Eight to 12 is a great age for camp: old enough to stand up on a surfboard by the end of the week, run a real science experiment or rehearse a show. These are day camps across the city and along the coast for school breaks and summer, from surf and science to art, theater, cooking and nature.
WWF Portugal runs this day camp around its program "Around the World of Biodiversity". Kids play games, run experiments and do hands-on activities about species, ecosystems and how to protect them, splitting time between the Audax Labs space in Entrecampos and the green spaces of Jardim do Campo Grande next door. Groups top out at 20 kids with two WWF-trained leaders. Led in Portuguese.
A philosophy and poetry workshop at Casa Fernando Pessoa, the poet's house-museum in Campo de Ourique. Using the Philosophy for Children method, kids read poems by several authors, collect questions from them and talk them through, look at paintings, view the planet from space, and write and draw poems of their own, visual poetry included.
It suits curious kids who enjoy talking ideas through more than running around.
A holiday science camp run by Science4you, the Portuguese science toy company, at its own space in Parque das Nações. Kids spend the day on hands-on experiments with a team of science facilitators: slime, colorful chemical reactions and small builds. Most of it happens indoors.
It suits curious kids who like to mix, measure and get messy. Kids who want a sporty, run-around break may find it too calm.
A creative holiday camp at Lisbon Sound Society, where each kid picks one lab and sticks with it: instruments and studio recording, stand-up and short performances, theater and drama, or voice and singing. Groups stay small, and every child goes home with something they made, such as a recording, a video or a short show. It suits curious kids who would rather go deep on one thing than rotate activities.
A holiday day camp run by Centro Ser Mais, a child development center in Telheiras, during the Christmas school break. Groups are small and the team is trained in child development and used to neurodivergent kids, with a predictable structure.
The center's camps mix outings around Lisbon, STEM challenges, cooking and craft workshops, and group games built around social skills. Suits kids who do better in a calmer, smaller group.
A holiday tech club at Sala do Futuro, a Telheiras center that runs hands-on science and technology workshops for kids. Over the Christmas break, kids build electronics circuits, program robots, make their own digital games, and try virtual reality headsets and 3D pens, with science and craft experiments in between. It suits curious kids who like to make things; anyone after a sports camp should look elsewhere.
A forest holiday program in the Serra de Sintra, inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. Kids spend the whole day outdoors at Quintinha and Tapada de Monserrate: climbing trees, building shelters, following trails, learning the forest's sounds and animals, and joining nature workshops and games. There is also quiet time to sit and watch.
Expect muddy clothes. It suits kids who are happy outside all day.
A cooking camp in Kidchen's own kitchen in Laranjeiras. Mornings are for cooking: kids read the recipe, fetch their own ingredients, split the tasks and work through each step as a team, with nothing handed to them ready-made. Afternoons switch to art projects and games built around the edition's theme. Each child works at their own pace with specialist staff. It suits kids who like hands-on, practical days.
A holiday day camp inside Lisbon's Oceanário. Kids spend their days around the tanks: watching the animals, talking with the aquarists who care for them, and learning what each species does for the ocean.
Between visits there are games, yoga, creative dance and a cable car ride over Parque das Nações. It suits kids who are curious about sea life and happy spending the day in a group.
STAT is a Lisbon martial arts school, and its holiday bootcamps run out of its own academies. Mornings go to martial arts: Songahm taekwondo, self-defense, acrobatic kicks, practice weapons like nunchaku and katanas, and stunt work. Afternoons are team games outdoors.
It suits kids who want a physical, structured holiday. A child after crafts and quiet time will be happier elsewhere.
A cooking school in Oeiras runs full-day holiday courses where kids cook their own lunch: a starter, a main and a dessert each morning, then one more hands-on session after lunch. Chef Joana Byscaia and her team lead the classes, and beginners are as welcome as kids who already cook at home. It suits kids who like helping in the kitchen and want to bring that skill home.
A holiday day camp at Dance Spot, a dance and music school in Campo Grande. Each day stands on its own with a different theme, from The Nutcracker to a K-pop Christmas, mixing dance, music, games and crafts.
Families book one day or several, which helps when covering odd days of the break. Best for kids who like to move and perform.
Holiday art workshops inside the MAC/CCB, the contemporary art museum at the Centro Cultural de Belém. Each three-day block starts from an artist on show: younger kids play drawing relay games or mix colors and print patterns, while older kids invent worlds and characters or make spaces and short films about objects that tell stories. Lunch is included, so it works as a full day.
A fine arts holiday workshop at an art school in Campo de Ourique, built on art history. Each day brings a different technique: comics, illustration, drawing, painting on canvas, printmaking and sculpture.
Kids bring a sketchbook, an A3 drawing pad and a canvas, and the school supplies the paints, brushes and everything else. It suits kids who like to draw and paint and want to try new techniques.
