 Eventually the best way to choose a summer camp is to involve the whole family and have a good discussion about the pro’s and cons of each one. The decision should not only com from the parents, but also from the children because they’re the ones who are actually going to the camp. You can’t make your kid go to a certain camp you like, you both have to agree and feel the same about the camp.
The kind of camp is obviously the first step in order to choose one. This is the part your child is very important in. A lot of people are choosing a camp for their children without knowing what their children want. The children do know what they want.
You have a lot of kinds of camps like sporting camps, survival camps, art camps, technology camps, religious camps and so on. Most of the time this decision is to be made by the child what is obviously because he/she is going to the camp.
The decision can also depend on the philosophy of the camp. A lot of camps have activities all through the day to keep the kids busy, but the way they do that defines the philosophy of the camp. Most of the camps are stimulating teamwork and want to improve the social skills of the children, but there are camps which really rely on the individual and want to see competition all day long. Both of these options have positive and negative sides. It is for you to decide where you want to put your child in.
The director and the staff of a certain camp are playing a big role in the final decision. They have to be reliable and leave a good impression. You’re feeling must be right about it, because if not, you’ll probably won’t choose them. There are a couple things you can ask yourself looking at the director and the staff. For example: do I want to leave my children under their responsibility? For how long does the director have experience working with children? Is the staff educated, do they know what they’re doing? Obviously, you will send your kids to a positive and stimulating environment, but which one? The questions mentioned above can help you choosing the right one.
Another aspect of a camp which can be affecting your choice can be the costs of it. In the most cases the price of a camp is a representative for the rest, the more expensive the better the camp is. But not all people can afford to put their child in a very expensive camp. On the other hand you should give your child a proper vacation in the form of a camp. It’s just the question for the parents of how much they want to spend on their child. Usually the cost for a week of campsite is more or less € 1000,-.
The size of the camp also matters in certain ways. For example the amount of attention a child gains from the staff. Fortunately the bigger camps are organised in small units so you can compare them to bigger ones. The size also depends on the type of camp, if you have for example a camp which is specialised in kids to regain self confidence it won’t be very big, but a camp for a kind of sport is usually way bigger.
If you child is disabled in any possible way, you should consider an adapted summer camp. For example if your child doesn’t have the possibility to walk, a camp with the right precautions is probably the best suitable environment for you child.
After all there are a lot of aspects which you should think of before choosing a summer camp for your child. You better take the time and talk a lot about it with your child to choose one. |
