FAMILIES CHILDREN’S HOURS

IT’S 10 O’CLOCK on a summer morning. Do you know where your children are? Chances are, especially if you work, they’re parked in front of the TV – it’s too hot for the backyard swing set and they’re too bored for constructive play, too young for camp.

The summer months can be challenging ones for parents who have spent the past nine months structuring a predictable weekly schedule: Johnny goes to soccer practice on Tuesdays and Fridays; Jenny goes to ballet. Mondays are for the tots’ cooking school, and Wednesdays are for tumbling. Then, abruptly, comes the end of May-and the end of the routine.

Most articles about summer vacation focus on kids who are old enough to stay away from home for long periods of time. But what about the small-fry set, whose boredom can be equally as tedious but whose choices are limited to short-term programs around town? Our investigation into activities for 4- to 10-year-olds uncovered an impressive array of summer options. But the key to enjoying those options is to pool your travel resources. Shuttling a child to and from Fair Park every morning so he can be captivated by dinosaur tales requires some sacrifice on the part of the shuttler -you. So for most of these far-flung programs, car pools are a must.

The other necessity is a willingness to pay -in some cases significantly. Once the neighborhood game of “kick the can” is replaced by organized activity, there’s a fee attached. The most expensive of these programs can cost as much as $100 a week. But keeping the kiddies amused can be economical – even free. One mother’s strategy is to hit every vacation Bible school in town. One year her kids attended eight consecutive sessions in five different religious denominations. At summer’s end, Mom was sane, the kids had eight weeks of good, clean fun and not a penny was spent.

Here is a variety of scheduled activities – from archery to the zoo -for the little ones at your house.

YMCA Camp Kiwanis. Kids ages 5 to 12 can enjoy an entire summer of supervised day camp on the shady shores of Bachman Lake. This YMCA institution runs daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with supervision for children of working parents as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 6 p.m. One counselor per eight kids oversees activities that range from archery, games, crafts and trampoline play to swimming lessons and canoeing on the lake. Sessions begin May 31 and run through August 19. The cost is $42 a week; children can sign up for a minimum of one week and a maximum of 12 weeks. For more information, call 742-5324.

St. Mark’s Day Camp. What child wouldn’t be wowed by a surprise helicopter visit from Santa Claus in July? Such festivities are part of the day camp program that takes place each summer at this exclusive private school on Preston Road. Campers from 4 to 10 years old are grouped by age and rotated among such activities as swimming, arts and crafts (including music, storytelling and drama), gymnasium games, woodworking and painting, playground activities and-for the pause that refreshes -occasional visits to the “quiet room.” Older children also enjoy cooking lessons and organized sports such as “tennis baseball” and “Fris-bee golf.” But it’s the special events -staff skits, Western Day, a Fourth of July parade and the older kids’ end-of-session overnight trip – that cause camp memories to linger past summer’s end. Each group of 14 to 24 children has an education professional as a leader and three or four teenage assistants. Camp days are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there are three sessions beginning June 13, June 27 and July 11. The cost per session is $160; all facilities are air-conditioned. Call 739-6516 for registration details.

T Bar M Summer Youth Camp. Even if your tennis elbow is out of shape, your budding lobber might want to take a shot at the T Bar M Racquet Club’s day camp program, which combines tennis instruction with other wholesome activities such as swimming, archery, soccer, volleyball, arts and crafts, drama and nature hikes. The camp runs for three two-week sessions Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s open to kids 5 to 12 years old for a fee of $200 a session for nonmembers and $175 for members. Emphasis is placed on developing a camper’s sense of pride and ability to get along with others rather than competition or individual performance. For an application, call 233-4444.

White Rock North Day Camp. Working parents, especially in the White Rock area, will love this fun-packed program, which combines country amenities with urban necessities -such as supervision from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Situated on three verdant acres, White Rock North is a private school that runs a 10-week summer day camp for 5-year-olds and up, with day care for kids 2 to 5 years old. A little red barn with farm animals, plus a roller-skating rink, picnics, pony rides, square dances, swimming and field trips to places like Six Flags, Sesame Place and the zoo add to the standard camp fare. The program runs from May 31 through August 21 and costs $52 a week, with a summer supply fee of $60 for kids ages 5 or older.

