Summer Camps

With around 6,000 residential summer camps to choose from, parents should find it easy to pick several candidates. The best way to narrow down the choices is to consider whether your child would prefer a traditional camp experience with swimming, boating, and singalongs around the bonfire or a more specialized camp focusing on one activity, such as computing, horseback riding, or playing musical instruments. An increasing number of camps are also devoted to intense sports like skateboarding and freestyle biking, an excellent option for an active, physically skilled child.

Before you register your child for a particular camp, you might want to visit the place itself or at least speak to the director. Considering your child's age and interests, ask the director about the level of competition in games, the amount of activities campers can select versus the amount they must participate in, and phone call policies. You'll want to know hard numbers, such as the percentage of returning campers and staff and the camper to counselor ratio. Determine the experience that supervisors of specific departments possess (boating instructors, arts and crafts teachers, etc), since your child will probably be spending as much time with them as with the counselors.

Six-to-nine-year-olds usually adjust better to camp than children attending for the first time at an older age, so if your seven-year-old seems excited about the prospect, don't hesitate to investigate options. Children usually relish opportunities to prove their independence, and camp offers them the perfect vehicle for doing so.