Do your kids go to camps in the summer?

[Mydogisthebestbetterthanalltherest]

Just day type ones?

I live abroad and my Dd, almost 6, will be off school, on summer holidays for 11-12 weeks. Seeing lots of people putting kids in daytime type camps, is 5 too young to do this, is it necessary or should I just let Dd play in the garden, paddling pool, beach etc and arrange play dates?
Feel the pressure to do it, and the cost

Summer camps ae an horrendous concept! Be with your kids!

@VestibuleVirgin It’s not the whole summer! They have options for two days per week or every day for a full week. I’m seeing everyone around me sign their kids up to keep them entertained, especially for that amount of time, I’m wondering how we’ll cope for almost 3 months and I love being with my Dd

"Horrendous concepts". Eh? Yes, doing crafts/ drama/playing cricket for a week with their mates will scar them for life.

Some of us have to use them to work OP. If you don't want to, then don't. She's only 5 she doesn't need to go.

Not everyone has the luxury of being a SAHM 🙄

Horrendous concept 😂

I had a great time at summer camps when I was primary school aged.

😂 I think you’ve misunderstood this post. The OP is talking about day camps - like 9am-3pm at an art or sports club.

OP, my daughter loves holiday camps. We sign to several every year. She’s 6.

Where do you live that has 12 week summer holidays?!

I used to go to day camps in the summer holidays when I was around 10-13. They were brilliant. We used to get picked up early and taken by coach to a forest which was set up as an outdoor adventure type place. It was brilliant, with lovely leaders and we were allowed to run feral in the forest. This was about 30 years ago and lots from my school went (I suspect it was subsidised by the local authority). Other kids got coaches from surrounding areas.

My DD who will have just turned 5 is going a week of a morning only camp. She is desperate to go with her older sister.

My 6 year old has been going to holiday camps since he started school at 5. It impossible to cover all the holidays they get without using some form of paid childcare if you work.
He loves it. And actually asks to go even when I have the day off with him. We try to arrange weeks at the same camp with his friends to make it more fun as well.

What a ridiculous thing to say.
DD1 used to go to holiday club at the leisure center and she loves it. They did swimming, lots of arts and crafts, different sports based on the child’s interest like tennis, football, etc, cinema, etc. They were lots of fun and I wish I had an opportunity like that growing up.

I'd wait if I were you if you can be home with her instead, age 7-10 though is a great age to send her. There will be other day workshops etc being run to send her to run by libraries and museums.

I used to work at residential holiday camps and we used to get children as young as 6 away from home for up to 3 weeks for one child. They didn't speak English and her parents had sent her from overseas to learn the language. So age wise I'm sure your child would be fine and if you need a break then it's better to have a days rest and a happy parent than an over stressed one.

Holiday day camps start at 6 years old where we are so check first in case it's not option for you yet.

You sound like you have the choice between using them or not. If so, I'd personally start with one day just to see how my child gets on and go from there. I can think of a range of responses from the kids in my DC's class from love to hate.

I’m a SAHM and my kids are doing day camp for part of the summer. I’m in the US, where we’ve got three months of summer vacation; my nine-year-old is doing three separate weeks in June, July, and August, and my six- year-old is doing the June and July weeks with her. (The August one for her age level was full.)

Last summer, we didn’t schedule anything except swimming lessons once a week, and I needed a break from their petty arguments. And from spending a large chunk of the summer pretending to be either Ron Weasley, a magic pony, or Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. 😂

My younger two don't (the big two are past that age). When we bought our house 🏡 me of the big draws was that it was a lovely family development with plenty of children of a similar age. Mine are content to spend days out in the street/gardens playing with their friends and I see no real benefit to sending them to camps as we don't need the childcare. I'm happier for them to engage in as much free play as they possibly can at this age. I really do think that children's lives are so filled with structured activities these days that it leaves little time for them to just explore their imaginations. I understand some people rely on camps though for childcare which is fair enough.

Yes I've done it since DD was 5. I'm a sahm, so it's just for entertainment not childcare. I do the ones that specialise in one type of activity, eg musical theatre, ballet, tennis etc, rather than the general all-day childcare ones that have a range of activities but usually not taught by specialists. It's a nice way for her to try out some activities without committing to it every week for a term (and some of them are too far to travel after school, but we can get there during holidays). Some are school hours, some are half day, and then there are things like swimming which is only a 30 min lesson every day for a week, but it takes up the morning with travelling and getting changed. I mix it up with some weeks of being with me although we still spend every day going out not being stuck at home.

Mine have to go for childcare reasons, some weeks they are in all week, some not at all and some weeks it's a whole mixture of being at home with one of us/grandparents and holiday clubs.

They like going even if they would rather stay at home watching TV! It's good for them to play with others and burn off some energy. Even if we didn't have to work I think I would still send them but just a bit less for the above reasons.

Does your DC want to go? Do they have friends going? I sent my 3YO at Easter. Big sister was going, so were some nursery chums. He had a great time.

My DS is slightly older - now 8. We don’t need childcare but last summer he did a week long tennis camp (half days only) because he wanted to and it broke up the holidays nicely. We’ll probably organise him another week this year, if you have 12
weeks off I think it’s a great idea to have some structured weeks and others where they can just chill.

My DC have been to sports related day camps every summer for the last 6 years, they really enjoy themselves. They get to join in with sports, make friends and have a great time. They would typically do one day a week but we know children who do more days, sometimes a full week block at the beginning or end of the summer break.

Mine didn't.. nor school.
HE. Schools are bad enough.. summer camps / holiday clubs worse

DD goes to holiday club usually a couple of times a week during the summer holidays, and usually at least one day in the other holidays. We both work all year round and don't have enough leave to cover all the school breaks. She really enjoys it.

I found the summer holidays hard work last year - all her mates were on holiday at different times so it made playdates hard, everyone has different combos of siblings and work patterns so at least with holiday club I know she'll get a good 8 hours of fun,friends to play with and activities.

My 6 year old goes to holiday club 8:30-430 usually 2-3 days a week in the summer. Because otherwise, how can you keep a job if you work? Dh and I usually take 1-2 days off each depending on the week, so holiday club for the other 2-3 days. Older one just has to sit at home and be bored though!

Actually camps, no. Because it's not really a thing around here. Closest ones I've seen were in a bigger town 30-40 minutes away, and it's not really a good use of my/dh's time to spend 2-2.5 hours a day driving when we need to be working. We could probably find a way to facilitate it for a week though if one of the dc asked, but it wouldn't be very convenient.

I lived abroad as a child and I regularly went to summer camps, both day and sleep away ones. I didn't love the day camps, I think because I would have rather been home (who wouldn't?) and they were more for childcare than for me. I was definitely doing sleepaway camps at 10/11/12, which seems so young to me now. My dd is 11 and I don't think I'd send her away to a sleepaway camp for 2 weeks.

Center?