From basketball to books, there’s something for every child this summer.

For the kids who like sports, the Natchez Recreation Department is hosting swim lessons, tennis classes, junior golf scrambles and baseball and softball leagues.

“Good strong recreational activities bring children, parents and the community closer together by interacting with each other,” Program Director Wilbert Whittley said.

By having supervised activities, the parks and recreation staff will cut down on fights and vandalism, he said.

Recreation Department Director Ralph Tedder agreed.

“Providing organized, safe, fun and fitness challenging activities guides the youth in a positive direction,” Tedder said.

The Natchez Boys & Girls Club is offering programs to occupy area youth this summer.

“And we always do a team trip,” Director Fay Minor said. “We take our teams overnight for two or three days out of town, either to Memphis or the coast.”

The club is also offering prevention programs focused on bullying.

“We’re trying to teach kids not to be a bully,” Minor said. “We’re having problems with kids bullying at a young age, and we want to teach them to accept differences and not to add to the problem.”

Other activities include a basketball tournament for all ages and a camp for the performing arts for children ages 8 to 12.

“We’re just trying to keep it adventurous and keep the kids excited about coming,” Minor said.

For teenagers, there’s an added possibility.

“We’re looking at hiring teams that have shown leadership,” Minor said. “We’re offering students jobs, trying to diversify the jobs available.”

The Natchez library will provide different summer activities, from the youngest children to teenagers.

“Our summer library program combines stories, activities and speakers,” Judge GeorgeArmstrong Library Director Susan Cassagne said.

The various programs are geared toward different age groups, she said.

“Preschoolers have a short attention span, and a teen group might be too big for kiddie things,” she said. “So they’re geared toward different ages.”

Magic shows and puppet shows are big crowd-pleasers, she said, and they help children get accustomed to the library.

“It shows them the library is a fun place, not just a place to do schoolwork,” she said.

Besides being fun, spending some of their summers at the library helps children when it’s time for school again.

“Studies have shown that children who come to the library throughout the summer slip back into that school year more easily,” Cassagne said.

The Concordia Parish Library will have a similar program this summer.

“We have a whole slate of activities this year,” head librarian Amanda Taylor said.

The summer reading program for first through fifth grade children will have the theme “Book a Trip!”

The program will be from June 4 to July 13.

Children in the Monterey area will be able to participate in the program on the bookmobile at the Monterey Concordia Bank on Mondays; in Vidalia, at the Vidalia library on Tuesdays; in Ferriday, at the Ferriday public on Thursdays; in Clayton, at the Clayton library on Fridays.

The program will also host special guests, including storytellers Dee Scallan and Sylvia Davis, magician David LeBoeuf, puppeteer Pamella O’Connor and snake man Terry Vandeventer.

The special guests will all perform at the Ferriday and Vidalia libraries.

“We’re very excited about this year,” Taylor said.

Vidalia will also play host to a fastpitch softball league this summer, organizer Mike Bowen said.

The league will be open to girls ages seven-years-old to 18-years-old from Natchez and Vidalia, he said.

“If you want to get a (softball) scholarship in college, (fastpitch) is what everyone is playing,” he said.

The league had 100 participants last summer, but Bowen said that he hopes to have double that this year.

Registration will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 16 at the Vidalia recreation center. The league will start play July 9.

Many area churches already are preparing for Vacation Bible school in June.

They include:

First Baptist Church in Ferriday, June 4-8, where children from nursery age to grade 6 are welcome, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Natchez, June 4-8, 5 to 7 p.m., where preschool to teens are invited to attend.

First Baptist Church in Natchez, June 11-15, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., with ages 4 to grade 8 invited to attend.

St. Mary Basilica, June 11-15, 8 a.m. to noon. Preschool to grade 6 are invited to attend, and older students, grades 7 to 12, are invited to be volunteers at the Bible school.

Rose Hill Baptist Church, June 11-15, inviting all ages, from preschool through high school as well as adults. The program is 9 a.m. to noon each day.

First Baptist Church in Vidalia, June 18-22, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., inviting ages 4 through grade 6.

New Hope Baptist Church, June 25-29, 10 a.m. to noon, providing classes for ages 5 to 18.

Themes include “Game Day Central: Where Heroes are Made,” the program at First Baptist in Ferriday, Vidalia and Natchez; “Graduate to Great: the Jesus Way” at Zion Chapel; “Avalanche Ranch: A Wild Ride Through God’s World” at St. Mary; “Take the Pledge: Make a Splash With Jesus” at Rose Hill; and “Empowering the Present and Embracing the Future” at New Hope.