Everyone’s looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to the high cost of raising kids. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got one kid, two kids, five kids or more, it’ll run you a pretty penny to bring them up right and give them all the good things in life they deserve.

 

One of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is the gift of summer camp. Of course, many camps aren’t cheap. And the more kids you have, the more pain you’ll feel when it’s time to pay for camp.

 

The nice thing is, even though you often get what you pay for, there’s a summer camp for every budget. If you choose a less expensive camp, it doesn’t necessarily mean your kids won’t enjoy themselves. The less expensive camp might serve you just fine.

 

Since your family’s goal is to save money in any case, you’ll be glad to know that help is finally here in form of a new website called CampCoupons.com where you can print free money-saving coupons to the camps of your choice.

 

Last time we checked, one camp in Georgia was offering a dicount coupon for a free horseback riding lesson. Another camp in Los Angeles was offering $25 off camp tuition. These discounts are available to you just by visiting the site, and you don’t even need to register your name or contact information to use it. Just go to Camp Coupons.com to get your discount.

 

Some parents have mentioned the camps they are considering aren’t listed on Camp Coupons.com. This reason why may be because the site is in its infancy. But if your preferred camp isn’t listed, simply ask the camp director to contact Camp Coupons to inquire about being listed on the site so you can start saving money at the camp.

 

Summer camp enrollment season is here. Now there’s a way to lessen the financial burden of sending your kids to camp.

How do you know if your child is ready for their first camp experience?

 

Send your kids to camp before they’re ready and you can expect a potentially disastrous result. Wait too long before sending them, and you might have the proverbial, “I wish I’d done this sooner” regret.

 

Some kids are ready for camp before others. If your child is independent, goes to school, is accustomed to being separated from you for extended periods and/or has older brothers or sisters they look up to, they may be ready for camp this year.

 

On the other hand, if the above criteria do not apply, you might want to wait another year.

 

Sit down together with your child and bring up the idea of camp. Frame the conversation in a way your son or daughter will understand. Ask questions such as, “Would you like to go to camp this summer and make new friends?” or “Do you want to play some fun games and do some new activities at camp?”

 

Many parents start their kids off with a day camp experience before sending them to overnight camp. For younger children, this is a great way to go. Day camps are a natural stepping stone to sleepaway camp.

 

Also, since day camps are generally local establishments, you can visit the camp and meet the director ahead of time. Make sure to bring your child along. If he or she is excited about what they see, this is a good indication they’re ready for camp. If their reaction is mixed, negative or indifferent, now may not be the right time.

 

Summer camp can be a powerful experience for a child in terms of making new friends, building social skills, and increasing their self-confidence and esteem. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your child’s first camp experience is positive from the start.

 

If your child doesn’t enjoy camp the first time they go, they might never want to go back.

 

But if they have a ball, there’s no telling what a fantastic positive impact the experience can have on their lives.

More than just a place to spend summer vacations, summer camp is a fun place where a child can learn to be more independent, create new friendships and develop new skills. Summer camps are also credited for fostering a sense of teamwork in children and teaching children how to appreciate nature and outdoor sports – especially in a generation where fun usually means playing computer games or surfing the internet.

Summer camps usually last for two to four weeks, depending on the camp activities. From choosing the perfect camp to packing your child’s gear for camp, parents have a major role in ensuring a successful and memorable camp experience for their children. And as in most things in life, preparation is key – especially in packing your child’s gear. Here are some useful tips and pointers to remember before sending your kids to camp.

First step would be to create a packing list. Summer camps usually send a recommended list of packing essentials. Make sure that you include all the things on this official list in your kids’ gear. They are there for a reason.

Pack early. Start shopping for camp essentials as soon as you get the recommended list of things to bring from the camp. Procrastination won’t do you any good. Packing several days (or even weeks, if possible) will help you avoid stressful last minute shopping trips. It will also save you the trouble of scrambling to find his/her favorite shirt and jammies at the last minute.

Don’t forget to pack appropriate medications. While most camps have clinics and first aid stations, it is still very important to pack your child’s prescribed medications. It is also best practice to include the phone/contact number of the physician in case the prescription is lost and needs to be refilled by the camp staff.

Pack an extra pillow case. Despite reminders from camp staff that the facility has sufficient pillow cases, it might be best to pack an extra pillow case. Most camp kids complain that pillows and cases provided by the camp are notoriously grungy. Also, it is more hygienic for your kids to use their own pillow cases, at the very least.

