To think children generally enjoy holiday clubs?

[letsgoonabughunt]

Do children enjoy holiday clubs?

I keep seeing them promoted on social media and they sound like they offer amazing activities. But I’m unsure if it’s just the blurb if you like - would most kids prefer to be home with a parent?

It clearly depends on the kid and the specific camp. Mine hates football so a sniff of that and he’s bored. Manga/crafty activities are preferred.

Also there’s a big difference between being there for full weeks vs ad hoc days. My kid would find the former too tiring and no fun.

My dc liked some.

I rebooked the ones they liked. Art and drama and ballet and music ones were generally a hit. Less keen on tennis.

Mine hates them.

Depends on child, club, and parent and home life
Find the right club for child s interesrs
Maybe working parents have no choice anyway
Maybe it is a respite for child from annoying younger sibling or parent who ignores them or worse.
Lots of variables

My DC begs to go to one particular excellent holiday club near us, as the activities they put on are so amazing.

Conversely my friends DC absolutely refuse to go to (a different) holiday club in their area.

It really depends on the DC and what the holiday club actually provides.

An unanswerable question that a number of posters have answered. It’s interesting reading, thanks to those who answered and of course it depends on the child but I’ve still found it interesting.

My kids have had various experiences but when they were younger they didn’t have a choice as we can’t cover all the school holidays between us (we live abroad so need to keep a couple weeks to visit our parents). My daughter is quite happy at home with her crafting and reading but my son is super high energy so gets really bored about halfway through the day.

I can only speak for my children. They hated them. No matter the activity.

My children loved being home in the holidays. The slow start, no having to rush out of the house.

I think the poster that said dependent on the child wasn't wrong though. My ds loves football, he went to a local holiday club at a football club and hated it. He pereservered for a few days but asked not to go back and there were tears some days. When I got to the root of it he said it was because it was intense and competitive. He plays for fun but the boys that went to the holiday club played for the club so all knew each other and were playing to a higher standard. He felt left out and out of his depth so for him it just took the fun out of it. We then arranged football holiday camp for him at a gym and he enjoyed that so much more. He made friends with kids and whilst we only signed him up for 2 half days initially he decided he wanted to sign up for 2 half days a week for a further 2 weeks.

Dd1 was signed up to a holiday camp with a mixture of activities advertised but that actually focused on group sports. She has DCD and did not enjoy it at all. I didn't force her to go. We then signed her up to an arts and crafts holidays club with some drama mixed in and she found her tribe. We only ever sign them up for 2 days a week though and for only one or two weeks. For us it isn't used as childcare though.

Dh and I do not have family help. We work opposite to each other so that there is always someone home for the kids. I recognise that they have such a busy school year and ours do outside classes such as music, swimming, arabic and guides too. I do like them to do some holiday classes as they get to interact with other kids and push themselves outside of their comfort zone meeting new people and trying new things but I'm also happy for them to potter about and rest at home too.

I would say yes the nature of the child can impact whether they enjoy it or not but also the activity or range of activities offered and how well the group is run.

Mine moans about going but is generally okay once it’s there. It helps that it’s at his school and run by the same people who do the wrap around care during term time so it’s familiar. There’s normally a few people from his school there too. But he’d much rather be at home, sadly not an option!

About 25 years ago, my sister's boss was taking his 9 yr old son to football camp over the summer holidays, as they were driving along, he asked his dad, "So when do I get my holiday?"

I have always remembered that, and think about the days when I did nothing as a child, where nothing was organised, and I could choose what I wanted to do, from reading to painting, to playing rounders on the playing field... that was the time when I recharged.

My two alway preferred being at home, never much liked being left at a holiday club. Again, as others keep saying it will depend on the child.
Mine are close in age so could always rely on each other for games at home and have always been home birds anyway.

My kids hate them. They sound amazing in the adverts but they're mostly run by bored, inexperienced teenagers. They do repetitive, low budget activities. They may have a few moments of fun but most of it is just surviving until home time.
The only time my kids possibly enjoy them is when their best friends are at the same one.

My 8-year-old loves them. Her favourite is a forest school one. She does get some downtime as well, though.

My dd liked one that was a woodland forest school set up, there was also an outdoor pool which she loved.

It cost £40 a day though.

That's a shame, ours are run by coaches of term time sports in schools, so they are generally quite experienced. Dd's is also only 9:30-3 so a reasonably short day, which may make a difference.

We have to use them but my kids have some they prefer over others. There was a heavy sports one and they weren’t as keen. Not because they don’t like sports but it was more competitive.

The ones mine enjoy are a more unstructured with a few activities. Esp if a few friends are going they spend the day painting, playing etc.

We have a lovely club near us that have a special thing each day such as bouncy castle or petting zoo visit.

The one near us has been going 30+ years and is excellent. Daughter enjoys going and complains if she gets picked up early. I don't particularly like holidays away so try to take Fridays or Mondays off throughout the summer to break things up.

Mine hate them and they prefer to be home.

Mine enjoy the specific activity-based ones - dance, musical theatre, tennis, football, film-making. Often with a performance or project.
Not the playscheme type ones with colouring in and random games.

Mine hated them. I used have a mainly term time time contract with school holidays as unpaid leave apart from one week in the summer. Even in that week they only had to go to a holiday club two days but always wanted to stay at home.
I suppose if children have wrap around care from the beginning they don't know any different but introducing childcare when they are older is harder.

Depends on the child and what the club is.

Two children - one preferred the local council one ran out the local sports centre. She was with a few friends and it was a mix of play/ swimming/ art etc but once she hit 9/10 she found them to boring and then she disliked them so was a lot harder. Husband and I mixed wfh and shorter days. I wanted her to do something as watching iPad/tv all day wasn’t a good alternative! The local horse riding school did the odd day which she liked.

My younger daughter loved the more expensive activities, horse club, coding , drama , film club she had a mix of activities and loved it.

It’s tough but we always had the first summer week split between husband and I off so they could decompress. And had the last 10 days of before going back to school in summer. Rest of the term breaks mix of leave and holiday camps.

I don’t miss the planning logistics at all! They much to old for clubs now and haven’t been damaged by them!

Mine liked some but not others. They much preferred going with a friend. I remember as a child being desperate to do some activities in the holidays but my parents couldn't afford it.

Mine hated them, begged me not to send them this year

My two didn’t like them