Summer camp is an $18 billion industry in the US with over 14,000 kids going to camp from June – August. Today’s camps may look quite different from the camps you remember. For example, while 8000 plus summer camps are sleep-away summer camps, 7000 are day camps (and the percentage of day camps keeps growing).
A large number of these camps are sports camps, but not all. If you are a parent to a kid who would rather act than kick a soccer ball or work on her computer programming skills than do gymnastics, then you can rest assured that one of the over 15000 camps in the US will be a good fit for your child.
Camps for Kids Who Don’t Love Sports
When it comes to finding the right camp for your child, start by thinking about your child’s unique likes and dislikes, hobbies, and skills. With the camp industry growing, you should be able to find a camp nearby that your child will be excited to attend based on the camp’s topic. To give you a better idea, let’s look at a few of the most popular types of non-sports summer camps.
- Educational Summer Camps – Educational summer camps for kids run the gamut. For instance, there are tons of tutoring and academic-specific camps held at places such as Sylvan Learning Centers. But, there are also educational camps geared to delve deeper into educational topics kids are interested in such as history camps.
- Performing Arts Summer Camp – Check with your local children’s theatre and you will likely discover they offer some sort of performance arts summer camp such as a theatre camp. Likewise, music camps are popular for even the youngest musicians, and dance schools tend to open up their studios for summer day camps to either introduce new students to dance or provide an opportunity for experienced dancers to strengthen their skills. Along these lines, you may also be able to find an art-based summer camp for your young Da Vinci.
- Science Summer Camps – With the popularity of the STEM movement, science summer camps are quickly becoming one of the most popular thematic summer camps. You can find everything from coding camps to LEGO camps to science labs.
- Outdoor Summer Camps – Many kids love to play outdoors – just not sports. These kids are in luck! There are plenty of outdoor exploration camps that offer activities such as horseback riding and hiking. If you live near a zoo, you may find that they offer zoo summer camps where kids can go behind the scenes and learn about the various zoo animals.
The Difference Between Sleep Away Summer Camps and Day Camps
Some parents immediately associate summer camp with overnight sleep-away summer camps. While this is a popular choice, more and more day camps are popping up around the US. Here are some of the key differences to help you determine which type is better for your child.
- Cost – Generally, a sleep-away summer camp is more expensive than a day camp because kids are there for more hours and are fed multiple meals.
- Length of Time – Day camps are significantly shorter than sleep-away camps, and the hours vary. For instance, sleep-away camps are typically at least one full week whereas a day camp may run a full day from 8 -5 or a half day from 9 – 12.
- Age – Most camps require kids to be a certain age to attend, but you can expect sleepaway camps to be for older children while many day camps are even open to preschoolers.
- Transportation – Parents typically have to provide camp transportation. They will drop their kids off for the week(s) at a sleep-away camp while they will be responsible for dropping off and picking up daily at the designated time at a day camp. That’s where GoKid comes in to help. By using GoKid to set up carpools with other summer camp friends, you can carpool to share the load.
