The hourly price of summer day camps is still cost effective compared with other forms of childcare. The average price paid per hour of camp is $16.64 in 2023, compared to $24 – 27 per hour for a babysitter or nanny in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. [6] [7]
Day camps are also less expensive than sleepaway camps (e.g., summer camps), because they often do not include meals or as much supervised time each day. [8] Some day camps are located at the same site as a resident camp with the same resources and activities to serve local campers along with kids from abroad. Many day camps are located in city parks, sport complexes, schools or community centers such as a YMCA or Boy Scouts or by government organizations.
Day camps teach children an abundance of skills that they can utilize. Campers are able to learn independence through day camps because children are going to be responsible for changing themselves, making sure they are aware of where their belongings are and deciding what they want to eat for the day. Day camps educate children on new skills that they are able to see from the professionals working at the day camps and also from their peers. With the set of new skills that the child has from day camp they are also able to gain courage for trying new things. [9]
Camps as a whole are recognized by child development professionals as places where children are able to learn how to create relationships with friends that they would be less likely to make in other settings. Day camps teach children how to mature socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically. Camps give children a sense of community of their own. Day camps educate young people on how to discover their talents, interests and values more extensively than in other settings such as school. [1]
Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a bivy or tarp, or no shelter at all. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors, in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment or in a form of educational experience. Spending the night away from home distinguishes camping from day-tripping, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It may be publicly or privately operated, and may be subsidized from public funds. The typical age range for preschool in most countries is from 2 to 6 years.
A summer camp is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps are known as campers. They generally are offered overnight accommodations for one or two weeks out in an outdoor natural campsite setting. Day camps, by contrast, offer the same types of experience in the outdoors but children return home each evening. Summer school is a different experience that is usually offered by local schools for their students focused on remedial education to ensure students are prepared for the upcoming academic year or in the case of high school students, to retake failed state comprehensive exams necessary for graduation. Summer residential and day camps may include an academic component but is not a requirement.
Woodcraft is a recreational/educational program devised by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902, for young people based on camping, outdoor skills, and woodcrafts. Thompson Seton's Woodcraft ideas were incorporated into the early Scout movement, but also in many other organisations in many countries.
The Fresh Air Fund is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit agency founded in 1877. At sleep-away camps in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, visiting volunteer host families along the East Coast in NYC-based programs, children get to have new experiences, learn new skills and gain new perspectives. Fresh Air children also participate in year-round leadership, career exploration and educational programs. The Fresh Air Fund has served more than 1.8 million children since its founding.
Summer learning loss or summer slide, is the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation in countries that have lengthy breaks in the school year, such as the US and Canada. Schools see evidence of this because students are often given a standardised test prior to the summer break and again when they return to school in the autumn.
Center Day Camp (CDC) is a day camp run by the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that coordinates, promotes, and supports the Jewish philanthropic, benevolent, educational, and communal activities in Southern Maine. It is located in North Windham, Maine, on the shores of Sebago Lake.
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin is a Jewish summer camp based in Conover, Wisconsin, on Upper Lake Buckatabon. The Wisconsin camp was the first of the Ramah camps, established in 1947 by Rabbi Ralph Simon, under the direction of Conservative educator Henry Goldberg, with nearly 100 campers. It was sponsored by the Chicago Council of Conservative Synagogues and the Midwest Branch of the United Synagogue.
Camp Sealth is owned and operated by Camp Fire, a non-profit youth organization, and located on Vashon Island, Washington. Sealth hosts resident and day camp during the summer, environmental education for school groups during the spring and fall, and is a year-round conference and retreat center. Camp Sealth is accredited by the American Camp Association.
Camp Alvernia is a non-profit recreational summer camp in Centerport, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. The camp is located on the east shore of Centerport Harbor, on the Little Neck peninsula. It was founded in 1888 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, who still run the facility now, over 130 years later. Alvernia was the first and is now the oldest Catholic camp in continuous operation in the United States.
YMCA Camp Fitch is a year-round camp in North Springfield, Pennsylvania, owned and operated by the YMCA of Youngstown, Ohio. Prior to 1914, all summer camps operated by the YMCA of Youngstown were experimental and temporary in nature. Since its founding in 1914, Camp Fitch has hosted campers every year to date. Originally a program of the YMCA's downtown branch, Camp Fitch now exists as a YMCA branch owned by the YMCA of Youngstown.
