SIU’s 2026 summer camps are the place to be to explore, learn, improve skills, make friends and have fun. SIU Carbondale Photo
June 11, 2026
SIU camps make summer fun, media welcome
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Do you want to give your kids an unforgettable summer – full of fun, adventure, learning and friendships? Look no further than Southern Illinois University Carbondale where children and youths of all ages can enjoy a wide variety of academic, athletic, art, music and outdoor camps.
The summer also presents myriad opportunities for reporters, photographers and news crews to obtain newsworthy activity stories, photographs and videos.
Summer camps in the last half of June focus on baseball, art, writing and more—and present various options for media.
Here are media opportunities for June 14-27, shown with brief descriptions, contact information and favorable times to visit:
- Saluki Baseball Summer Camp, set for the mornings of June 15-18, gives youths ages 7-10 the opportunity to ramp up their game, developing and improving skills and love of baseball through hitting, fielding and pitching coaching, drills, and by playing games at Richard “Itchy” Jones Stadium. Media can stop by any time during the camp, which runs from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. to catch them in action. They will participate in water slide activities on June 18. Contact Connor Dailey at dailey@siu.edu or 818-200-3997 for more information.
- The Student Center Craft Shop is hosting arts and crafts camps throughout the summer, including three special sessions in late June at the shop, located in the lower level of the Student Center. For more details about any of the Craft Shop workshops, contact Stephanie Dukat at 618-453-3636 or craftshop@siu.edu.
Children in grades 1-3 have two fun options to explore, and youths in grades 4-8 can enjoy their own creative time:
- Young participants in the wearable art workshop, 9-11 a.m. June 15-18, will create their own personalized wearable art including pins, necklaces, crowns, stamped leather belts, custom-printed T-shirts and more using media such as clay, fabric, felt, paper, yarn and leather.
- Each age group will have the opportunity to design their very own board games June 22-26. The younger children meet from 9-11 a.m. while the older kids convene 1-4 p.m. They will create their own rulebook, design a game board, create the game pieces using clay or other mixed media, develop box packaging and all of the other components so when the week wraps up, they’ll take home unique, creative, playable board games.
- The Young Writers’ Conference, June 16-18, is a longtime popular event for high school students in grades 10-12. Each day, they’ll meet in Faner Hall, Room 2208, 9:30-11 a.m. and 1-5 p.m., to delve into writing prose and poetry through writing games, readings, arts and crafts with a writing emphasis and much more led by creative writing faculty, SIU graduate students and select guest writers. They’ll also explore the world of publishing. For details, contact Allison Joseph at aljoseph@siu.edu or 618-303-0463.
Tip of the iceberg
Those are just a few of the exciting camps happening at SIU this summer for all ages.
The camp lineup in coming weeks also includes the brand-new, interactive Saluki VR Developer Camp as well as junior aviator careers and summer wings camps, ag ed leadership camp, volleyball and soccer camps, nursing careers camp, several LEGO and robotics camps, additional craft camps, EDventure Camps at Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center and dozens of other options.
See the complete camp schedule, additional details and registration at camps.siu.edu.
Some camps fill up fast, but there’s still time to register for camps that have remaining openings.
Events and Outreach and Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center coordinate most of the camps while Saluki Athletics and other campus units handle the rest.