Choosing the Ideal Summer Camp for Your Kids: The Points to Consider First

As the school year winds down, most parents begin to think about what they can do to keep their kids away from their smart devices all summer and make their time as meaningful and fun as possible.

Summer vacation is quite long for kids and short for parents, so the question often arises: how to keep your child occupied? In these situations, summer camps are often the solution for parents, but since there are so many, how to choose the right one?

In this article, we’ve gathered some points to consider before choosing the perfect summer camp for your children!

Prioritize Your Needs

Most camps offer your children not only fun, but also the opportunity to learn new things or expand on what they already know. Perhaps the most accurate way to sort camps is into the following categories: sports, fitness, arts, education, language, survival and skills.

All of these types of camps develop certain qualities in the child through specific activities, and the ease of getting out of one’s comfort zone is very beneficial to the development of social skills.

In addition, even a temporary change of environment broadens a child’s worldview as they get to know people from different backgrounds, with different experiences, which helps them learn not only to talk, but also to accept a friend.

Decide on the Duration

The main types of camps are: day camps, where the child spends part of the day at the camp without staying overnight, and overnight camps, where the child leaves and returns on set days.

For younger or less adventurous children, day camps are ideal because they ensure that the child is occupied while the parents work. This is a great option because it avoids the need to hire expensive babysitters, sacrifice work, or ask relatives for help during the long vacations.

Camps also encourage children to be independent and responsible, as they have to make their own decisions, even as simple as which child to say “hello” to and what to do next, without a parent there to tell them what to do and not to do.

Even a short period without parents encourages children to understand that every action has consequences. For example, if one child is friendly to another, the consequence is a friendly response from the other child. It is experiences like those that develop a child’s rationality, as they better understand to think before they act and to treat others as they want to be treated.

Know What You Will Pay for

Before booking a place at a summer camp, find out what kind of program it offers and what the value for money is. After all, nobody wants to pay a lot of money for their child to do nothing at camp.

Nor would anyone take their child to a camp that offers no program at all. That does not inspire confidence and is very unprofessional.

Consider Your Child’s Preferences

Being forced by parents to go to a camp he or she doesn’t want can cause the child to shut down and unconsciously not receive good feelings, which would make such a camp totally ineffective and could cause animosity between you and the child.

On the other hand, a child whose opinion is taken into account before the camp will develop independence (after all, his decision was influenced by you), will have more confidence in himself and in you, and will be able to fully experience the good emotions, because not only the child will not resist, but he will want to. On the other hand, if you let the child choose the side and he does not like it, he will be responsible for his own decision.

All these tips will guarantee the best emotions and impressions from the camp and will help your child come back from the camp feeling better. If you have some further suggestions on how to choose the appropriate summer camp, don’t forget to share them with us in the comments below!