After-school activities, also known as after-school programs or after-school care, started in the early 1900s mainly just as supervision of students after the final school bell. Today, after-school programs do much more. There is a focus on helping students with school work but can be beneficial to students in other ways. An after-school program, today, will not limit its focus on academics but with a holistic sense of helping the student population. An after-school activity is any organized program that youth or adult learner voluntary can participate in outside of the traditional school day. Some programs are run by a primary or secondary school, while others are run by externally funded non-profit or commercial organizations. After-school youth programs can occur inside a school building or elsewhere in the community, for instance at a community center, church, library, or park. After-school activities are a cornerstone of concerted cultivation, which is a style of parenting that emphasizes children gaining leadership experience and social skills through participating in organized activities. Such children are believed by proponents to be more successful in later life, while others consider too many activities to indicate overparenting. While some research has shown that structured after-school programs can lead to better test scores, improved homework completion, and higher grades, further research has questioned the effectiveness of after-school programs at improving youth outcomes such as externalizing behavior and school attendance. Additionally, certain activities or programs have made strides in closing the achievement gap, or the gap in academic performance between white students and students of color as measured by standardized tests. Though the existence of after-school activities is relatively universal, different countries implement after-school activities differently, causing after-school activities to vary on a global scale.
Falling Creek Camp is a traditional summer camp for boys, founded on Christian values. It is located on over 900 private mountaintop acres in Tuxedo, North Carolina. Falling Creek was founded in 1969 by Jim Miller. Sessions range from one to four weeks for rising 1st through 12th grade boys, and Father/Son Weekends are offered. In addition to the classic camp activities, campers can choose to participate daily in a variety of out-of-camp adventure trips, ranging in skill level from introductory to advanced, and from one-day trips to five-day trips.
Metro Sports Center is a multi-purpose athletic facility located in Evansville, Indiana. The facility has one turfed walled indoor soccer field, fine volleyball court, oel, multi-sport court for volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, roller derby or floor hockey. There is also a private room for parties and meetings and two tenant spaces upstairs. Metro provides a climate controlled area for youth and adult sports programs, youth and adult parties as well as time slots for facility rentals.
YMCA Camp Mason is a YMCA summer camp located in Hardwick Township, New Jersey. The 650-acre site is located next to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Camp Mason annually serves approximately 800 campers in its summer camp programs, and 7,000 participants at its outdoor center.
Camp Ondessonk is an outdoor, Catholic residential youth camp run by the Diocese of Belleville. It is located in the Shawnee National Forest of Southern Illinois, near Ozark, Illinois. The mission of the camp is "Exceptional outdoor and spiritual adventures empowering kids of all ages." Camp Ondessonk is accredited by the American Camp Association.
RKY Camp is a non-profit organization and summer camp, accredited by the Ontario Camping Association, in Parham, Ontario, Canada, north of Kingston, Ontario. Operating since 1929 on Eagle Lake, RKY Camp was founded by The Rotary Club, Kiwanis International, and the YMCA of Kingston, making up the abbreviation 'R.K.Y.'. RKY Camp ran as an all-boys camp until 1969. The camp provides outdoor education and camping opportunities to people of all backgrounds, including integrated summer camping for children and young adults with disabilities through a combined effort with Reach for the Rainbow. RKY Camp provides financial assistance, or "camperships" to ensure any youth has an opportunity to attend.
Camp Mini-Yo-We is a Christian camping and outdoor center founded on January 28, 1947. It is located in the district of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada. The Camp provides outdoor programs for young people from 5 to 18 years old. Camp Mini-Yo-We focuses on leadership development and spiritual growth of young boys and girls. Rich Birch, a long time ministry leader, is the camp Executive director.
The Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc summer camp was established in 1926 serving the girls of greater Montreal. It is the second oldest summer camp exclusively for young girls, still in operation in Quebec and French Canada.
The New York City's YMCA Camp is a former recreational and educational overnight camp in Huguenot, New York that belonged to the YMCA of Greater New York. While the YMCA operates day camps in the five boroughs of New York City, the Huguenot Camp was the only overnight camp of the YMCA of New York City. The camp was created in 1918.