When it comes to ideas to get rich parents to spend money on ritzy summer camps for their children, the idea of teaching rich kids how to be rich is a little meta. For wealth manager Katherine Lintz, according to Bloomberg Markets magazine, teaching kids as young as six to corner the commodities market through the boardgame Pit and ponder the importance of the iPhone's packaging, is more about providing the "human touch" that attracts wealthy clients to her Financial Partners Management. But the notion that kids from rich families need finer things from summer camp than canoes and cabins has been around for years.

• How to Eat Nice Food: Gone are days of buffets filled with grey masses at camp. Some camps now tout fine cuisine as part of the package, the New York Times reported earlier this summer. On site gardens and greenhouses provide fresh produce, and restaurant-grade kitchens make meals such as "wild Columbia River steelhead smoked salmon and whitefish salad." It's all a part of learning how to eat healthier. Cost: $11,000 for seven-weeks
• How to Make and Give Away Money: Millionaire Michael Loeb started the highly exclusive "Global Fellows in Social Enterprise" for kids of the rich and influential, according to a Wall Street Journal article last year. On weekends, campers travel to the Hamptons, Cape Cod, and the Berkshires. During the week, they learn business-strategy and how to graciously say no to someone asking for money from experts like the Rockefellers. Cost: $25,000 for six-weeks, with a $2,500 tax deduction
• How to Be a Person: Consulting firm IFF Advisors runs a "Skills Retreat" for rich kids in Orange County, the LA Times reported in 2007. The retreat teaches wealth management skills, like how to buy and sell stocks, but it also helps with "life skills," which apparently you don't learn when all your money is inherited. Cost: $5,000 for three days
• How to Run a Lemonade Stand: Wealthbridge Partners prides itself in hands-on learning for its clients' kids, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2005. One group built a lemonade stand—that is, after they did a cost-benefit analysis of supplies and various locations. The stand's profit went to charity. Cost: Wealthbridge manages families with net worths between $50 million and $100 million

All this said, camps in general can be expensive. The American Camp Association says fees can range from $100 to $800 a week. But, you know, you can't really put a price on all the good times you had playing commodity market board games, right?

Photo by DenisNata via Shutterstock

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Serena Dai