Pack an appropriate number of clothes, keeping in mind the duration of the camp. In general, laundry is done once a week in camps. Make sure that your child will have enough shirts, jeans, underwear, pajamas and other clothing essentials even if laundry is done only once every week. There is no hard and fast rule for number of clothes to pack as the need and quantity would largely depend on the camp’s location but to be on the safe side, this list might be helpful in planning your kids’ wardrobe:

Clothing 8-10 t-shirts 5-6 pairs of shorts 3-4 sweatshirts 2-3 pairs of sweat pants 2 pairs of jeans 1 warm jacket 1 raincoat 3-5 swimsuits 12 pairs of underpants 12 pairs of socks 2-3 pairs of pajamas 1 sunhat 1 bathrobe

Clothing

A list of miscellaneous stuff can include:

Flashlight and batteries Bug repellent Sunscreen Laundry Bag Rain gear Baseball hat Shower Pail Toiletries Stationary and postage stamps

Other quick reminders when packing:

Sports camps for kids could be found everywhere around the country. If you Google in the keyword “Sports camps for kids”, you will be able to see around “9,400,000″ search results. Finding the best Sports Camp for kids from this whooping 9,400,000 search results will be tough. It will be like searching for a needle in a digital haystack of data. However, you can easily identify the best sports camps for kids by considering some key factors. Just keep reading on the article to know the key factors to be considered while searching for the best sports camps for kids.When it comes to the sports camps for kids, safety is the first factor to be considered. Your kids should be supervised by some experienced instructor of the summer camp. You will be able to see that most of the summer camps out there will not reveal their safety track records. A clean safety track record means that you can trust the summer camp and ensure that your kids are in safe hands. Some of the summer camps mix the candidates of all age groups in a single program. Such kind of summer camps does not do any good for the development of skills in your kid. You should always look for summer camps which separate the programs based on different age groups. One of the advantages of signing up with such sports camps with different programs for different age groups is that, this will add more safety to your kids. The instructors of the sports camp will be able to care your children more effectively as they will be separated from the other adult candidates who require less attention. This will help you kids in their step by step development of skills. Some of the best summer camps divide the programs offered by them based on the different skill sets too. For example, the youth sports camp called “Skyhawks” has there levels of programs namely introductory, intermediate and advanced players. Grouping the candidates of the different programs based on their skills will help them to identify their skill requirement and develop them quickly. The summer camp provides the kids with some warm up games during the introduction section. This will help the kids to get used to the summer camp. At the intermediate level, they will be taught with the basic skills required for the sport of their choice. At this stage, the candidates will step into the world of professional sports like soccer. At the final advanced player’s level, the summer camp instructs will teach the skills required for becoming professional players. At the commencement of each level in the summer camp, the candidates will learn teamwork and building character and life skills through sports. Signing up with the Sports Camps for kids with all the above mentioned features will help your kid to develop the much needed skills and leadership qualities in the early childhood.

If the word “affordable” doesn’t come to mind when you think of summer camp, you’re not alone. Sending your kids to sleepaway camp for just a few weeks could run you several thousand bucks or more.

But the good news is there’s a camp for every budget. You don’t have to break the bank for your child to enjoy a fantastic camp experience, and a less expensive camp does not necessarily mean it’s a lower quality camp

You might be asking yourself whether sending your child to camp is worth the price. And by the way, why does it cost so much?

In general, summer camps have high operating costs that need to be covered in order to maximize your child’s safety and fun. When you pay a little more for camp, the camp can be extremely selective in the staff it hires and pay its camp counselors more than they’d make elsewhere, plus it allows the camp to purchase and share with your child the highest-end (best quality) equipment and supplies.

You can’t put a price tag on safety, supervision and fun for your child!

But that’s not all. We haven’t even discussed insurance premiums, advertising, transportation, and other many other costs camps incur to deliver an industry-best-practice camp experience for your child.

The high cost of raising kids is indisputable, but the documented benefits of the camp experience are indisputable, too. Imagine all the fun and important things your child would miss by not going to camp: 

In this economy, families are cutting back on everything that’s not essential. Certainly a fantastic camp experience is something every child deserves, but whether the price of camp is “worth it” is open to subjectivity. Only you can decide the appropriate answer for your family.

And although the summer camp in industry is often considered to be one where you get what you pay for, the important point to remember is that there’s a camp to fit every family’s budget whether you’re looking for a day camp in Los Angeles, a sleepaway camp in New York or any camp in between.

Copyright Eric D. Naftulin and Aloha Beach Camp. All rights reserved.

Summer Camp is an exciting thing for parents; as their child is going to learn loads of new thing in the camp. However it could be a nightmare for the child if he or she is not ready for camp. Following are the ten excellent ways to get your child ready for the next summer camp.

# Go through books available in association with camp. These books must be read by both parents and children. After you both finish reading discuss the summer camp experience with your kid and mention some of the issues that were raised in book.

# Talk to people who have gone through such summer camps to get some useful information. You get information of such families from camp director. Get your children talk to other child may in person, email or over phone. Take a chance to ask questions and talk about various concerns.

