Angelyn Paradises

Basically, if you can think of any subject of interest, there's probably a camp that specializes in it. There are camps with activities as traditional as model rocketry and riflery, to those nontraditional as aviation, computers, language studies, golf, martial arts or community service. Each summer, more than 10 million children and counselors attend day camps and overnight summer camps across the country.

The variety of camps available today is almost innumerable, meaning there will be some specialized camps that may have availability left even into the summer. Camps often focus on specialties that include: adventure, art, computer, dance, music, religion, horse riding, sports, theatre, and many others. There are overnight summer camps that are co-ed camps, boy's camps, girl's camps or brother-sister camps where boys and girls may have separate venues and activities.

Some camps have a targeted focus like religious study, academics, and competitive sports. There are overnight summer camps with a focus on self-improvement, weight loss and grief counseling. Selecting the right camp that fits into your child or teen's interests, special interests, needs, special needs and abilities will be one of the first steps

The best overnight summer sports camps do much more than just improve a camper's soccer, tennis, lacrosse, or wrestling skills - they help each child become a more skillful athlete, a more gracious competitor, a more committed team player, and a more confident person. Camps should have at least a 40% to 60% return staff ratio, which shows that the camp is seen as a good place to spend a summer. Some camps are often called adventure camps - having a very specific theme or interest; many of these programs emphasize skill development and personal growth through the adventures the offer.

Children or teens could typically explore subjects new to them like marine science, photography, creative writing, community service, drama, magic, scuba diving, video production, comic book design, crime scene forensics, cooking, yoga, rappelling, etc. College credit courses are very popular at overnight summer camps that typically offer students the opportunity to explore a pre-college experience; usually, students entering grades 10 through 12 stay in college dormitories and attend summer classes run by the college faculty. Check the camper-counselor ratio to determine the number of campers for each counselor.

Although camp counselor jobs don't usually pay very well, usually minimum wage or less, counselors receive free room and board; many take the job primarily for the camping experience. Weight loss camps are for children and teens in order to help them learn about how to lose weight and how to keep it off while having a great overnight summer camp experience. Is there a special topic (e.g. religion, sports, educational, performing arts, arts and crafts) that you hope your child will gain ability and experience in?

Camp tuition can be expensive; similar to travel insurance, there are now insurance policies for families sending their children to overnight summer camp to cover last minute cancellations, homesickness, medical emergencies and emergency evacuations. Get to know the camp director from an in-person visit to your home if possible, phone conversations, email or other correspondence. Consider these industry-recommended guidelines - for smaller children ages 7 and 8, there should be one counselor for every six campers; by age 15, there should be one counselor for every 10 campers.

If you think your child may not be ready for a sleepaway or overnight summer camp, choose a local camp in case you end up having to make a late night pickup in the event he or she gets homesick. Overnight summer camp is often the first time that most children spend a long period of time away from home. The camp experience will have a lasting impression on a child or teen, so there are a number of issues that should be seriously considered when choosing an overnight summer camp or sleepaway camp. Typically an overnight summer camp experience will leave a lot of wonderful memories for the child or teen camper.