Last summer, the New York Times ran a piece about families who can't afford summer camp or other programs for their kids. It highlights a problem for many working parents: Summertime care for kids is expensive.
This is especially true if your kids are in public school during the year. You suddenly go from paying nothing to have your kids cared for all day to paying a whole lot of money. Many parents may not have much choice but to find summertime childcare.
If this is the boat you're in, here are a few ways to find a summer camp for your kid and options that may make it more affordable.
1. Check Online for Summer Camp Options
These days most states and major metropolitan areas have parent blogs or magazines devoted to the local area. In my local Indianapolis, for instance, we have Indy's Child magazine and IndywithKids.com. Both feature a listing of local summer camp options.
Chances are you can find something similar for your area. If you can't, there are national resources, too. The American Camp Association has a database for finding day and overnight camps in your area. It leans towards ACA accredited camps, though it will list some not accredited. When I ran it for our area, it turned up some but not all the options I know are available. Still, it could be a place to begin your search for a summer camp.
2. Choose a Less Expensive 'Base Camp' Option
One thing that makes summer camp expensive is the specialized options. I've seen sports camp, Lego camp, technology camp, horse camp and more. If your kid goes to these specialty camps for the summer, you'll undoubtedly spend more money.
However, many local YMCAs, schools, daycares, churches and city parks programs offer more traditional summer camps. Our daughter's daycare, for instance, offers a school-aged summer camp program where they hang out at the daycare for much of the day, but also take trips to local parks, libraries and pools. It's nothing spectacular, but it's safe, fun, affordable childcare.
If you can find an option like this, build your summer around it. Then you can splurge on a week or two of more expensive specialty camps for your kid.
Where do you find these less expensive options? Check out the following:
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YMCA: The Y runs summer camps all over the U.S., and sometimes offers a sliding scale fee to make things more affordable. While they offer more expensive specialty camps, most local Y's also offer traditional day camp options.
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Churches and religious centers: Many churches and religious community centers offer summer-long day camp options that are quite affordable.
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Schools: Local schools with before- and after-care programs may transition those into affordable summer camps with fun activities for kids.
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Parks and recreation: City and county parks and rec departments also run summer camps, and these tend to be more affordable than other options.
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Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts: If your child is a scout, look into their summer camp options. These are often overnight options, but they tend to be very affordable.
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Local businesses: Sometimes local businesses offer summer camp-like programs that are for mentoring older kids who may want to become entrepreneurs. These camps may be based on an application process, so be on the lookout well ahead of time.
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Local colleges: Often local colleges and universities provide camps as a way to get their own students teaching, leadership and coaching experience.