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The Post-Camp Reset: 5 Easy Colorado Weekend Activities to Keep Kids' Energy Going This Fall

Sep 10, 2026
•
1 min read

Kids come home from summer camp sunburned and loud, and a lot of them are sure they could hit a bullseye from across a field. By the second week of school, most of that energy has nowhere to go on the weekends. Plenty of Colorado parents run into this every September, when homework and practice take over the calendar and the camp stories start to fade.

We started calling our fix the post-camp reset. You pick one thing your kid loved at camp and find a version of it close to home, then make that the weekend plan. Around Denver and Boulder, kids can shoot arrows, climb, play capture the flag with paint, sit down and paint pottery, or lace up skates for the first time.

Every place in this guide comes with a GetOut Colorado membership. It costs $54.95 a year and gets your family into more than 81 venues across the state through one app, which makes it a lot easier to figure out what to do with kids this weekend in Denver without paying full price each time.

Why the Weeks After Camp Matter

Camp gives kids a few weeks of trying hard things in front of kids they just met. They climb higher than they planned to, and they lose at games and get back up. Once school starts, most of their day happens in a chair. By Friday, some of them are restless and cranky.

A short outing on Saturday or Sunday gives them something to look forward to during the week. It also keeps camp skills in use, and skills like archery form or climbing technique slip when kids stop practicing for a few months.

September and October are good months for this in Colorado. The weather stays mild and the summer crowds thin out after Labor Day. Four of the five places below are indoors, so a cold snap on Saturday morning won't cancel your plans. On clear weekends you can tack a leaf-peeping drive onto any of them, and our list of 5 spots to catch Colorado's first fall colors with the kids has places to start.

5 Easy Colorado Weekend Activities to Keep the Camp Energy Going

1. Bear Creek Archery (Englewood): Back to the Archery Range

Archery shows up on almost every camp schedule, and then it disappears from kids' lives for eleven months. Bear Creek Archery at 3340 S. Knox Court in Englewood is an indoor range, so you can shoot there in any weather. Each lane has a TV screen overhead hooked up to a zoom camera. Kids can see where the arrow hit without walking out to the target, and the ones who like to keep score will check that screen after every shot.

If your kid hasn't picked up a bow since camp, sign them up for the Introduction to Archery class. Bear Creek requires it for anyone under 18 before they can use the range. An instructor teaches range safety and basic form on a recurve bow, then certifies each young archer for a distance they can shoot safely. Classes hold up to eight people. An adult has to stay for the whole class with anyone under 18.

With GetOut: once every six months (1x Bi-Annually)

Parent tip: The intro class runs on Saturday mornings and fills up fast because it's so small. Book a spot ahead of time, and look up Bear Creek's weekend hours before you drive over.

2. Übergrippen Indoor Climbing (Denver): The Climbing Wall, Minus the Line

Kids who spent camp waiting their turn at the climbing wall get a whole gym at Übergrippen, on East 21st Avenue in Denver's Central Park neighborhood. It welcomes climbers from age 3 to 93. There are auto-belay walls and top-rope routes, along with bouldering, lead climbing, and a kids and beginner area called The Alcove. Staff spend a couple of minutes showing first-timers how the auto-belays work, and after that more than 200 routes open up to them. You can walk in without booking.

Before your first visit, a parent or legal guardian has to fill out the online waiver for anyone under 18. Doing it at home saves you about 10 minutes at the front desk. Climbers under 14 need an adult or a chaperone who's at least 14 with them, although that person doesn't have to climb. Have everyone wear stretchy clothes and closed-toe athletic shoes. You can rent climbing shoes if you want them.

The kids area closes from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on weekends for birthday parties, so go in the morning or right after lunch if you're bringing little ones.

With GetOut: once a year (1x Yearly)

Parent tip: Staff have to walk kids under 14 through the bouldering rules, and a parent signs a separate form, before those kids can boulder. For a first trip, stick with the auto-belays.

3. Dynamic Paintball (Aurora): Capture the Flag, Leveled Up

Capture the flag is the camp game most kids talk about when they get home. Dynamic Paintball in Aurora turns it into something older kids and tweens will ask to do again. The park has run outdoor paintball year-round since 2001. You'll find it about 4.5 miles east of E-470 on Jewell Avenue, close to Murphy Creek Golf Course and a few minutes from Denver International Airport.

