DEAR MOM, SEND MOISTURIZER

It's opening day of summer camp and the manicures have just begun. New Age music and the trickle of a plug-in rock fountain fill the trailer as Vallarey Kingston, 15, throws a plush robe over her T shirt and jeans and Annie Norris, 12, tosses her dusty Converse sneakers next to the foot spas.

They'll spend a week with four other girls practicing yoga, getting facials and arguing over who's cuter--Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom. As fellow campers at Pali Overnight Adventures start their programs--secret-agent camp, rock-star school--the spa-and-well-being group get a lesson in hand scrub. "Who knows why it's important to moisturize after we exfoliate?" asks the counselor. "Um, 'cause the skin's all open and stuff?" says Hannah Vandeventer, 12. "Right. Girls, rub in the cream."

"Downward facing dog" is not a regular part of camp vernacular yet, but programs like Pali's in southern California are starting to spring up at specialty and fitness camps around the country. The adult resort Canyon Ranch now offers a Pilates-and-massage camp in Pennsylvania for teens, while Washington state's Wolf Camp boasts a herbal-medicine-and-spa program. Of the estimated 10,000 overnight or day camps, more and more are offering specialty programs like stuntman school and fashion design to an increasingly sophisticated kid demographic. Adventure comes at a price, though. Pali charges about $1,400 a week (twice the price of a traditional camp), but its flashy Web site assures parents it's worth it: "Practice the art of yoga... learn etiquette and impeccable manners." But not everyone sees pedicures under the pines as a step forward in camp culture. "What happened to the summer-camp counselor who could show you the stars in Orion's Belt?" asks Elizabeth Berger, child psychiatrist and author of "Raising Children With Character." "Isn't the pedicure mommy's world?"

The only mention of mommy among Pali's spa campers is during a discussion of hot-rock massages. "My mom had one, I think," says Emily Lupinacci, 14. "Massage tickles," says Hannah, brushing purple polish on her stubby nails. Next they'll learn pedicures, but not before Hannah and Annie wrestle on the massage table. "OK, stop," says Hannah, giggling. "Stop! You're gonna mess up my nails."