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The Cities Blog
Madeleine Baran

Summer camp teaches manners, cell phone etiquette

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While some campers swim and eat smores, the kids at a summer camp in Hamel, Minn. will learn skills like "speaking to adults," "having eye-contact," and "telephone and cellular phone etiquette."

The "Etiquette in Action" summer camp offers a three-day crash course in manners, organized by the company Doors of Success.

Among the topics covered, posted on the camp's website:

Making new friends

Hosting visitors

Setting the table

Thank you cards and notes

Conversation topics

Shyness - Is it polite?

The camp costs $280 per person, or $139 via a deal on Living Social right now.

Not interested in paying to have your child learn how to set the table? Here are a few more summer camp options:

Adventures in Cardboard offers workshops in Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis on castle building and "goblin huts." There's also a workshop called "Catapults, Siege Engines and Bows," described on the camp's website as follows:

Ready to lay siege to the castle? As a group we'll create two large hand-powered trebuchets to hurl water balloons over the castle walls and various siege engines to get under, over or through them. Students will also either create their own small model catapult or craft their own bow and set of arrows.

Books in the Barn Day Camp in Buffalo, Minn. offers horse-themed reading in an actual barn. Campers will get a break from reading to enjoy "pony play time with Biskit, Chicago, and Rusty!" according to the group's website.

Tweentown Rock and Roll Camp for Girls in Excelsior, Minn. provides music education to girls between the ages of 10 and 14. The camp includes jam sessions, dance parties, singing lessons -- and a water trampoline, for good measure.

A guide to nearly 200 summer camps is available on the Star Tribune's website.

Have a unique camp experience you'd like to share? Post it in the comments section.