The fields have man-made houses and old abandoned vehicles to hide behind, spread out over grassy hills. Staff go over safety before anyone plays, and you can rent all the gear on-site. Open play, which Dynamic calls recball, is for anyone 10 and older, whether they've played before or not. Younger brothers and sisters can play bazooka ball, a version of the game that doesn't sting, made for kids 5 and up.

With GetOut: once a month (1x Monthly), so it works as a monthly weekend tradition

Parent tip: Paintball runs Saturdays and Sundays, and the gates close in the middle of the afternoon. Get there early and dress the kids in old clothes they can layer. When the temperature drops below freezing or it's raining or snowing, Dynamic calls ahead to reschedule you, which is worth remembering once November rolls in.

4. Color Me Mine (Boulder): The Arts and Crafts Cabin

For some kids, the best hour of camp was the one in the arts and crafts cabin, where nobody kept score. Color Me Mine on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder is a paint-your-own-pottery studio. Your kids pick a piece from hundreds of ceramic shapes and choose their colors, then paint it however they like. The studio glazes and fires everything. You come back about a week later to pick it up, and for a lot of kids that second trip is half the fun, since the colors come out of the kiln brighter than they went in.

The studio is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can walk in without booking. Reviewers mention staff who stop by the table to show kids painting techniques, which helps the ones who insist they can't draw.

With GetOut: once a week (1x Weekly), more often than any other place on this list

Parent tip: Save Color Me Mine for the day after something loud. A Saturday at Dynamic Paintball or Übergrippen followed by a Sunday painting mugs and walking the Pearl Street Mall sets everyone up well for Monday.

5. The Ice Ranch (Littleton): A New Season, a New Skill

Camp is where a lot of kids try something for the first time, and ice skating gives them that feeling again as the weather cools. The Ice Ranch in Littleton is indoors and open year-round, with two NHL-size rinks. Public skate sessions are open to all ages. Kids under 3 skate free. The pro shop rents skates, so your family can try it out before anyone buys gear.

Parents can grab a coffee on-site or sit down at Celly's Bar & Grill while the kids take a break from the ice. A kid who gets hooked can sign up for learn-to-skate or learn-to-play-hockey programs at the same rink.

With GetOut: once a year (1x Yearly)

Parent tip: Hockey leagues and school programs take up a lot of ice time, and the public skate schedule moves around because of it. Check The Ice Ranch's online schedule before you leave the house, and leave sticks and pucks at home, since they aren't allowed during public sessions.

How to Plan Your Post-Camp Reset

Start by asking your kids what they miss most about camp. The one who won't stop talking about archery goes to Bear Creek first. If your daughter spent every free period in the craft cabin, take her to Color Me Mine.

Mixing one loud day with one quiet day keeps the weekend from wearing everyone out. Try paintball in Aurora on Saturday morning and pottery in Boulder on Sunday afternoon. Climbing at Übergrippen pairs nicely with an easy public skate at The Ice Ranch the next day.

Each GetOut venue has its own schedule, so you can spread these out over the whole fall. Color Me Mine can become a weekly habit. Dynamic Paintball fits once a month, and the once-a-year spots turn into small occasions the kids count down to. All five sit in the Denver metro or Boulder, which keeps drive time short on weekends when everyone's tired.

Some weekends call for a bigger outing. Pueblo Zoo stays open all year, and it was one of the stops in our Labor Day weekend guide for Colorado families. For a mountain day, our late-summer guide to four Colorado mountain adventures covers a railyard in Golden and a wildlife park in the San Juans.

How GetOut Makes Weekend Plans Easier

Archery classes and climbing day passes add up fast when you're paying for two or three kids, and paintball, pottery, and skate rentals pile on top of that. A GetOut Colorado membership is $54.95 a year, with a $90 comp value, and it covers 81+ venues and attractions around the state. You pick a venue in the GetOut app on your phone and redeem your visit when you get there. Nobody has to keep track of paper tickets.

GetOut says most members make the cost back after two or three visits. You also get 120 days risk-free, long enough to cover the whole fall. Families who want Elitch Gardens too can upgrade to Membership + Premium Venues for $79.95 a year.

Road-Tripping Over Fall Break?

Plenty of Colorado families use fall break to visit relatives or squeeze in a short trip out of state. GetOut sells memberships in other regions, and a few of them sit within a day's drive of Denver.

