Love Louisville ambassadors. The office also is involved in the annual Dirt Bowl and helping sponsor a national convening for Rumble Young Man Rumble, among other activities. See more at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/safe-neighborhoods.

Metro Parks & Recreation

Among the highlights from Metro Parks & Recreation are Saturday hours (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at nearly all community centers, where students can participate in fun activities such as archery, yoga and table tennis; T-ball for ages 5-7 offered for the first time at four community centers – Baxter, California, Portland and Southwick; and Amazing Adventures 2 summer camps at nine sites beginning June 13. Jefferson Memorial Forest, the Louisville Tennis Center and Historic Locust Grove also offer summer camps.

Metro Parks & Recreation offers several other opportunities for students in the summer. To find more, go here.

Other organizations

In addition, Jefferson County Public School district is also offering camps this summer to assist English as a Second Language students; students who may need a summer learning boost; and students who need extended learning to help halt summer learning slide.

JCPS is also organizing 15 “Literacy &” camps for elementary students, similar to those offered during Spring Break. So far, those free day camps have been scheduled for Audubon Traditional, Price, Rangeland, Shelby, Engelhard and Wheatley elementary schools.  Locations for the other nine camps are still being finalized.

During the Literacy & camps, students will read a book and participate in an activity featured in the book.  JCPS hopes to serve more than 350 students through the camps.  Registration information will be provided when the final camp locations are determined.  For more information, call (502) 485-3506.

“These camps not only help our students continue building their reading skills over the summer, they also open the doors to new experiences,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens.  “The most important thing is to make sure our students have many opportunities to learn over the summer, so they show up next school year prepared and ready to succeed.”

Search more programs

To help families sort through the many summer offerings, the Mayor also announced a new searchable database of quality Out of School Time (OST) programs. It's made possible through the BLOCS community partnership.

Families can access this new tool year-round by visiting www.louisvilleblocs.org and clicking on the 211 link.

The list is also available by dialing Metro United Way’s 211 call-in line, or accessing the 211 app.

BLOCS was established in 2011 by Louisville Metro Government, JCPS, Metro United Way and the Louisville Alliance for Youth, in an effort to bridge in-school and out-of-school time, while demonstrating OST programming is a fundamental support in improving educational outcomes.

“Since students only spend 9 percent of their lives in school, it’s important to make every minute count and make sure learning continues outside the classroom,” said Joe Tolan, President and CEO of Metro United Way. “By giving parents easy access to quality out-of-school time programs through our 2-1-1 information and referral line, we hope to ensure students all across our community graduate high school on time and move on to college or career.”