The summer is right nearing the end of the line Thank goodness! It’s both exciting and stressful at once. When summer breaks last for 8–10 weeks, there’s a necessity for planning and organizing the children.
My summer planning usually begins in January, when my wonderful mommy tribe begins contacting me with dates and even plans. Since it’s not only about what I believe my girls would want to do and what’s cost-effective and fun, it’s also not about co-ordinating with other friends, which takes much going back and forth and lots of patience.
These are 10 of my best suggestions for planning summer camps for your tweens.
- Plan your vacation time first. This will assist in organizing with your friends. So if you are planning to rent a cottage each year or have your children visit grandma’s home for a week, get all these booked to know which weeks you have to plan.
- Discover the camps that they enjoyed in the past year, since they’re no longer in existence. If a few are notable, it’s an indication that they’ve had a great time and that you should make it a priority to book them again! This is also a great moment to determine the dates when the top camps are open for registration. If they’re popular with your children, they’re likely to be popular with other children.
- Choose 1-2 friends with whom you would like to go on camps, so you can begin chatting with the parents to determine if camps, holidays and costs all align.
- If you’re planning to experience new camps, take a look on your social networks for suggestions and look into for things like bus pickup locations and after-camp care Are there field trips available for daily swimming. Or the most exciting option is when the camp provides lunch! WHOO HOO!
- Costs This is a big one. The summer camps are where my daycare expenses are going. I thought I would be able to save a lot of money once I no longer required daycare. Nope, summer camp is on the table. It is estimated to cost between and CDN for a week of child care. (I’m located in Burlington, Ontario so perhaps this might change if you live in a smaller city or in a different province.) When you’ve got more than one child and you work in the area, you may have additional charges for after-school care. Some camps do offer discounts for siblings, so make sure to look into this, and you may find discounts on early bookings or discounts for multi-weeks, so be sure to check and plan accordingly to get the best price.
- If you’re planning to book the same camp over multiple weeks, I believe it’s beneficial mixing them all up for instance, if you’ve got some holidays or a week spent with Grandma you might want to do week one camp and week 2 vacation. the week 3, week 4 of Grandma’s birthday,, so you can have different activities throughout the four weeks.
- Sleepover camp It’s a major one. Are they prepared? Where should they send them? What kind of friends should they travel with? I have an 11-year-old and 8-year-old and they’re interested but aren’t quite ready. They are also well conscious of the price of some things (as we always share the cost with them so that they know the worth of the things) I’m also struggling somewhat with having two kids away from home and one here, so our family will be patient until they both attend sleepover camps so that it’s a time of relaxation for all of us! Check out my blog post on what to pack to take with you for camping on this site.
- Check out reviews and find out the length of time it has been operating for. There are a lot of camps are opening in church and community centers basements. Be sure that your camp is operating for some time and has a great online review and is properly trained by its staff. This is a great site to look up if you need to ensure that the camp is operating properly.
- Another crucial thing to consider about the camp you choose is communication. What can I do to contact my children if there’s an emergency? What can I do to reach the staff or the head office during the summer if I have questions or plans to pick up the changes? Be sure to ask prior to dropping your children off for the first time, since this is vital and often overlooked.
- The most important thing to remember is: Don’t be stressed! Whatever you plan, your kids will be spending time with their friends or with each other. They will be active and not connected to their smartphones or to a computer screen. It will be the most fun summer ever since they were kids, and summer is the most enjoyable time of your life! Have fun this summer!