Albuquerque is about six and a half hours south on I-25, and the GetOut New Mexico / West Texas membership covers venues in that part of the country. Families with grandparents in Kansas City can look through GetOut Kansas City before the long drive east on I-70, and our pre-fall weekend itineraries for Kansas City give you six plans to choose from once you arrive. From Grand Junction, Salt Lake City is a little over four hours away, and the GetOut Utah membership has its own lineup of places to try.

FAQs

What are easy weekend activities for kids in Colorado after summer camp? Look for places that bring back what your kids did at camp. Around Denver, kids can shoot at Bear Creek Archery in Englewood or climb at Übergrippen. Older kids can play paintball at Dynamic Paintball in Aurora. For quieter days, try pottery painting at Color Me Mine in Boulder or public skating at The Ice Ranch in Littleton. A GetOut Colorado membership includes all five.

Are there indoor activities for kids in Denver when it gets cold? Four of the five places in this guide are indoors and open all year: Bear Creek Archery, Übergrippen, Color Me Mine, and The Ice Ranch. Dynamic Paintball is outdoors, and it reschedules games when the temperature falls below freezing.

How old do kids have to be for archery or paintball near Denver? At Bear Creek Archery, anyone under 18 takes the Introduction to Archery class with an adult present before using the range. Dynamic Paintball's open games start at age 10, and kids as young as 5 can play bazooka ball.

How does GetOut work in Colorado? You pay $54.95 a year and get into 81+ Colorado venues through the GetOut app. Each venue sets how often members can come. Some let you visit every week, and others once a month or once a year.

Can I use my GetOut membership at the same place more than once? Yes, at many venues. Color Me Mine in Boulder lets members come back every week, and Dynamic Paintball allows one visit a month. The app shows how often you can go to each place.

Does GetOut work outside Colorado? GetOut runs memberships in more than 30 regions around the country, and each one covers venues in its own area. Your Colorado membership works at Colorado venues. If your family spends winter break in Phoenix, the GetOut Arizona membership is the one to look at.

Keep the Camp Energy Going All Fall

Your kids came home from camp braver than they left. A weekend at the archery range or out on the ice gives that some room to keep growing after school starts. Get your GetOut Colorado membership and pick your first stop for this Saturday.

‍

Kids come home from summer camp sunburned and loud, and a lot of them are sure they could hit a bullseye from across a field. By the second week of school, most of that energy has nowhere to go on the weekends. Plenty of Colorado parents run into this every September, when homework and practice take over the calendar and the camp stories start to fade.

We started calling our fix the post-camp reset. You pick one thing your kid loved at camp and find a version of it close to home, then make that the weekend plan. Around Denver and Boulder, kids can shoot arrows, climb, play capture the flag with paint, sit down and paint pottery, or lace up skates for the first time.

Every place in this guide comes with a GetOut Colorado membership. It costs $54.95 a year and gets your family into more than 81 venues across the state through one app, which makes it a lot easier to figure out what to do with kids this weekend in Denver without paying full price each time.

Why the Weeks After Camp Matter

Camp gives kids a few weeks of trying hard things in front of kids they just met. They climb higher than they planned to, and they lose at games and get back up. Once school starts, most of their day happens in a chair. By Friday, some of them are restless and cranky.

A short outing on Saturday or Sunday gives them something to look forward to during the week. It also keeps camp skills in use, and skills like archery form or climbing technique slip when kids stop practicing for a few months.

September and October are good months for this in Colorado. The weather stays mild and the summer crowds thin out after Labor Day. Four of the five places below are indoors, so a cold snap on Saturday morning won't cancel your plans. On clear weekends you can tack a leaf-peeping drive onto any of them, and our list of 5 spots to catch Colorado's first fall colors with the kids has places to start.

5 Easy Colorado Weekend Activities to Keep the Camp Energy Going

1. Bear Creek Archery (Englewood): Back to the Archery Range

Archery shows up on almost every camp schedule, and then it disappears from kids' lives for eleven months. Bear Creek Archery at 3340 S. Knox Court in Englewood is an indoor range, so you can shoot there in any weather. Each lane has a TV screen overhead hooked up to a zoom camera. Kids can see where the arrow hit without walking out to the target, and the ones who like to keep score will check that screen after every shot.

