Now that the school year is coming to an end, many parents will need to make alternate childcare plans. For most single parents with younger children, daycare will be the place they will most likely stay throughout the day during the summer months. Older school age children, who are not able to be left unsupervised during the day, and who have been in the daycare setting for several years, may feel that traditional daycare can be less than ideal for them during the summer months.
In order to help relieve the doldrums of summer, many daycare centers are creating a camp type atmosphere during the out-of-school-months in order to draw more families to utilize their services. There are now so many options for summertime care, that your child could have a different camp type experience each week with the same daycare provider. For example, Kindercare offers different theme weeks that change every two weeks for school age children. Their “Summer Adventure” series includes:
Dinosaur Detectives – this sojourn into prehistoric days will have us untangling dinosaur mysteries like real paleontologists.
It’s Greek To Me – Explore all the ways the exciting cultures of ancient Greece and Egypt have shaped our lives.
The Days of Knights – We’ll all be modern-day kids in King Arthur’s court during this fortnight of fun.
How the West was Fun – Hitch up the wagons and Westward Ho! We’ll learn what it was like for the folks who settled the West.
Summerpalooza! – Take a musical trip through Pop culture from the rockin’ ’50s to the groovy ’70s to the techno ’80s.
Journey to Tomorrow – Strap on your imagination for this futuristic voyage into the uncharted time. Let’s see what we can dream up together.
I am not affiliated with Kindercare-so I can say that their lineup looks like so much fun, I want to be a kid again!
Private daycare centers can be more costly than other daycare options so check around to see what is happening in your area. Always ask if scholarships are available to make the opportunities more affordable for your family. Even as adults we can get bored staring at the same four walls of the cubicle day in and day out, kids can grow tired of being in the same environment too. If you can give your child a week or two away from their normal daycare situation to attend another daycare provider’s day camp program, it may feel like a vacation to them. Try one of the following options to heat up your son or daughters summer daycare experience:
Check your local community college or technical school to find out if they offer any classes or camps for school age children. One of our local colleges offers fun computer classes and even the larger state colleges are offering weeklong day-camps, and sometimes overnight camp experiences for the older kids.
Contact your local Camp Fire council, or other scouting type club to find out if they have day camps. Many of these types of camps are action and adventure oriented and geared especially for school age children, and some of them offer partial scholarships.
Local churches often have Vacation Bible School’s for a limited time (typically one week for a few hours per day) during the summer months that can be a welcome relief from the normal daycare routine. This probably will not meet a 9-5 working parent’s needs for childcare, but could potentially be an option if you can make alternate childcare arrangements for the other hours that childcare is needed.
Check your city’s recreation department, they often offer theme type camps including arts or sports camps.
As always, do your homework and find out as much as you can about the people who will be with your children. For more tips on choosing childcare, see my article by the same title.