Who else is drooling over summer camp catalogs, and thinking about the sunshine and time off???

[...................]

Really.  I'm just so ready.

[Critterfixer]

What is this time off of which you speak? :lol: But yes, my three weeks off at the end of May are looking very good!

[Squawky Acres]

Oh yes!  We are all set and enrolled:  Nature day camp for the older four, and then a week of intensive drawing lessons/art camp for the school-aged children to make up for the art we never do during the year.

[Peaceful Isle]

We have a few camps I want the girls to go to this summer. They will love it. The stress comes in paying for them!

[nature girl]

We have a few camps I want the girls to go to this summer. They will love it. The stress comes in paying for them!

 

Why are camps so darned expensive? The camp I'd love DD to go to is $395 a week! And another that looked good was $335. (These are full-day camps, not sleepovers.) Camp is a great, valuable experience, but I keep thinking of everything else we could buy with that money!

[Arcadia]

Some summer camps are already oversubscribed here. Had to register in January for the popular ones. My boys are doing music theory, art and sports classes since we tend to slack on these during the academic year.

[...................]

Yeah you should look for half day camps. My goal is for my dd to do some things she doesn't get to do otherwise. She wants arts classes and I want her to have swim lessons and we found several half day camps that have all we want. :) I want summer to be all about sunshine and fun so I do not do any academic camps but many people I know here do that as well. :) also Vacation Bible Schools are free or low cost if you can find some and your kids are middle school or younger :)

[...................]

In fact I had a friend that had their kids signed up for 3 different VBS camps and they had different programs with different curricula so it actually worked for them. ðŸ˜

[...................]

What is this time off of which you speak? :lol: But yes, my three weeks off at the end of May are looking very good!

We used to school year round with only a 3 week break because we lived in FL and the heat and misery didn't really scream out "sunshine fun." But now we live in a climate where summer is actually about sun and I have found the summer to be extremely therapeutic! The kids really do grow so much in their time off of academics and I get tons and tons of housework and home projects done, I even do my spring cleaning in summer and I go swimming too. It helps us survive the following year !

[Jackie]

I joyfully signed DD up for two weeks of half day gymnastics camps and one week of full day science camp in June. She would have no understanding why I'm as excited about the camps as she is!

[amyc78]

Mine are not ready for sleepaway camp but we are signed up for Art Camp, WinShape Camp, Soccer Camp, Pony Camp and maybe Theater Camp. New baby comes in July, gotta keep these kids busy :)

[almondbutterandjelly]

Where does one get catalogs for summer camps?

[Arcadia]

Where does one get catalogs for summer camps?

My city's parks & recreation dept mails to everyone in the city their catalog. YMCA mails me every year if I ask them to.

 

I get the other summer catalogs from my local libraries. They let non-profits organisations leave their catalogs and flyers there.

 

Most of the time I just look online because the online catalog is up before the paper version reach me. Also I tend to register for my kids camps online as I want to know if their places/enrollment are confirmed for the dates we want. So looking at catalogs online makes sense for me.

[shawthorne44]

I am eagerly awaiting when DD hits the minimum age for sleep away camp.   

Although, last summer for 4 days DD stayed with my MIL and went to day camp at the zoo.   That was truly lovely!    

[...................]

Perky -

1. City website - most cities offer summer camps - the full day regular camps are usually the cheapest. The "speciality" summer camps are more expensive. I've opted for half day specialty camps.

 

2. Look up "you area Parent" magazines. Like "south Florida parent" mag - it's 90% ads. They usually have different ones - the school year ones are usually mostly ads for private schools. The spring and summer are ads doe summer camps.

 

3. Whatever your kid is into , there's probably a camp for it. You can call local gymnastics, karate, dance places and they'll offer camps.

 

4. Go to all the churches you know of nearby. They will usually either have a VBS Or other sports camp.

 

5. The local private schools usually have either sports or academic camps. The really expensive private schools will offer swimming, water polo, sports and some academics

[...................]

Oh yeah YMCA camps are really great. My friends kids go to 2 or 3 every summer and love them.

[JustEm]

My dh's work has a summer camp that my 2 oldest can go to. In past years they have gotten to pick when they wanted to go, there are different themed camps every 2 weeks. This year I think I'll just send them for the majority of summer because I really need a break from the constant kid noises. Biggest perk is it doesn't cost me a dime.