If your kid hasn't picked up a bow since camp, sign them up for the Introduction to Archery class. Bear Creek requires it for anyone under 18 before they can use the range. An instructor teaches range safety and basic form on a recurve bow, then certifies each young archer for a distance they can shoot safely. Classes hold up to eight people. An adult has to stay for the whole class with anyone under 18.

With GetOut: once every six months (1x Bi-Annually)

Parent tip: The intro class runs on Saturday mornings and fills up fast because it's so small. Book a spot ahead of time, and look up Bear Creek's weekend hours before you drive over.

2. Übergrippen Indoor Climbing (Denver): The Climbing Wall, Minus the Line

Kids who spent camp waiting their turn at the climbing wall get a whole gym at Übergrippen, on East 21st Avenue in Denver's Central Park neighborhood. It welcomes climbers from age 3 to 93. There are auto-belay walls and top-rope routes, along with bouldering, lead climbing, and a kids and beginner area called The Alcove. Staff spend a couple of minutes showing first-timers how the auto-belays work, and after that more than 200 routes open up to them. You can walk in without booking.

Before your first visit, a parent or legal guardian has to fill out the online waiver for anyone under 18. Doing it at home saves you about 10 minutes at the front desk. Climbers under 14 need an adult or a chaperone who's at least 14 with them, although that person doesn't have to climb. Have everyone wear stretchy clothes and closed-toe athletic shoes. You can rent climbing shoes if you want them.

The kids area closes from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on weekends for birthday parties, so go in the morning or right after lunch if you're bringing little ones.

With GetOut: once a year (1x Yearly)

Parent tip: Staff have to walk kids under 14 through the bouldering rules, and a parent signs a separate form, before those kids can boulder. For a first trip, stick with the auto-belays.

3. Dynamic Paintball (Aurora): Capture the Flag, Leveled Up

Capture the flag is the camp game most kids talk about when they get home. Dynamic Paintball in Aurora turns it into something older kids and tweens will ask to do again. The park has run outdoor paintball year-round since 2001. You'll find it about 4.5 miles east of E-470 on Jewell Avenue, close to Murphy Creek Golf Course and a few minutes from Denver International Airport.

The fields have man-made houses and old abandoned vehicles to hide behind, spread out over grassy hills. Staff go over safety before anyone plays, and you can rent all the gear on-site. Open play, which Dynamic calls recball, is for anyone 10 and older, whether they've played before or not. Younger brothers and sisters can play bazooka ball, a version of the game that doesn't sting, made for kids 5 and up.

With GetOut: once a month (1x Monthly), so it works as a monthly weekend tradition

Parent tip: Paintball runs Saturdays and Sundays, and the gates close in the middle of the afternoon. Get there early and dress the kids in old clothes they can layer. When the temperature drops below freezing or it's raining or snowing, Dynamic calls ahead to reschedule you, which is worth remembering once November rolls in.

4. Color Me Mine (Boulder): The Arts and Crafts Cabin

For some kids, the best hour of camp was the one in the arts and crafts cabin, where nobody kept score. Color Me Mine on Pearl Street in downtown Boulder is a paint-your-own-pottery studio. Your kids pick a piece from hundreds of ceramic shapes and choose their colors, then paint it however they like. The studio glazes and fires everything. You come back about a week later to pick it up, and for a lot of kids that second trip is half the fun, since the colors come out of the kiln brighter than they went in.

The studio is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can walk in without booking. Reviewers mention staff who stop by the table to show kids painting techniques, which helps the ones who insist they can't draw.

With GetOut: once a week (1x Weekly), more often than any other place on this list

Parent tip: Save Color Me Mine for the day after something loud. A Saturday at Dynamic Paintball or Übergrippen followed by a Sunday painting mugs and walking the Pearl Street Mall sets everyone up well for Monday.

5. The Ice Ranch (Littleton): A New Season, a New Skill

Camp is where a lot of kids try something for the first time, and ice skating gives them that feeling again as the weather cools. The Ice Ranch in Littleton is indoors and open year-round, with two NHL-size rinks. Public skate sessions are open to all ages. Kids under 3 skate free. The pro shop rents skates, so your family can try it out before anyone buys gear.

Parents can grab a coffee on-site or sit down at Celly's Bar & Grill while the kids take a break from the ice. A kid who gets hooked can sign up for learn-to-skate or learn-to-play-hockey programs at the same rink.