# Get familiar with camp surroundings. Check out where your child is going to sleep, swim and eat. Also check out daily routine and plan sheet of the activities. Know the evening activities and do visit the camp if permitted.

# Teach your child to take care of themselves. Practice camp is very much necessary. Send your child to spend a long weekend at your relative or friends place, teach them how to pack and unpack and how to make bed, how to set dinning table and more things. Do not call them when they are at your friends place, discuss it later about how they felt without parents’ involvement in any activity.

# Problem solving with your child is very important. Think about defensive issues, “What if? You drop baseball glove or feel sick.” Give your child different ways where they would have to solve the difficulty at camp. It is dissimilar than at home.

# Do a role-play with your child on how they are going to respond to the camp situations. Walk in the moon light with a flashlight on.

# Communication at most of the camp is generally through letter writing only. Assist your child learn letter writing and practice. Also find out the camp policy on making phone calls.

# Homesickness feelings are common when it comes to adjusting to any fresh environment. Homesick feelings are more common during meals time, free time and also at night. They generally don’t last very long after the child gets well-known and engrossed in camp life.

# You also need to get ready for separation. Parents usually feel anxious about sending their child to summer camp or any other day camp especially if it is for the first time. This is a normal feel; however remember that you have got a safe camp for your kid where he/she will be well cared. Camp is obviously a positive growing experience.

# The camp manager is presented for concerns. Always call them in case of any questions or clarification.

Summer camps bring fine opportunities for teens, kids and even for girls to not only have fun, but to broaden their minds to learning new things. Some of the best examples are St. Paul Summer Camps.As most camps do a nice job, you should become conscious that no single camp is a perfect fit for every kid. So, be very practical regarding choosing a camp from the cluster of summer camps for children such as sport camps, computer camps, dance camps and more.Attending a summer camp is often becomes the first experience for children where they spend an extended period of time being away from home. Many summer camps employ high school or college kids as trainers or guides to make the children feel more comfortable.Most summer camps provide such a setting for children that they learn enduring values such as integrity and teamwork, character and leadership. Activities just like sports, leadership training outdoor adventures, and carefully selected field trips will be there.While making inquiries about summer camps, be sure to look at the available options for example computer camps, theater camps, sports camps, dance camps and many more. The camps that center around on the arts are very popular. You should also take the computer camps into consideration as they also offer a good deal.If you choose St. Paul Summer Camps, there are devoted counselors and brilliant role models available for your kids to see and interact with. Moreover, there are experienced camp organizers in charge of the event. The children who come to attend a camp are secure.

Twenty-five years ago weight-loss camp campers were mostly teenage girls who were at least 100 pounds or more overweight. The menu usually consisted of food such as beef liver, fish and alfalfa sprouts and the only form of exercise was running and doing sit-ups. The ultimate goal at these overnight summer camps is to lose as much weight as possible in as little time as possible. They were often considered special needs camps. There are also many teen and adult weight loss camps.
Today things are a lot less extreme than they were in those days – approximately 39 percent of the campers are boys, the kids usually need to lose between 21 and 41 pounds, the menus offer a much broader range of food, and the exercise is a lot of fun, with activities that include fun sports like tennis and kayaking. The weight loss camps today emphasize very healthy lifestyles and long-lasting skills that the kids can take home with them and actually put into use.
To summarize, these so-called “fat camps” usually resemble regular overnight summer camps and just happen to specialize in teaching excellent decision-making techniques as they relates to food.
Now according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 16 percent or so of children from ages 6-19 are overweight or obese and this number that has tripled since 1981.
The number of overnight or sleepaway weight loss camps has remained about the same. There are about 16 to 20 of these camps out of 10,000 sleep away camps in the United States alone with some of these having offshoots in other locations. There are many other weight loss camps in other countries.
In most of the overnight summer camps the children will be between the ages of 7 and 12. This age group tends to be most successful because parents have more to say about the child’s eating and exercise habits. Usually bad eating habits are less instilled in the younger children.
All sleepaway fat loss camps work at building good habits, not just dealing out quick fixes. You will find these camps have classes on good nutrition, proper portion control, emotional eating, handling situations like pizza parties, birthday parties and ice cream parties.
You’ll find they teach by example. In the old days weight loss camps offered 1,250 to 1,350 calories each day. Today they’re more realistic, usually about 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily. On the menu along with healthier foods you’ll also find there are hamburgers, pita pizzas, baked potato chips and low-fat baked goods.
It’s long been a misconception that overnight weight loss camps don’t offer enough food and they overwork the kids. It’s actually the opposite. The right amount of food is served and they provide workouts for the kids at the right level. Campers never find they are hungry.
Changing the camper’s behavior is the key to sustaining weight loss. Many campers learn to cook, shop for groceries, order out at restaurants, and work with camp psychologists on managing stress, frustration tolerance, and identifying emotional eating.
Generally the campers want to be there. Years ago when their parents made them go they didn’t want to. Kids are happier that they’re making a change and develop confidence and independence as a result of the experience. They learn to make healthier choices also. Kids learn to feel better, breathe better, run faster and become more active as a result.
Some overnight weight loss camps can cost about $1,000 a week. Many of the camps offer scholarships and that’s worth exploring. Your health insurance may cover some of it because of the weight loss therapy. And some churches run free weight loss camps, but may be harder to find.
Choosing the right summer camp for your child may mean doing a lot of research and checking out reviews of weight loss camps. Talking to parents who have sent their kids to those camps would give you some idea as to the successful experience the child has had. Ask the director of the camp you’re considering if they will give you some names of previous campers’ parents so you can contact them. Cost may be a factor too. There is a wide range when it comes to cost and be sure to compare weight loss summer camp ratings online and offline. Check the public library for Consumer Reports magazine’s ratings.
Any overnight summer camp is great because it will force the child to have structured time in the summer and even traditional overnight camps focus on kid’s fitness and health, serve healthier food and encourage a lot of exercise. If you can’t find or afford a weight loss camp, you should choose a camp anyway even if it’s a special camp like arts or science that has some activity. The important thing is to keep overweight kids active in the summer.

