FOR THE KIDS : Camps Will Keep Youths Busy for Lazy Days of Summer : There’s still time to sign up for nature, science, theater or art sessions offered throughout the county.

Now that you’ve filled the first few weeks of summer vacation with a stream of kid activities, what are you going to do for the next two months?

If that makes you a little panicky, consider this: There are still some summer programs for kids out there that aren’t filled. It’s not too late to sign up and breathe a little easier.

At Gull Wings Children’s Museum in Oxnard, kids in the Rainforest Camp spend five mornings learning about plants and animals. The environmental message is communicated through fun activities such as puppet shows, stories and crafts.

Everything they do is related to the rain forest. They bake “snake bread” out of doughy strips. They make “vine soup” out of noodles and vegetables found in the rain forest. They sample obscure things like ginger root. They make a terrarium, fashion rain sticks out of cardboard tubes, pebbles and nails, and create a notebook about what they’ve learned about the rain forest.

“The animals are so fascinating,” said museum Director Gig Wishon. For instance, “The army ants--they can carry a leaf 100 times their size.”

On the last day, Wishon transforms one of the rooms at the museum into a rain forest--complete with humidifier.

The museum also offers a similar Backyard Science Camp at which kids make a volcano, grow crystals and figure out such mysteries as why popcorn pops. They dabble in astronomy, geology, chemistry, physics and biology.

Rainforest Camp starts Monday and runs through next Friday . Backyard Science Camp is Aug. 7-11. The cost is $35. Both camps, open to kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, are held from 9 a.m. to noon.

For information, call the museum, which is at 418 W. 4th St., at 483-3005.

Here’s another day camp for wanna-be scientists in kindergarten through sixth grade. Science Adventures, based in Huntington Beach, offers five weeklong camps in five locations in Ventura County, as well as other sites throughout Southern California.

Each session concentrates on a specific area, such as space and rocketry, in which campers build and launch a model rocket and learn about the solar system, star charts and space shuttles.

In physics camp, they make toys and games with buzzers, lights and motors, and in another one called Gizmos, Gadgets and Goop Camp, they follow the flow of energy through a battery-powered car and even design special effects with dry ice. Animal camp features live animals, and science magic camp offers experiments with chemistry and electricity.

All the camps are held outdoors in Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousands Oaks and Ventura. A half-day session from 9 a.m. to noon costs $105; and a full-day session from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. is $180. For information, call (800) 472-4362.

For kids who want an intensive dose of art, Young at Art in Camarillo and Westlake offers summer art camp. It runs from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday. Kids 5 and up do two activities a day, such as T-shirt painting or print-making. It costs $148 for the four days, or $38 per day.

Young at Art also has afternoon workshops in activities such as cartooning. For information, call 374-1177.

Kids who want a taste of theater can enroll in a two-week summer theater workshop taught by Ken Gardner, assistant professor of drama and director of the Children’s Theatre program at Cal Lutheran University.

This is for beginners, 9 to 14 years old, and it runs 8 a.m. to noon July 17-28 on the CLU campus. (A previous session is already under way, and an advanced workshop this month is filled.)

The finale is an improvisational performance on the last day of class. The cost is $165 for this summer program, which is now in its 10th year. For information, call 493-3863.

Here’s more for theater buffs. Hundred Hats Theater Co. in Santa Paula has a summer workshop for teen-agers. The kids will be scouring the Ventura County Museum of History and Art for material for a play they’ll perform, “Tales of Fortune, the Stories of Ventura County.”

The workshop begins July 17 and runs Monday through Thursday, 1 to 4 p.m. It concludes with performances at the end of August at the museum, the Santa Paula Theater Center and Gull Wings Children’s Museum.

The youths will be studying oral histories, photographs and artifacts to create an original monologue for inclusion in the play, written by Terry Brenner-Farrell, artistic director of the theater company. Fillmore musician Edward Wahl will provide the music direction.

Cost of the workshop is $125 (or $50 if the kids sell 15 $5 tickets for the performances.) For information, call 644-4128.

Hundred Hats Theater Co. also has a summer camp for elementary-school age kids. (It started last Monday, but it’s not too late to enroll.) The camp meets Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon, until July 21. Cost is $120.

For all you Dr. Seuss fans, Illusions Theatre in Ojai is doing “Horton Hatches the Egg” at the outdoor Libbey Bowl this weekend and next.

It’s a musical adaptation by Ojai’s Elizabeth Ridenour of the great doctor’s tale about a lazy bird and a patient elephant who ends up in the circus. This is participatory theater and children will be given a nickel at the door to buy peanuts and popcorn.

The show features dance, and the music is composed and performed by Gary Peterson of Ojai. Performances are Saturdays at 5 and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 5 p.m. Tickets are $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for seniors and children. For information, call 649-2324.