With GetOut: once a year (1x Yearly)

Parent tip: Hockey leagues and school programs take up a lot of ice time, and the public skate schedule moves around because of it. Check The Ice Ranch's online schedule before you leave the house, and leave sticks and pucks at home, since they aren't allowed during public sessions.

How to Plan Your Post-Camp Reset

Start by asking your kids what they miss most about camp. The one who won't stop talking about archery goes to Bear Creek first. If your daughter spent every free period in the craft cabin, take her to Color Me Mine.

Mixing one loud day with one quiet day keeps the weekend from wearing everyone out. Try paintball in Aurora on Saturday morning and pottery in Boulder on Sunday afternoon. Climbing at Übergrippen pairs nicely with an easy public skate at The Ice Ranch the next day.

Each GetOut venue has its own schedule, so you can spread these out over the whole fall. Color Me Mine can become a weekly habit. Dynamic Paintball fits once a month, and the once-a-year spots turn into small occasions the kids count down to. All five sit in the Denver metro or Boulder, which keeps drive time short on weekends when everyone's tired.

Some weekends call for a bigger outing. Pueblo Zoo stays open all year, and it was one of the stops in our Labor Day weekend guide for Colorado families. For a mountain day, our late-summer guide to four Colorado mountain adventures covers a railyard in Golden and a wildlife park in the San Juans.

How GetOut Makes Weekend Plans Easier

Archery classes and climbing day passes add up fast when you're paying for two or three kids, and paintball, pottery, and skate rentals pile on top of that. A GetOut Colorado membership is $54.95 a year, with a $90 comp value, and it covers 81+ venues and attractions around the state. You pick a venue in the GetOut app on your phone and redeem your visit when you get there. Nobody has to keep track of paper tickets.

GetOut says most members make the cost back after two or three visits. You also get 120 days risk-free, long enough to cover the whole fall. Families who want Elitch Gardens too can upgrade to Membership + Premium Venues for $79.95 a year.

Road-Tripping Over Fall Break?

Plenty of Colorado families use fall break to visit relatives or squeeze in a short trip out of state. GetOut sells memberships in other regions, and a few of them sit within a day's drive of Denver.

Albuquerque is about six and a half hours south on I-25, and the GetOut New Mexico / West Texas membership covers venues in that part of the country. Families with grandparents in Kansas City can look through GetOut Kansas City before the long drive east on I-70, and our pre-fall weekend itineraries for Kansas City give you six plans to choose from once you arrive. From Grand Junction, Salt Lake City is a little over four hours away, and the GetOut Utah membership has its own lineup of places to try.

FAQs

What are easy weekend activities for kids in Colorado after summer camp? Look for places that bring back what your kids did at camp. Around Denver, kids can shoot at Bear Creek Archery in Englewood or climb at Übergrippen. Older kids can play paintball at Dynamic Paintball in Aurora. For quieter days, try pottery painting at Color Me Mine in Boulder or public skating at The Ice Ranch in Littleton. A GetOut Colorado membership includes all five.

Are there indoor activities for kids in Denver when it gets cold? Four of the five places in this guide are indoors and open all year: Bear Creek Archery, Übergrippen, Color Me Mine, and The Ice Ranch. Dynamic Paintball is outdoors, and it reschedules games when the temperature falls below freezing.

How old do kids have to be for archery or paintball near Denver? At Bear Creek Archery, anyone under 18 takes the Introduction to Archery class with an adult present before using the range. Dynamic Paintball's open games start at age 10, and kids as young as 5 can play bazooka ball.

How does GetOut work in Colorado? You pay $54.95 a year and get into 81+ Colorado venues through the GetOut app. Each venue sets how often members can come. Some let you visit every week, and others once a month or once a year.

Can I use my GetOut membership at the same place more than once? Yes, at many venues. Color Me Mine in Boulder lets members come back every week, and Dynamic Paintball allows one visit a month. The app shows how often you can go to each place.

Does GetOut work outside Colorado? GetOut runs memberships in more than 30 regions around the country, and each one covers venues in its own area. Your Colorado membership works at Colorado venues. If your family spends winter break in Phoenix, the GetOut Arizona membership is the one to look at.

Keep the Camp Energy Going All Fall

Your kids came home from camp braver than they left. A weekend at the archery range or out on the ice gives that some room to keep growing after school starts. Get your GetOut Colorado membership and pick your first stop for this Saturday.

‍

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Sep 10, 2026
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