Kids really look forward to summer camp. But how do you choose the right one? Based on my experience as the parent of a 15-year-old boy, as well as conversations with other parents, I’ve figured out the top six things to consider when choosing the right camp for your kids.
1. Cost. It goes without saying that cost is an important factor, especially if you have more than one kid to send to camp. Summer camps can range widely in price, depending on whether they’re bare-bones camps with a limited number of activities or camps that offer a lot of expensive activities, like overnight trips. But don’t just consider the price of the camp. Also consider how much money you’ll have left for other summer activities, like family trips. Kids’ summer vacations are long and can feel even longer if the whole family has to stay home for many weeks because you didn’t have any money left after paying for camp to do other things. I learned this the hard way the first time my son went to a summer camp. The camp was so expensive that my family ended up not having any money left for our planned family vacation.
2. Geographical distance. Another aspect to consider is the distance of the camp from your home. If the camp is far away, you may end up spending a lot of time and money driving to and from camp. This issue is made even more challenging if you have kids who go to different camps, at different times, and for different lengths of time. A good friend of my family spends a lot of the summer crisscrossing the country on the way to and from the different camps his kids go to.
3. Day camp or sleepaway camp? One of the biggest choices every parent faces is whether to send their kids to a day camp or a sleepaway camp. In my experience, it’s best to start with a day camp until your kids express interest in going to a sleepaway camp. Believe me, they’re fully aware, even at a young age, that sleepaway camps exist and that some of their friends already have attended them. If your kids haven’t said they’d like to go to a sleepaway camp, it’s probably because they’re not ready yet. It can also be a good idea to send your kids to both day and sleepaway camps. While sleepaway camps give them a chance to experience real independence and to make new friends, day camps let them come home in the late afternoon and spend some time with their regular friends.
4. Indoor or outdoor activities? When choosing a camp, consider the types of activities your kids will be engaged in. Some kids enjoy sitting quietly inside focusing on arts and crafts; other kids prefer being active outdoors engaging in sports. You could choose to follow your kids’ preferences and let them decide, or you could use summer camp as a chance to challenge your kids to step outside of their comfort zone and try something entirely different. My spouse certainly prefers the second option. Since our son first began going to summer camp, my spouse has insisted he try activities that we can’t offer him in our regular city-slicker lives like canoeing, water skiing, and zip-lining.
5. Single activity or multiple activities? Find out if the camps you might be interested in are specialized and focus on one activity or if they offer multiple activities. Many camps are geared toward one specific activity, like chess, coding, writing, or they are geared toward more sports-oriented activities like basketball or soccer. Other camps offer kids a range of activities from sports to crafts to performing arts. Camps that focus on a single activity typically aim to strengthen kids’ abilities in that particular area. Camps that offer many different activities try to introduce kids to different things. So, ask yourself - and your kids - whether the goal is simply to have fun and try new things or whether the goal is to enhance some particular skill of theirs.
6. Single or multiple camps? Finally, ask yourself whether you want to send your kids to one camp for all or part of the summer or whether your kids will go to multiple camps. There are good reasons for either choice. On the one hand, sending your kids to a single camp can save you time and money shuttling between camps. It would also let your kids cultivate friendships for a longer period of time. On the other hand, sending your kids to several camps would let them explore different interests and make more new friends.
I hope these tips will help you and your kids choose the camp that’s right for them. Happy camping!
Tanni Haas, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Communication Arts, Sciences, and Disorders at the City University of New York - Brooklyn College.
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