[Meadowlark]

Ooo...our big leisure service catalog gets posted online tomorrow! I'm practically salivating to see what's offered.

 

I do have a tendency to overschedule though, but I guess since we're home all year I feel like it's nice to take advantage of things they don't normally get to do. If only I didn't have to cart them all around...:-)

 

At any rate, grateful to let someone else teach a few things!

[Farrar]

That sleepaway camp week cannot come fast enough. Seriously.

 

Oh gosh, we're like the inverse of those school parents on FB in late August. "Just get little Timmy off my back, school system! We can't take it anymore!"  :lol:

[...................]

You know, that is weird Ferrar!

[SeaConquest]

I bellyached enough to my DH about being a teacher, but not getting the benny of a real summer break, so he is letting me send my youngest (2) to "camp" at his preschool. Both kids will be at the same camp for two glorious months from 9-3:30. Pinch me.  :svengo:

 

Oldest is doing 1 week of surf camp, 4 weeks of theatre camp, 4 weeks of sports camp (flag football, watersports, golf, and tennis), and probably 1 week of rock band camp. We take off from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  :thumbup1:

 

ETA: The only way that we are able to afford camp is with financial aid and spreading payments out over the year. The YMCA and many other non-profits run camps that offer financial aid.

Edited April 1, 2016 by SeaConquest

[Arcadia]

... and probably 1 week of rock band camp

That is interesting :) I'll have to see if there is anything similar here for my boys age.

[...................]

Wow that's awesome that they let you spread payments out. Ours don't do that, but seems like a good idea. Our areas city parks offer low cost full day camps though- an entire week of 8:30-5:00 camp is only 220.00 and it includes one field trip. And those camps offer financial aid too. I don't send my kids to those as they are less interesting but considering we live in the highest cost of living area in the country, 220 is a good deal.

[deerforest]

DD went to sleep away camp for 2 weeks last year in VT. It was a specialized circus camp. We live in NC so we stayed at a nearby hotel the entire time in case she needed us. I'd say that was the most expensive camp year for us. She decided not to go this year.

 

Instead, she is old enough to work as a junior counselor at some of her favorite places! So, we have a plan for her to do that for 4 different weeks at 3 different places this summer. She doesn't want to do any camps as a camper at all.

 

It's the first time in years that I'm actually saving money in the summer. She doesn't need a sitter or camp, and none of her regular activities happen during the summer except her private aerial lessons.

We work full time so her not doing something during the summer isn't an option. We also belong to a pool and her best friend does too and they bring DD with her during a lot of the days all summer.

[zarabellesmom]

We've got three weeks of theater camp lined up with a couple of weeks of summer dance intensives. After that we are off to Ireland as a family! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this summer.

[...................]

Oiuhhhh Ireland!!!!

[Julie Smith]

Both my boys think that any camp would be a cruel and unusual punishment. 

[luuknam]

Both my boys think that any camp would be a cruel and unusual punishment. 

 

In that case, I'd be all for cruel and unusual punishment, lol.

 

Luckily, mine love camp. My oldest has gone to sleep away YMCA camp the past 2 summers and will be going again this summer. My youngest isn't quite old enough yet for that this summer, so he'll be in day camp the week oldest is away. We may or may not send youngest to sprout camp at 4-H, for which he is old enough - but that's only 2 nights (he's gone to 1 night sleepovers at the Y etc before). Can't wait until next year when I can send both of them away for a week, though the cost is painful. On the bright side, I sign them up in October and pay most of the year towards it. Sometimes they even give some sort of discount for signing up in October (last year they gave a discount on YMCA winter weekend camp, but this year they didn't, so oldest couldn't go to winter weekend this past winter).

[...................]

Both my boys think that any camp would be a cruel and unusual punishment. 

As a kid who mostly grew up in the country where the lazy hazy days of summer were an opportunity for friends to imagine, build and while away the boredom dreaming up new ideas for fishing, forts, projects, how to make the sprinkler hose go higher, biking to the local store and running through the corn field to visit the neighbor's cows....backyard baseball games and soccer games and catching lightening bugs in the evening in the dark....