A holiday day camp run by Ousar Crescer, a personal development academy, at its own center in Miraflores, Algés. Each edition has a theme, and the days mix team and board games, art, outings on foot and time outdoors with plenty of talk about feelings, starting with a morning check-in circle. It suits kids who do well in a small group and like making things with their hands.
Almada's city council runs this holiday program for local kids over the Christmas break. Days mix sport, culture, crafts and games, led by monitors, often using the city's own facilities. Younger kids and teens meet at separate sites. It suits kids who like busy group days. Only families with a link to Almada can sign up: the child lives or studies there, or a parent works there.
A Christmas holiday day camp run by Sporting CP at its home ground, Estádio José Alvalade. Kids sample a mix of the club's sports rather than drilling one, so it suits active kids who like variety more than a single-sport focus. Booking is by email to lionbootcamps@sporting.pt.
Know+ is a study and activity center in Benfica that runs camps over the school holidays. The Christmas camp mixes hands-on sessions like crafts and cooking with outings around Lisbon, such as a theater show.
It suits families in Benfica and western Lisbon who want a busy, varied break rather than a camp built around one skill.
A day camp at Ninja Factory, a ninja obstacle gym in Alfragide. Kids jump, climb, run and balance through obstacle courses and physical challenges, with coaches who help them try, adjust, rest and try again.
It suits kids with energy to burn who like a physical test. A child who prefers crafts or quiet play may find it a lot.
A holiday day camp run inside Lisboa Ginásio Clube, a gymnastics and martial arts club in Anjos. Kids rotate through gymnastics, trampoline, judo, karate and dance, then switch to board games, music, drawing and painting.
It suits kids who like to move all day and want to try several sports before picking one. Kids arrive already dressed in sportswear and sneakers, with a cap and a water bottle.
A football holiday camp from A Escolinha do Figo, the football school built on a method Luís Figo developed with coaches including José Peseiro. Kids work on individual technique in the morning, run the Luís Figo Circuit, then play a tournament and team games in the afternoon. Drills are adapted to age and level, so it suits keen players and kids new to the ball alike.
A holiday tennis day camp in Lumiar from João Sousa Escolinhas, the kids' tennis schools set up by Portuguese pro João Sousa and taught with his coaching method. Days mix technique drills, a kids' tournament and the João Sousa skills circuit, led by tennis coaches and monitors.
Every level is welcome, so it works as a first try at tennis or as extra court time for kids who already play.
A holiday camp at a motocross school in Manique, near Cascais, where kids ride motocross and off-road bikes with instructors. First-timers and riders who already know the basics both fit in.
Each day mixes riding practice, a motocross class and a hands-on mechanics class with other outdoor activities such as trail rides. Bikes, protective gear and insurance are provided. Best for kids who like engines, noise and mud.
Férias de Natal is the Christmas holiday day program run by the Santo António parish council (Junta de Freguesia) in central Lisbon. Days mix theater, cinema, a visit to Vila Natal and active group games.
It is a varied, council-run program of outings and activities rather than a camp built around one skill, and it gives working parents full-day cover through most of the Christmas break.
A holiday day camp inside Lisbon Zoo, run by the zoo's own education team. Kids follow one animal theme across the week: behind-the-scenes visits, trails past reptiles, birds and mammals, and enrichment sessions with the keepers, plus treasure hunts, games and arts.
Groups are split by school year, so younger kids and teens each get a program pitched at them. Best for kids who can't get enough of animals.
A working art studio in Prior Velho where kids spend the school holidays making things. Each day the atelier is set up with different materials and techniques, and children choose what to work on and go at their own pace. When booking, parents pick between the open art studio and the Oficinas da Vinci, a woodworking workshop. It suits kids who like to get messy and follow their own ideas.
A holiday day camp on Carcavelos Beach, between Lisbon and Cascais, run by a surf school that has taught there since 2001. Kids get two surf lessons a day, from carrying the board and warming up to the take-off and riding small waves, with games, football and volleyball on the sand in between. Groups run at five kids per instructor. Boards suit beginners and kids who already surf.
A full-day creative camp run in English by Clarity International School, held in a roomy family house with a fireplace lounge and a leafy private patio in Oeiras. Kids join a superhero academy, get a team name and earn points in daily games. Days mix art, music, storytelling and baking workshops with drama rehearsals that build to a Friday show for parents. It suits kids who like to perform.
Week-long tech camps from Happy Code, a kids' coding school, run during the Christmas holidays. Kids pick a track that fits their age: Scratch games for the youngest (Scratch Jr needs no reading), Minecraft and Roblox building, 2D game design, apps and websites, robotics, or how AI models learn. The half-day option is three hours of class; the full-day camp adds meals and screen-free play in the afternoon.
