Living in the age of information, it can feel like options for everything are abundant, perhaps even to a paralyzing degree. There are dozens of subscription services you can sign up for, everything from to televisions shows to groceries to coffee to video games, it’s all out there. There are different news media outlets all reporting the same event but presenting it in a totally different way. There are different auto parts stores all selling the same parts, often in the same strip mall. Restaraunts that both sell burgers but with a little unique twist, within the same driving distance from your house. Public school, private school, or homeschool? What’s the difference between pasture-raised and grass-fed? Are they Baptist or Presbyterian? Do you want 1%, 2%, whole milk, or half-and-half in that drink, sir?
If reading those questions got your heart pumping a little bit thinking of all the different decisions you have to make on a daily basis, fear not. When choosing a summer camp for your children, you don’t need to be paralyzed by choice. Here are three helpful things to look for in a summer camp to determine whether or not that camp is offering a quality program fit for your family.
The first one is safety. Sending your kids away, whether for a day or for a week, can be a scary thing. Something that helps alleviate some of that anxiety is having a certain level of trust in a camp’s policies for hiring, training, program setup, and handling of emergency situations. One thing that can be helpful to look for is certification from accreditation boards. Organizations like the American Camping Association (ACA) have very thorough and often rigid guidelines a camp must live up to in order to maintain accreditation. These guidelines include standards for everything from the kitchen to the waterfront, ensuring that operations at a camp are consistent and safe. Some camps require very thorough background checks and lengthy interview processes for potential counselor hires, as well as extensive training on camper safety through organizations like MinistrySafe. Camps may also choose to certify their lifeguards through a Bonafide lifeguard training program such as one through the Red Cross. Kitchens at camps may also be licensed by the state, requiring regular inspections from the state Health Department. Certifications from all of these organizations should help ease the mind of a worried parent as it becomes clear that the camp really is concerned about safety. Most camps can explain their processes for all of these things if you simply give their office a call!
The next thing to look for is value. “Is my kid going to get my money’s worth out of this camp?” This question will almost always come up when considering summer camp options for your children. One of the best things you can do to get a head start on this question is to look at the prices of several different camps within a reasonable driving distance and make some comparisons. However, as with any product, cheap does not always mean good. Scan the website of a camp and see if you can find a sample of a daily schedule anywhere. This may help you determine whether or not a camp offers a reasonable number of the things you care about. If you value an educational camp experience, see how much time a day is spent on educational programming. If you value fun activities, pay attention to the number of activity rotations that are on the schedule. If you value a spiritual or religious experience, see about chapel, memory verse, or devotional times in the schedule. Once you’ve determined which camps will offer you the things that matter most at a price you can appreciate, you’ll be ready for number three, which is...
Fun. Is my camper going to have fun? Are they going to make friends? Are their counselors going to make them feel welcome? Will they come home singing and dancing and droning on and on about how their day or week at camp was the best time of their lives? While it’s nearly impossible to predict exactly what an individual’s experience somewhere new will be, there are some signs you can be looking for to determine whether or not a camp’s summer programs will be fun. Take a look at a camp’s social media page and ask yourself the following questions. Do the staff look excited? Are the children smiling? How much singing and dancing do you see in the videos? Does the property look vibrant, green, and alive? Sure, these things can be easy to capture and edit down to their pinnacle moment in media, but if you’re still not sure, see if the camp you’re considering has any open house events you can come to. Many camps offer events year-round, some in the spring and some in the fall. Stop by the camp on one of those days and ask yourself the same questions, but in the real setting.
Hopefully once you’ve considered all of these things, you’ll be ready to send your child to camp this year with confidence and peace of mind!
