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

I work for a national holiday camp provider.
We work really hard to show the kids a good time. We're at the higher end price point though, so mostly get private school kids.

Why do you think they are a horrendous concept? Is it because you believe that children should be with their parents 24/7? If so, I'll just have to disagree with you.

I was a SAHM but my kids still went to summer camps for several weeks in the summer. They would have been bored silly staying home, and the camps gave them opportunities to do activities they wouldn't otherwise, continue doing activities they already loved, learn new things that they wouldn't in school, make friends with kids from different schools, and just generally be active and engaged. I appreciate that we were privileged to be able to afford this, but they had a wonderful time overall (and any more negative experiences served as great learning experiences).

I had the flexibility with work (term time contract) that I didn't need to send my DC to camps. However, they asked to go with friends to activity camps (PGL etc) for usually a week but sometimes two most summers, depending on how our summer holidays away worked out. They always had a great time.

My son has been doing since he was about 7. He's done some all day forest school sessions, multi sport and music / dance - the latter were his favourite. He enjoys them but I find he's very tired the next day so I tend not to put him for two consecutive days at a time. Generally put him in for about 5-6 days over the summer, spread out over a couple of weeks.

My DD loves summer camps and its a great way to keep both my kids active but remember to make the most of those summer familying moments!