Some camps have a targeted focus like religious study, academics, and competitive sports. 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 with a focus on self-improvement, weight loss and grief counseling.
Basically, if you can think of any subject of interest, there’s probably a camp that specializes in it. The camp you choose for your child will provide a lifetime of good memories and will be truly rewarding. 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.
Overnight summer camp is also known as a sleepaway camp when campers spend their nights at the camp; some camps do allow both daytime and overnight campers. There are popular overnight summer camps in every state in the U.S. and every province in Canada; there are camps in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and just about every country in the world. 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
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. 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. There are many types of overnight summer camps with a focus on education that cater to students with differing ages and academic interests.
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. Non-profit camps often range from $1200 to $3000 for four weeks and $2500 to $5000 for eight weeks. Do you think, if you have more than one child, they would they benefit from attending the same summer camp together?
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. The reputation of an overnight summer camp can also be determined by asking what percentage of counselors returned from the previous year. Get to know the camp director from an in-person visit to your home if possible, phone conversations, email or other correspondence.
Four weeks at a good private overnight summer camp or sleepaway camp will cost anywhere from $3500 to $6500, and eight weeks will range from $4000 to $7000. 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. 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 spend the time needed to research your options and include your child in all the decisions, he or she will most likely have a memorable experience that provides opportunities to grow while having a lot of fun and making new friends. Typically an overnight summer camp experience will leave a lot of wonderful memories for the child or teen camper. Homesickness is a frequent problem, but with a caring camp counselor most campers adjust easily. Choosing a camp close to home will save a lot of money on airfare and possible hotel or motel overnight stays for a parent, or other transportation costs; this is especially true if your child might get a case of homesickness and want to come home early from the overnight summer camp.

Los Angeles is rich with a host of summer camp opportunities for your child. An increasing trend among Los Angeles families is to send their kids to several summer camps over the course of the summer, compared to the traditional way of picking a single camp alone.

A confluence of factors — principally, kids’ diverse interests plus an increasing array of available specialty camps and flexible enrollment packages offered by Los Angeles area camps — has fueled this trend. And for your son or daughter, it’s a pretty good deal!

By attending a variety of summer camps rather than just one, your child can enjoy many different experiences which would otherwise be unavailable to him or her. And there’s definitely no shortage among available camps in Los Angeles!

A recent online search revealed the following types of summer camps (among others) in metropolitan Los Angeles alone: Surf camps, beach camps, science camps, technology camps, music camps, acting camps, Jewish camps, cooking camps, space camps, horseback riding camps, academic camps, rock star camps, nature camps, entrepreneurship camps and traditional camps.

And remember, this is just a partial list!

If you’re considering a Los Angeles summer camp for your child this summer — or if you’re considering more than one — here’s how to find out what’s available.

A great place to start is by asking your friends for recommendations. Assuming they’ve got kids of their own, your friends can usually direct you to some of the more popular Los Angeles summer camps.

The internet is also a wonderful resource, because it offers numerous camp-specific Web sites that allow you to filter your camp search by geography, camp type, and other criteria to suit your needs.

For example, LASummerCamps.com and LASurfCamps.com are just some of the places to start.

Here’s hoping your child enjoys many safe and fun camp experiences this year. With so many available opportunities, there is surely a multitude of Los Angeles summer camp options designed to suit your needs!

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