East Vancouver Summer Camps: A Parent's Guide

East Vancouver is one of the best parts of the city to raise a young family. The parks are real, the neighbourhoods know each other, and your child can grow up outside. This guide covers the summer camp options in East Van for children ages 5 to 8, with an honest take on what works and what to skip.

The Short Answer

If you live in East Vancouver and your child is between five and eight, look for a camp that is fully outdoors, close enough to walk or bike to, and running a ratio no higher than 6:1.

Sunhouse Camps at Trout Lake meets all three. We run Monday to Friday through July and August in John Hendry Park, just south of Commercial Drive, at a strict 6:1 child-to-educator ratio, with every educator trained in The Sunhouse Method. Trout Lake is our home base and has been since Sunhouse started there as a year-round outdoor preschool.

The other East Van options are neighbourhood community centre programs and a handful of city-run outdoor programs. Both are covered below.

What Makes East Vancouver Good for Summer Camps

East Van families have something most other Vancouver neighbourhoods do not: a high concentration of real outdoor space close to home. From almost any East Van address, you are within a short walk or ride of:

• John Hendry Park (Trout Lake), 27 acres of grass, lake, sand, and mature trees
• New Brighton Park, harbour-side green space with a pool
• Hastings Park, sanctuary garden, pond and playgrounds
• Renfrew Park, community centre and sports fields
• Slocan Park, small but well loved by families
• The Central Valley Greenway, a cycling and walking corridor that connects most of it

This means East Van children can do summer camp without a long commute. They walk or bike. They run into camp friends at the farmers market. That is the kind of childhood the camp years are supposed to build.

What to Look for in an East Vancouver Camp

1. A location you can reach without a bridge

The biggest advantage of an East Van camp is proximity. If you have to cross a bridge at 8 AM, you lose the neighbourhood feel and about ninety minutes of your day. Pick a camp on your side of the city whenever you can.

2. Real outdoor time

East Vancouver has excellent outdoor space. Use it. Look for camps that spend the full day outside, not most of the day indoors with a walk in the afternoon.

3. Small groups

Some community centre camps run 10 to 15 children per leader. For ages 5 to 8, that is too many. The standard worth holding out for is 6:1.

4. Educators who know the neighbourhood

Some camp leaders are out-of-area university students hired for the summer. Others are educators who live or work in East Vancouver year-round. The second group brings more continuity, more familiarity with local children, and more accountability after the summer ends.

5. Real meal breaks

This sounds small. It is not. Children at this age regulate through routine, and a calm meal break in the middle of an active day is what makes the rest of the day work.

The East Vancouver Options

Sunhouse Camps at Trout Lake

Outdoor day camps for children ages 5 to 8, Monday to Friday through July and August, at a strict 6:1 child-to-educator ratio with a documented pedagogy behind every interaction. Children spend the entire day outdoors, rain or shine, using the grassy fields, sanded shoreline, lakeside picnic areas and mature trees as a daily classroom.

Trout Lake is not one location on a rotating list. It is where Sunhouse began, as a year-round outdoor preschool pilot, and it runs every season. The children from that pilot are the reason the programme now runs as camps: they grew up, started primary school, and the programme grew with them.

Easy reach from Commercial Drive, Strathcona, Hastings-Sunrise, Mount Pleasant and Renfrew-Collingwood. Transit by the 20 Victoria bus or Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain.

For 2027 we are adding further parks elsewhere in the city, confirmed in late 2026. Trout Lake is unaffected by that and continues as our home base.

Community centre camps

The City of Vancouver Park Board runs summer camps out of the Trout Lake, Britannia, Hastings and Renfrew community centres. These are general recreation camps with rotating activities, larger groups, often around 10:1, and indoor-heavy programming.

They are affordable and locally accessible, which works well for plenty of families. They are not an outdoor immersion model, and it is worth being clear with yourself about which of the two you are actually buying.

Britannia, specifically

Britannia, just off Commercial Drive, runs neighbourhood camps that mix indoor and outdoor activities. Group sizes vary by session. Good for families who want a community centre feel and have an older sibling to place alongside the five to eight year old.

Smaller independent options

A small number of independent programs run summer sessions in East Vancouver. These vary year to year and often fill from word of mouth in neighbourhood Facebook groups, so it is worth asking early.

The Trout Lake Advantage for East Van Families

If you live in East Vancouver and your child is between five and eight, the case for a Trout Lake camp is straightforward.

Your child already knows the ground. They have probably been there for the farmers market, an ice cream walk, a soccer practice, or a birthday party. Camp in a familiar place reduces first-day anxiety more than any other single factor.

The terrain does the teaching. Twenty-seven acres with open grass for running, sanded shoreline for mud kitchen and water observation, mature trees for shelter building and shade, and a real lake for sensory experience. It is one of the most complete outdoor classrooms in the city, which is exactly why we started here.

Drop-off is calm. No bridge, no tunnel, no 7 AM commute. You walk in, hand off your child, and start your day.

The neighbourhood reinforces the week. Children run into each other around the neighbourhood and at the community centre. Friendships built in July keep going through August and into the school year.

A Typical Camp Day

Here is the shape of a Sunhouse day:

• Morning walk into the day, with a themed scavenger hunt to ground the group
• Open exploration in the grass, at the shoreline, or in the trees
• Snack circle, with educators reading aloud
• A structured outdoor activity, such as shelter building, weather observation, or nature math
• Lunch outdoors
• Free play and rest
• Reflection circle before pickup

Children are outdoors the entire day, rain or shine. The pace is calm. The group stays the same all week.

FAQ for East Vancouver Parents

What is the best summer camp at Trout Lake?

Sunhouse Camps is the only camp at Trout Lake built specifically for ages 5 to 8 at a strict 6:1 ratio with a documented outdoor learning approach. The Park Board also runs general recreation camps out of the Trout Lake Community Centre, which are a different product at a different ratio.

What should I look for in a camp for a five-year-old?

Ratio first, pedagogy second, location third. A camp that cannot tell you how it handles an upset child has a schedule, not an approach. We walk through the full list in how to choose an outdoor camp in Vancouver.

Are there summer camps near Commercial Drive?

Yes. Sunhouse Camps at Trout Lake is a short walk from Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain. Britannia Community Centre runs camps directly on the Drive, and the Trout Lake Community Centre programs are just south. The 20 Victoria bus covers most of it without a car.

Are there outdoor preschool summer programs in East Vancouver?

Sunhouse was founded out of an outdoor preschool model and is the most direct continuation of that approach for the summer months. We wrote about that change in From Outdoor Preschool to Camps.

How do camp costs compare in East Vancouver?

Community centre camps sit at the lower end and buy you supervision at a higher ratio with rotating activities. Specialised outdoor day camps sit higher and should buy you a small group, trained educators, and a documented approach. The number worth comparing is not the weekly rate, it is what the rate buys per child per hour of attention.

Where do East Van parents look for recommendations?

The East Van Moms Facebook group, Vancouver Mom magazine, and Macaroni Kid Vancouver are the most active sources. Word of mouth at the Trout Lake farmers market is also surprisingly effective.

Booking for Next Summer

Sunhouse sessions at Trout Lake fill quickly, and each one has a small cohort by design. Registration for summer 2027 opens to our early bird list first, and to the public in January 2027.

Join the 2027 early bird list, or contact us with questions. We answer every message personally.

Sunhouse Camps was co-founded by sisters Nicole and April Hughes, and started at Trout Lake. Every camp runs at a non-negotiable 6:1 ratio and is built on The Sunhouse Method.