 

I can totally see how your boys feel.  In fact, I avoided camp even for my kids every summer until last summer- my son went to two weeks, and my daughter two weeks and it was perfect.  We spent the rest of the summer being lazy, doing household projects, visiting the water park and the pool. For my suburban kids...a few weeks at camp and a few weeks at home just relaxing is a nice mix, and I enjoy a break from the routine of being their "all" 24-7.

[Squawky Acres]

I actually don't find camp weeks all that stress-free for me.  There is the lunch and snack packing (our nature camp wants everything to be healthy, packed in reusable packaging, and peanut free), the backpack packing (four kids x 10+ items on the packing list), the driving to and from camp, the camp pick-up (collecting four kids along with all of their projects, drawings, muddy clothes, flower fairies, and special rocks -- and the time when highly-sensitive DD8 lost her flower fairy's GREEN skirt on the ENORMOUS LAWN as we were trying to make our way to the van).  We do camp because the kids love it, and because it is very educational; and I love for them to be educated by someone other than me.  But it is not exactly the key to an easy summer. 

Edited April 2, 2016 by Squawky Acres

[...................]

True. Traffic is killer where I live....

 

 

Wait. Stop!! No more truth. Can't you see were all desperately dreaming of summer!?

[luuknam]

I actually don't find camp weeks all that stress-free for me.  There is the lunch and snack packing (our nature camp wants everything to be healthy, packed in reusable packaging, and peanut free), the backpack packing (four kids x 10+ items on the packing list), the driving to and from camp, the camp pick-up (collecting four kids along with all of their projects, drawings, muddy clothes, flower fairies, and special rocks -- and the time when highly-sensitive DD8 lost her flower fairy's GREEN skirt on the ENORMOUS LAWN as we were trying to make our way to the van).  We do camp because the kids love it, and because it is very educational; and I love for them to be educated by someone other than me.  But it is not exactly the key to an easy summer. 

 

That's why you send them to sleep-away camp. Here, you can send them to the YMCA sleep-away camp if they turn 7 before Dec 31st and are entering 2nd grade, so possibly your oldest 3 (not sure if the 3rd one would qualify). If they're entering 3rd grade, it's a full week, entering 2nd grade it's only 4 nights (though they let some kids do all 6 nights, but you'd have to get special permission - basically, the kid would need to have experience being away from home), and entering 5th grade you can send them multiple weeks without them coming home one night on the weekend. It's still a bunch of effort packing everything, but it's not every day.

 

Can't wait until next summer when I can just send off both kids for a week.

[Squawky Acres]

True. Traffic is killer where I live....

 

 

Wait. Stop!! No more truth. Can't you see were all desperately dreaming of summer!?

 

All right -- no more truth.  I do love summer.  And I love the non-camp weeks more.

 

We do something called "Fun Week," in which the kids and I travel all around during the day and do as many fun things as we can.  It might be blueberry picking, the zoo, a splash pad park, a favorite playground, a museum, a nature center, a state park, a book store, an ice cream stand . . . . It is crazy and hectic, but it is just a week, and it is so much fun.  It is loosely modeled on a camp I went to as a child called "Big Tootsie."  A man with a large van drove around to pick up the kids, and then took us to all kinds of fun places while we sat in the van reading comic books and munching on candy during the drive.  Usually, one of those places was a pool, but there were often playgrounds, hikes, stopping at a field to play some crazy games of tag, or even a "tour" of a convenience store with free slushees from the manager.  It sounds horrible to speak of now (a man with a van, driving around to pick up kids!), but it was the highlight of the summer.  Now I realize that it was probably more for the parents than for the kids.

[Squawky Acres]

That's why you send them to sleep-away camp. Here, you can send them to the YMCA sleep-away camp if they turn 7 before Dec 31st and are entering 2nd grade, so possibly your oldest 3 (not sure if the 3rd one would qualify). If they're entering 3rd grade, it's a full week, entering 2nd grade it's only 4 nights (though they let some kids do all 6 nights, but you'd have to get special permission - basically, the kid would need to have experience being away from home), and entering 5th grade you can send them multiple weeks without them coming home one night on the weekend. It's still a bunch of effort packing everything, but it's not every day.

 

Can't wait until next summer when I can just send off both kids for a week.

 

I hadn't though of this before!  I can see that packing once would save quite a bit of time.  We're not ready for sleep-away camp yet, but the nature center offers overnight wilderness camping for slightly older kids (5th grade and up, I think), so we may consider that in the future.