Rob and Andre Mercier are like any 11- and 5-year-old: They like to get out and play, and enjoy watching television and playing video games just as much.

What Camp Won’t Tell You | Family Vacations

Lucy Mercier and Linda Campbell, the boys' parents, let their sons' interests dictate much of what they do.

"Some of Rob's interests -- like cello, flute, soccer -- require practice, which takes time and energy," Campbell said. "It also takes some focus from the parents to encourage kids and tell them they're doing a good job. It's all about parents being active, and that helps them stay away from bad things."

Like many kids, Rob has spent time attending different day camps in the past several years. However, camps in many cases have taken on a whole new twist as far as meeting children's interests. Many of them are designed to get children off the couch and moving.

Winter Fun In Summer

Mount Hood, in northern Oregon, is the only ski area in the contiguous United States that is open year-round. Thanks to that, camps like the National Alpine Ski Camp and Windells have taken advantage.

Windells was opened nearly two decades ago by former pro snowboarder Tim Windell, who saw that there was nowhere for the aspiring snowboarder to ply their trade during the summer, while skiers had options.

"There was nowhere for a boarder to go and learn to do the trick they wanted to do," said Jeanette Nelli, sales director at Windells Camp. "Ski schools then didn't do it. Tim had all his friends come and teach."

Nelli said that since the camp has opened, freestyle skiing was added to the curriculum and, most recently, skateboarding.

The camps run in eight-day sessions, which start in early June and run through August. Nelli said that 208 campers per session is full capacity and almost all of them will fill with many doing multiple sessions.

Nelli said that the 2006 Winter Olympics were a big boost to the camp's popularity. Shaun White, Olympic and Winter and Summer X-Games gold medalist, was a camper at Windells, and all the campers know it.

"Everyone who comes here wants to be the next Shaun White," Nelli said. "The Olympics was very exciting. It brought the awareness to the sport that it didn't have. It made the sport more commercial and changed it. Parents who never knew what it was brought it to a different level."

White has come back to the camp to coach, as have fellow Olympians Danny Kass, Hannah Teter and Lindsey Jacobellis.

Summer Of Hanging Around

Children are natural climbers, Bruce Yap said, which has helped drive the popularity of MetroRock, his climbing gyms in the Boston area.

"Since we opened three years ago we've seen kids even younger than 5 that have been in," Yap said. "Climbing for the general populace is becoming more popular and we've seen a big increase in kids coming to the gym."

Yap offers weeklong day camps in his gyms in the morning or afternoons for less experienced climbers. There is an all-day outdoor camp for more experienced climbers that travels around the Boston area, and special sleepover camp in New Hampshire for the more advanced climbers.

"Some parents walk in with their children because they heard about it from someone or they saw it online," Yap said. "The walls go up 45 feet and there's 11,000 square feet of space. They'll get blown away."

Yap said climbing is a social sport because generally, climbers need someone to climb with. With that, the campers can learn teamwork, responsibility and trust.

"Climbing indoors in a gym, you see the same people and develop a community," Yap said.

Yap said that campers have to be 14 years old in order to belay -- being the person at the bottom of the wall who secures the rope for the climber.

"There's a lot of trust and responsibility issues," Yap said. "You're holding someone else's life in your hands. It fosters self-responsibility and a strong bond of trust.

"It's an interesting sport because it's both social and individual," he said "When you're up on that wall, it's up to you to get up. The first time a child gets up the wall, you should see their face light up."

Shredding on snowboards or climbing 40-foot walls may not be every parent's -- or child's -- ideal way to be active during the summer. But those are far from the only options to get moving.

Most YMCAs and Jewish Community Centers offer day camps and overnight camps.

Summercamps.com also offers links to day and overnight camps, along with adventure opportunities, art camps, sports camps and academic camps.

Check Click2Houston.com all week for these great kid-related features:

Monday -- Alter Kids' Food Habits 1 Nibble At A Time

Tuesday -- When Parents Away, Rules Should Stay

Wednesday -- Vacation Food: Kids Just Eat It Up

Thursday -- Summer Camps Light Fire Under Kids

Friday -- Save Fun Activities For Rainy Day