Summer Camps to Keep Your Child Engaged
With summer lasting 10 or so weeks in some parts of the country, it is easy for your child to slip into a summer slump — especially if Mom and Dad are working most of the time. Instead of allowing your child to have a summer with no direction, you may want to consider summer camp, which can provide benefits for your child.
All different kinds of summer camps are available. Some are day camps where children attend for a few days or a week and return home in between sessions. Other camps allow campers to stay overnight, which is convenient if your child wants to attend a camp that is a considerable distance from your home or in another state.
Although these camps are for a limited time only each year and won’t last the whole season, they could be a way to keep your child engaged for a week or two and provide some unique summer fun.
1. Fine or performing arts camps
If you have a child who aspires to be an actress, dancer or musician, a performing arts camp could be the perfect fit. Kids can spend time learning or honing their acting, dance or music skills while making new friends who share common interests. Many times, at the end of a performing arts camp, campers put on a play, show or concert as a culminating activity.
Fine arts camps are also available for children who enjoy painting, drawing, pottery-making or sculpture. Camps for different skills levels are available, so everyone from beginner to experienced levels can enjoy attending camp.
2. Fashion camps
Fashion camps are also available for kids who are interested in activities such as designing clothing, sketching figures and garment construction. The best fashion camps often have industry professionals who teach classes. You can find a fashion camp for almost any age child. Some even offer a variety of sessions for children as young as elementary-school age to those who are college age. And, no, your child doesn’t need to know how to sew to attend.
3. Sports camps
If there is a sport your child is into, you can probably find a camp that offers it. Sports camps exist for sports your child may play in school, such as basketball, football, soccer, golf or tennis. If your child wants to depart from his or her everyday sports activities and try something different, there are extreme sports camps that offer skateboarding, BMX biking, mountain boarding, paintball, rock climbing and more.
In sports camps, campers work on developing fundamental skills or for the more experienced, taking their skills to the next level. Look for a camp that can accommodate your child’s skill level, so that he or she can benefit as much as possible from the experience.
4. Sleepaway camps
You ha’ve seen the movies. You know the ones — where the awkward teen goes away to summer sleepaway camp, ends up making friends and broadening her horizons and returns home with a renewed appreciation for life. If you have older children, such as middle schoolers and beyond, an overnight camp experience could be an awesome experience.
Sleepaway camps can last for several weeks and are focused on group activities, teamwork and socialization. These type of camps are a great opportunity for kids to relax, enjoy nature and have fun. Even though these camps have organized activities, such as sports, arts and crafts, outdoor games, swimming, hiking and canoeing, they are more all-around camps than theme camps that are focused on one particular thing.
5. Adventure camps
Adventure camps are just what they sound like – full of adventure. The types of adventure camps that are available are often geared to tweens and teens and not younger children. Activities like whitewater rafting, mountain biking and backpacking are what your budding adrenaline junkie can look forward to in one of these types of camps.
6. Academic camps
For children who just can’t get enough academics, there are camps designed especially for them. For example, did you know there are math camps? There are even honors-level math camps. There are also science camps, writing camps, technology camps, history camps and many more. Academic camps are the kinds of activities that college-bound teens can not only enjoy, but also include on their college applications.
By no means is this an exhaustive list of all of the types of summer camps that are available. There is probably a camp for pretty much any subject you could reasonably imagine. You just have to look.
Article written by Daniel Bailey
This article was written by the guest author listed at the end of the article.