Berkeley Youth Gymnastics Summer Camp

My kids did this camp for several years and loved it. The gymnastics is not too intense and totally fine for a complete beginner.  In the younger groups many kids are beginners with no experience. Maybe 9 years old and up I would hesitate to send a kid with zero experience just because so many other kids have experience and they might feel uncomfortable, even though the program for older kids is also not challenging at all.  My kids loved the counselors and camp and are sad they are too old! The only drawback is it could be very hot, but they are in a different building this summer so not sure what it will be like in there!

Over the last decade, I've had both of my kids in this summer camp. My youngest one is 11, so my most recent experience is mainly for that age group. But, my daughters classes and camps often share the space with those for younger children. The classes are not super intense. They have appropriate supervision at all times. As with any program and everything in life, there are no absolute guarantees that nothing bad will happen to your child, but it is as good as it gets. 

Children are all different, so some get tired faster than others, and the abilities differ within the age group. Say, my daughter is 11, but there are 6-year-olds who mastered skills she isn't even close to doing. 

I assume your child has some experience with gymnastics, likely with the Berkeley Youth Gymnastics program. If so, the level of the class your child was in would be very similar to what they would do in the camp. Kids get a lot of breaks, and they also have other activities like drawing, games and dancing in addition to gymnastics. It is still focused on gymnastics, so your kid will get tired. I mean, even doing a handstand a bunch of times would get anyone tired, but if they like gymnastics in general they'll be fine.

I say, try it out. It's not a super long camp,

Have fun!   

If you're talking about the 1-2 week Cal camp, "intense" is not a word I would use to describe the 5yo summer program. I've had two kids go through it at 5yo. They're really just learning to move their bodies and maybe keep to time a bit with choreography at the week's show. I didn't even think to be concerned about anything they were doing, and anytime I saw a more experienced kid do something slightly more complicated during the show, there was a spotter. I think they're pretty safety conscious.

Hello! My daughter is in the year round gymnastics program now, but she did the spring break camp when she was a young 5 year old with little experience. They break the kids up into different groups and a lot of the stuff for young kids is somersault, learning to walk on a very low beam, jumping on/off soft blocks, stretches and games. My daughter really liked it. They usually have quite a few instructors so I don't believe you'll need to worry about supervision. I think the summer camp is at a different facility than normal classes this year due to some renovations.