A child attending camp for the minimum two-week session pays a total of $130, with no fee. Call 348-7410 for registration information.

Summer Search. Despite the trek to Fair Park, this program at The Science Place and the Dallas Garden Center is one of the most popular in town. Classes are offered during June and July and meet two days a week. Each class is an hour and a half long; children enrolled in two successive classes are treated to fruit juice and are moved from class to class under supervision. The littlest ones can discover critters and crawlers, dinosaurs -even elementary laws of physics. Older children study the cosmos, the stars, the jungle, the basics of flight and more. One course for pre-ado-lescents explores human development and reproduction, with special emphasis on bodily changes during puberty. The tuition for classes is either $18 or $24. For more information, call 428-8351.

A similar program at the Heard Museum in McKinney might be a better bet for far North Dallasites who find the ride 30 miles north less time-consuming than the commute to Fair Park. For a catalog of summer programs, write Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, Route 6, Box 22, McKinney, TX, 75069.

The Nature of Things. The Dallas Museum of Natural History and Dallas Aquarium, also at Fair Park, offer a summer program that begins with preschoolers and continues up to adults. The smallest children learn about baby animals and pet care; older kids study dinosaurs, insects, seashore life and other topics. Each course is conducted in three-day, one-week sessions beginning June 13. Costs for kids range from $10 to $12 for a course. Call the museum at 421-2169 for further details.

Summer Safari at the Dallas Zoo. The zoo has a few “tricks up their trunks” for your kindergartners and first-graders: a summer session called Storybook Live. Besides the “tricks” class, kids meet “zoo babies” and “birds of a feather” and have “brunch with a gorilla” in the six weeks of sessions that begin June 7. A hands-on approach to animal-related stories and games is conducted Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 11:30a.m. “Zooper tours” keep parents and older siblings entertained while the little ones learn. Students entering second through sixth grades may also attend a weekly session exploring the zoo on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. “Storybook Live” is $8 for two classes; “Come and Zoo It” for grade-schoolers is $30 per weekly session. For more information, call 946-6828.

Dallas Theater Center. For three weeks in June and three weeks in July, your little playactors can enter the real world of creative dramatics and children’s theater. Children from ages 4 to 7 and 8 to 13 attending the morning classes will learn to express themselves through acting in a totally kid-produced play. Classes run from $105 for kids up to age 7 to $120 for those 8 through 13. Call the DTC at 526-8210 for a brochure.

Young Artists Program. If your offspring show a bent in the direction of Picasso or Van Gogh, this course, which began in the art education department at SMU, might be apropos. Beginners ages 4 to 11 can sign up for “Exploring Art” and learn drawing, painting, clay sculpture, ceramics and costume design. The older the child, the more advanced the technique and course selection. Classes begin June 6 and run in three-week sessions through July 14 for 9- to 13-year-olds. The program also offers an art camp Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Course fees range between $65 and $75; art camp is $140 for the week. For a brochure, write Young Artists Program, 3537 Villanova, Dallas, TX, 75225; or call 368-4290.

Dallas Museum of Fine Arts classes. Six-to 8-year-olds will enjoy rubbing elbows with the masters at the DMFA’s art camp. Four-class sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Wednesdays and Fridays are $30 for nonmembers, $25 for members. There will also be sculpture classes for 4-to 6-year-olds, a course on “Myths and Masks” for 7- to 9-year-olds, a course called “Paint” for kids ages 10 to 12 and printmaking for the 9- to 14-year-old set. For an information sheet, call 421-4187.

Greenhills Environmental Center. Nature’s bounty is tapped for your child’s exploration at this nonprofit preserve 20 miles south of downtown. A “morning camp” for kids ages 7 to 12 combines trail walks with nature-oriented games and crafts in three two-week sessions Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. Each session costs $25. Organized activities are available for younger children, too. Call 296-1955 for a camp brochure.

Merriwood Ranch Camp. June marks the 28th summer that Merriwood Ranch Camp in Piano has offered a summer day camp and a riding camp for boys and girls ages 6 to 14. Tutelage in horseback riding is enhanced by swimming, aerobics, tennis, nonregimented sessions in the camp creek and creative crafts. Every Friday at 2 p.m., the kids strut their stuff in a horse show for parents and friends. Two counselors oversee groups of 12 campers (except during riding, when the ratio drops to one adult per three kids). Tuition is $130 a week for day camp; $160 a week for riding camp. Call Merriwood Ranch Camp at 495-4646 for more information.