Eight to 12 is a great age for camp: old enough to stand up on a surfboard by the end of the week, run a real science experiment or rehearse a show. These are day camps across the city and along the coast for school breaks and summer, from surf and science to art, theater, cooking and nature.
WWF Portugal runs this day camp around its program "Around the World of Biodiversity". Kids play games, run experiments and do hands-on activities about species, ecosystems and how to protect them, splitting time between the Audax Labs space in Entrecampos and the green spaces of Jardim do Campo Grande next door. Groups top out at 20 kids with two WWF-trained leaders. Led in Portuguese.
A philosophy and poetry workshop at Casa Fernando Pessoa, the poet's house-museum in Campo de Ourique. Using the Philosophy for Children method, kids read poems by several authors, collect questions from them and talk them through, look at paintings, view the planet from space, and write and draw poems of their own, visual poetry included.
It suits curious kids who enjoy talking ideas through more than running around.
A holiday science camp run by Science4you, the Portuguese science toy company, at its own space in Parque das Nações. Kids spend the day on hands-on experiments with a team of science facilitators: slime, colorful chemical reactions and small builds. Most of it happens indoors.
It suits curious kids who like to mix, measure and get messy. Kids who want a sporty, run-around break may find it too calm.
A creative holiday camp at Lisbon Sound Society, where each kid picks one lab and sticks with it: instruments and studio recording, stand-up and short performances, theater and drama, or voice and singing. Groups stay small, and every child goes home with something they made, such as a recording, a video or a short show. It suits curious kids who would rather go deep on one thing than rotate activities.
A holiday day camp run by Centro Ser Mais, a child development center in Telheiras, during the Christmas school break. Groups are small and the team is trained in child development and used to neurodivergent kids, with a predictable structure.
The center's camps mix outings around Lisbon, STEM challenges, cooking and craft workshops, and group games built around social skills. Suits kids who do better in a calmer, smaller group.
A holiday tech club at Sala do Futuro, a Telheiras center that runs hands-on science and technology workshops for kids. Over the Christmas break, kids build electronics circuits, program robots, make their own digital games, and try virtual reality headsets and 3D pens, with science and craft experiments in between. It suits curious kids who like to make things; anyone after a sports camp should look elsewhere.
A forest holiday program in the Serra de Sintra, inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. Kids spend the whole day outdoors at Quintinha and Tapada de Monserrate: climbing trees, building shelters, following trails, learning the forest's sounds and animals, and joining nature workshops and games. There is also quiet time to sit and watch.
Expect muddy clothes. It suits kids who are happy outside all day.
A cooking camp in Kidchen's own kitchen in Laranjeiras. Mornings are for cooking: kids read the recipe, fetch their own ingredients, split the tasks and work through each step as a team, with nothing handed to them ready-made. Afternoons switch to art projects and games built around the edition's theme. Each child works at their own pace with specialist staff. It suits kids who like hands-on, practical days.
A holiday day camp inside Lisbon's Oceanário. Kids spend their days around the tanks: watching the animals, talking with the aquarists who care for them, and learning what each species does for the ocean.
Between visits there are games, yoga, creative dance and a cable car ride over Parque das Nações. It suits kids who are curious about sea life and happy spending the day in a group.
STAT is a Lisbon martial arts school, and its holiday bootcamps run out of its own academies. Mornings go to martial arts: Songahm taekwondo, self-defense, acrobatic kicks, practice weapons like nunchaku and katanas, and stunt work. Afternoons are team games outdoors.
It suits kids who want a physical, structured holiday. A child after crafts and quiet time will be happier elsewhere.
A cooking school in Oeiras runs full-day holiday courses where kids cook their own lunch: a starter, a main and a dessert each morning, then one more hands-on session after lunch. Chef Joana Byscaia and her team lead the classes, and beginners are as welcome as kids who already cook at home. It suits kids who like helping in the kitchen and want to bring that skill home.
A holiday day camp at Dance Spot, a dance and music school in Campo Grande. Each day stands on its own with a different theme, from The Nutcracker to a K-pop Christmas, mixing dance, music, games and crafts.
Families book one day or several, which helps when covering odd days of the break. Best for kids who like to move and perform.
Holiday art workshops inside the MAC/CCB, the contemporary art museum at the Centro Cultural de Belém. Each three-day block starts from an artist on show: younger kids play drawing relay games or mix colors and print patterns, while older kids invent worlds and characters or make spaces and short films about objects that tell stories. Lunch is included, so it works as a full day.
A fine arts holiday workshop at an art school in Campo de Ourique, built on art history. Each day brings a different technique: comics, illustration, drawing, painting on canvas, printmaking and sculpture.
Kids bring a sketchbook, an A3 drawing pad and a canvas, and the school supplies the paints, brushes and everything else. It suits kids who like to draw and paint and want to try new techniques.
