How to Choose a Summer Camp

(From March 2005)

By Amy Cates

Ten million American kids can’t be wrong.

That’s the figure the American Camping Association estimates attend summer camp each year at more than 12,000 camps across the United States. And each year, more kids are choosing to spend time at either a day or residential camp during their summer break.

Where they go and how long they stay is ultimately their parents’ decision, and it’s one that should be made carefully, with the child’s specific needs in mind. If you’re considering sending your child to camp, the National Camp Association, Inc. suggests you sit down as a family and ask these questions:

1. What do you and your child want to gain from the camp experience? Learn new skills, develop more self confidence, improving proficiency in certain areas, become more independent?
2. What are other expectations of the camp experience?
3. What are the special interests that your child wants to explore?
4. Are there any physical, intellectual or social limitations that should be considered?
5. What kind of emphasis will your child profit from the most? For example: Is a lot of structure desirable, is social interaction with members of the opposite sex important, or does your child need a place where he is encouraged to develop at his own pace?
6. You may have other concerns that you'll want to keep in mind as you go through your selection process. If so, write them down below.

From here, you should be able to narrow your search. You’ll need to consider several factors in locating the camp that best fits your child: type of camp (residential or day), cost, size, location, programs and activities,

The debate between day and residential often can be settled by a scan of your family finances and schedule. Can you afford the more costly residential camp and the supplies you’ll need to buy? The cost for a stay at a residential camp can range from $200 to $1,000 per week, depending on the camp.

The location of a camp means more than just where it sits on a map. Its environment and security and proximity to medical facilities all should play into your decision.
If you ask your child what is most important about camp, he’ll likely say “the activities.” After all, isn’t that why he’s going?

Camps can be as specialized as focusing on one academic subject or as general as the traditional outdoor camp. Specialty camps might offer intensive training or lessons in tennis, horseback riding, or water sports. The more general camps might include water activities and outdoor adventures like hiking and canoeing. Team sports might include baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, volleyball, roller hockey and ice hockey. individual sports often offered are archery, fencing, fishing, golf, gymnastics, martial arts, wrestling, track & field, biking, riding, riflery, tennis and aerobics. Even at general camps, campers can participate in science activities that expand their knowledge of gardening, archaeology and nature. Their creativity is tapped through projects in drawing, crafts, painting, cooking and ceramics.

If residential camp seems a little daunting for your child, or if the cost alone sends you looking for an alternative, day camp is a good option. But just because your child won’t be spending the night there, you shouldn’t abandon good judgment. The American Camping Association suggests you ask the following questions of a day camp program director:

• Is the camp accredited by the American Camping Association?
• What training does the staff receive concerning safety, supervision, counseling, problem solving, and other issues unique to working with young children?
• Is the price all-inclusive or are there extra charges for transportation, overnights, swimming lessons, food service, horseback riding, group pictures, before and after care, t-shirts, field trips, etc.?
• If transportation is offered, where is the closest pick-up spot?
• If before- and after-camp extended care is offered, who is with the children and what activities take place?
• Is lunch served or do campers bring their own sack lunches?
• Are snacks and drinks provided?
• If the camp offers swimming, are there swimming lessons or it is simply recreational swimming?
• Are campers in a group with a counselor all day? Or, are campers free to go from one activity to another with appropriate supervision? In this case, who would you talk to if you had a question or concern about your child?
• Is an open house offered before camp starts where you can meet your child’s counselor and van/bus driver?
• Are parents allowed to drop by for visits?

For more information about residential and day camps, contact the American Camping Association at (765) 342-8456; web site: acacamps.org. You can reach the National Camp Association at (800) 966-CAMP; www.summercamp.org