The best time to look for a Summer camp is in February to March. Many Summer camps are already out advertising and they are usually being booked out very fast. As parents, we have to start looking into what camps are best for your kids and what are the criteria you should be looking at during choosing the right camp this Summer.

Here are a few tips to start with before going into the blind and searching on the Internet.

1. Ask a friend

It’ll definitely be more fun for your kids to go to Summer camp with their family friends or school friends. You can reach out to other moms in the school group and see what they are registering their kids for this Summer. If they don’t have a clue yet, feel free to bring up a few ideas and see if your kid and theirs have the same interests. It’ll be a great start off to look into the specific categories of camp than all the choices out there.

2. Plan a budget

Summer camps can be expensive. There are some private camps and camps provided by the city. A one week camp can range from $200 to $500 (some including the aftercare period). Therefore, we suggest you book your camps early and enjoy early bird discounts on most of them. Another tip is that you don’t have to book a camp for the whole summer! Select only a few weeks in the Summer for camps while you can plan for some road trips. They may cost a bit higher than camps, but it’s worth the family time.

3. Look at the dates

As mentioned previously, you don’t need to book for the whole Summer of two months. You should also look into the Public holidays, such as Canada Day, Civic holiday, Labour Day, and avoid booking camps around those days. I believe you can survive with the kids in the short weeks, while taking some days off to road trips, which  saves you annual leaves from work.

4. Pick what the kid really like

At age 3 to 6, some kids may not have a strong preference on specific sports, arts, or interests for you to decide the right camp for them, but some kids do. If they do, it’ll make our life much easier, and we should always sign them up on something they really like. If they don’t, we can still find some hints from their toy interests. For example, if they are very into toy cars, there are many robotics and STEM camps that would be suitable for them. If they like to play with toy kitchens, there are mini chef camps. For outdoor activities, there are camps with sports that do a variety of sports instead of just one, so that it’s a good chance for them to try out everything and find out their preferences for future sport programs.

Summer is a few months away, but it’s not actually that far from now. As said, start looking now and you can enjoy an early bird discount too.

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