A holiday day camp run by Ousar Crescer, a personal development academy, at its own center in Miraflores, Algés. Each edition has a theme, and the days mix team and board games, art, outings on foot and time outdoors with plenty of talk about feelings, starting with a morning check-in circle. It suits kids who do well in a small group and like making things with their hands.
Almada's city council runs this holiday program for local kids over the Christmas break. Days mix sport, culture, crafts and games, led by monitors, often using the city's own facilities. Younger kids and teens meet at separate sites. It suits kids who like busy group days. Only families with a link to Almada can sign up: the child lives or studies there, or a parent works there.
A Christmas holiday day camp run by Sporting CP at its home ground, Estádio José Alvalade. Kids sample a mix of the club's sports rather than drilling one, so it suits active kids who like variety more than a single-sport focus. Booking is by email to lionbootcamps@sporting.pt.
Know+ is a study and activity center in Benfica that runs camps over the school holidays. The Christmas camp mixes hands-on sessions like crafts and cooking with outings around Lisbon, such as a theater show.
It suits families in Benfica and western Lisbon who want a busy, varied break rather than a camp built around one skill.
A day camp at Ninja Factory, a ninja obstacle gym in Alfragide. Kids jump, climb, run and balance through obstacle courses and physical challenges, with coaches who help them try, adjust, rest and try again.
It suits kids with energy to burn who like a physical test. A child who prefers crafts or quiet play may find it a lot.
A holiday day camp run inside Lisboa Ginásio Clube, a gymnastics and martial arts club in Anjos. Kids rotate through gymnastics, trampoline, judo, karate and dance, then switch to board games, music, drawing and painting.
It suits kids who like to move all day and want to try several sports before picking one. Kids arrive already dressed in sportswear and sneakers, with a cap and a water bottle.
A football holiday camp from A Escolinha do Figo, the football school built on a method Luís Figo developed with coaches including José Peseiro. Kids work on individual technique in the morning, run the Luís Figo Circuit, then play a tournament and team games in the afternoon. Drills are adapted to age and level, so it suits keen players and kids new to the ball alike.
A holiday tennis day camp in Lumiar from João Sousa Escolinhas, the kids' tennis schools set up by Portuguese pro João Sousa and taught with his coaching method. Days mix technique drills, a kids' tournament and the João Sousa skills circuit, led by tennis coaches and monitors.
Every level is welcome, so it works as a first try at tennis or as extra court time for kids who already play.
A holiday camp at a motocross school in Manique, near Cascais, where kids ride motocross and off-road bikes with instructors. First-timers and riders who already know the basics both fit in.
Each day mixes riding practice, a motocross class and a hands-on mechanics class with other outdoor activities such as trail rides. Bikes, protective gear and insurance are provided. Best for kids who like engines, noise and mud.
Férias de Natal is the Christmas holiday day program run by the Santo António parish council (Junta de Freguesia) in central Lisbon. Days mix theater, cinema, a visit to Vila Natal and active group games.
It is a varied, council-run program of outings and activities rather than a camp built around one skill, and it gives working parents full-day cover through most of the Christmas break.
A holiday day camp inside Lisbon Zoo, run by the zoo's own education team. Kids follow one animal theme across the week: behind-the-scenes visits, trails past reptiles, birds and mammals, and enrichment sessions with the keepers, plus treasure hunts, games and arts.
Groups are split by school year, so younger kids and teens each get a program pitched at them. Best for kids who can't get enough of animals.
A working art studio in Prior Velho where kids spend the school holidays making things. Each day the atelier is set up with different materials and techniques, and children choose what to work on and go at their own pace. When booking, parents pick between the open art studio and the Oficinas da Vinci, a woodworking workshop. It suits kids who like to get messy and follow their own ideas.
A holiday day camp on Carcavelos Beach, between Lisbon and Cascais, run by a surf school that has taught there since 2001. Kids get two surf lessons a day, from carrying the board and warming up to the take-off and riding small waves, with games, football and volleyball on the sand in between. Groups run at five kids per instructor. Boards suit beginners and kids who already surf.
A full-day creative camp run in English by Clarity International School, held in a roomy family house with a fireplace lounge and a leafy private patio in Oeiras. Kids join a superhero academy, get a team name and earn points in daily games. Days mix art, music, storytelling and baking workshops with drama rehearsals that build to a Friday show for parents. It suits kids who like to perform.
Week-long tech camps from Happy Code, a kids' coding school, run during the Christmas holidays. Kids pick a track that fits their age: Scratch games for the youngest (Scratch Jr needs no reading), Minecraft and Roblox building, 2D game design, apps and websites, robotics, or how AI models learn. The half-day option is three hours of class; the full-day camp adds meals and screen-free play in the afternoon.