Learning About Me. This is part art class, part music lesson and part creative dramatics. It’s a day camp that introduces children ages 3 to 9 to learning through an integrated approach to the arts. “We teach children about their feelings, their bodies, themselves,” says founder Pamela Stone Ciaccio. “They learn self-awareness through pantomime and puppetry, and they learn to express themselves through music and art.” The camp offers two-week sessions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church beginning June 13. Tuition is $175 a session. Call 691-3093 for a brochure.

Wee Music Makers. Westminster Presbyterian Church in the Park Cities houses another creative-arts day camp, in which kids ages 3 to 6 combine an hour of music appreciation with an hour of art. Early childhood music specialist Diana Owen teams up with an art teacher during the month of July, combining her “eclectic” music experience with a varied program of art. The session begins July 5 and runs through August 1; it runs two days a week, mornings or afternoons. The cost is $100 for the month. Call Diana Owen at 526-0153 for details.

Rainbow Summer. Preschool educators Louise Montjoy and Diane Nelson stir up summer fun by putting your littlest chef in the kitchen. Cooking time is combined with arts and crafts capers, music, drama and storytelling in the teacher’s backyard near Northaven and Hillcrest roads. Children are grouped by age in seven different sessions for a fee of $55 each. Write Rainbow Summer, 7015 Midbury, Dallas, TX, 75230 for more information.

A similar program called Barefoot Summer near Belt Line Road and Shiloh is run by fellow preschool teachers Marti Alstadt and Laurel Choate. Barefoot Summer be-gins June 20 and runs in one-week sessions through August 5. For a brochure, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Barefoot Summer, 2306 Richland Drive, Garland, TX, 75024.

Gymnastics. Some of your child’s unbridled summer energy could be well-channeled into a gymnastics class -and two North Dallas gymnastics centers offer summer instruction for preschoolers and early-graders. The Dallas Gymnastics Center on Northaven Road offers a Munchkin Camp for 4- to 6-year-olds, which meets June 20 through July 1, Monday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. For kids 8 and up, there are two-week daily activity camps beginning June 6 that mix fun and games with gymnastics and end in a grand finale gymnastics meet.

The Half-In, Half-Out Gymnastics Center near Addison Airport in East Carrollton offers classes for preschoolers on Thursdays and Fridays and two-week summer clinics for 6-year-olds and up. The clinics, held Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, work on the four Olympic gymnastic events – floor exercises, the balance beam, vault and the uneven parallel bars, plus trampoline. Clinics begin June 6.

Neighborhood Recreation Centers. Your friendly corner rec center is another excellent source for inexpensive summer entertainment -yours as well as your child’s. Under the aegis of the City Parks Department, these individual centers offer a wealth of classes for preschoolers on up. Tumbling, crafts, exercise and beginning cooking classes are among typical rec center activities for tots. Older kids can learn ceramics, ballet, even some organized sports. Consult the telephone directory’s city government listings for the rec center nearest you.

Bible school. Vacation church school is a Sunbelt institution -and an activity that’s minimal in cost and is entertaining for the kids. Many churches around town hold one-week sessions to teach both their members and anyone else interested some aspects of the Bible’s teachings. The best of them give Old or New Testament stories a child-eyed relevance through a variety of games, foods, crafts and activities. The cost, if any, is usually a meager supply fee.

Swimming lessons. In the land of thebackyard pool, swimming lessons are almost a must – for safety’s sake alone. Youcan enroll with a private swimming teacheror take classes at the YMCA or at neighborhood pools. The Dallas IndependentSchool District has a terrific year-roundteaching program in its seven citywidepools. Classes are taught to all levels ofswimmers for one hour a day, five days aweek, with a minimum of three weeks.DISD pools are located at Alfred J. Loos,3700 Spring Valley; White Rock, 10205Hermosa; Sprague, 3720 Boulder Drive;Pleasant Grove, 8204 Alto Garden; Lisbon, 4700 Horizon Drive; Edison, 3002Singleton Blvd.; and Alamo, 1940 S. Oakland Ave.