If you’re looking to enroll your child in summer camp, you want to find a program that provides fun activities in a safe and social environment. Here are 5 things to look for in a summer day camp.
What is the Camp’s Emphasis?
You want your kids to have a fun summer at day camp so you’ll want to consider what kind of activities they will be participating in? Are there pools available for swimming. Do they play sports or games? Will they have opportunities to express themselves creatively? Will there be some kind of themed camp? It will all be dependent on your child’s interests.
At SCAMP, kids will enjoy swimming pools, a full-sized sport court, large outdoor spaces, interactive game rooms, tennis courts, craft areas, and more! Our trained counselors help kids build confidence through different sports, games, and group team-building activities. They will also periodically take field trips to places around town or to the Quad at Elite-River Glen.
In addition to SCAMP, Elite Sports Clubs is now offering a new program called Super SCAMP! This is our one-week specialty camp that emphasizes a particular awesome theme. Super SCAMPers will take a deeper dive into some really cool activities. All activities are designed to get kids more excited about a special skill in a really fun way while engaging and socializing with others who have similar interests.
Is There Schedule Flexibility?
With vacations, summer school, sports practice, and family obligations, summer can be a very hectic time. One of the most important things to look for in summer camp is schedule flexibility.
At SCAMP, you can now choose which individual weeks your child will be attending from June through August! This offers greater flexibility for parents with busy schedules. If you are interested in long-term admission, you have that option as well! In fact, you can save money by registering for one of our 3- or 8-week packages.
Will My Child Be Supervised at All Times?
As a parent, you want to make sure your child is safe first and foremost. With too many kids, it can be difficult for the counselors to keep an eye on everyone at all times. When choosing a summer camp, find one that has camp counselors assigned to smaller groups of kids so they can be more effectively supervised.
All the younger kids in Elite’s SCAMP program are grouped into small, more manageable groups with their peers. These smaller groups are closely supervised by their group counselor through each phase/activity of the day. When all the groups come together, the kids are supervised by all the group counselors as well as the camp directors. We take safety very seriously and want to ensure all the kids are accounted for throughout the day.
Only the older kids in Elite’s Senior SCAMP program, formerly known as SCITs, will have time where they are not closely supervised. They will, however, be responsible for certain projects and responsibilities throughout the summer and have to report to the camp director.
What is the Social Environment Like?
Another thing to consider is what kind of social environment the summer camp provides. Some camps are very compartmentalized while others provide a lot of opportunity for social interaction amongst all the campers. If your child is social and easily makes new friends, you’ll want to find a camp that allows for group activities.
As we mentioned earlier, our SCAMP program consists of a number of smaller groups of kids. These smaller groups allow for more familiarity so the kids can get to know one another easier. If they have existing friends attending the same session, they can request to be in the same group.
How Does the Camp Handle Misbehavior?
Kids will be kids, and some will misbehave from time to time. Without the parents around, it’s important to see how the camp will handle discipline.
We handle discipline differently for each situation, depending on the severity of the behavior. Counselors will handle what they can and report it to parents at the end of the day. If the child is disruptive to the rest of the group or the counselor is unable to handle a situation on their own, they will call the camp directors and they will remove the child from the group to sit with them away from the rest of the group. Usually time away helps and the kids will rejoin the group when the camp directors feel it is appropriate. This information is also relayed to the parent at the end of the day. It is very rare that parents have to be called to come pick up a child early due to behavior, but we will if we need to.
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