Fishing Frenzy

If you want your child to experience the fun and excitement of attending a Sleepaway Summer Kids Camp, it is not too soon to start your search start your search for the right one.

At sleepaway summer camps children usually stay in cabins with other campers and at least one counselor for a certain period of time, usually from two to eight weeks.

Part of the excitement of Sleepaway Camps is that kids get to stay in an area all their own and sleep among other children with adult counselors present. It makes a young camper feel grown up and it also brings chances to learn independence by making guided choices. As a parent, it will be your task to find the camp where your child can stay for right length of time during the summer. If you want your child to experience the fun and excitement of attending a sleepaway summer camp, start your search for the best camp early. Consider the following tips as you begin to look for the perfect overnight camp.

There is an excellent free website, www.summercampadvice.com , with guide questions and information that has been assembled to help prospective campers and their parents to choose the best summer camp. This site is a great place to start your search or to give your ongoing search more direction.

Since your child will be staying overnight at the camp you choose, it will naturally be important to ensure that the place where they will sleep is safe and comfortable. The cabins, bunks and clothes lockers should be clean and in good repair. The cabin interiors should not be overcrowded and the exteriors should be well-maintained and in good condition. Bathroom facilities should be clean and accessible. The physical facilities of a camp needn't be new or fancy, and they will not determine the ultimate quality of the experience a camper has, but they can offer hints about the camp directors' overall attitude and attention to detail.

Much more important to a camper's experience is the amount and quality of ongoing individual attention he or she is likely to receive from counselors and activity supervisors. The ratio of staff to campers is the starting point for gauging individual attention. At least one camp counselor should sleep in each cabin. After the choices are narrowed down to final camp candidates, the best assessment will eventually come when you meet directors, staff members, and counselors during a camp visit.

The most important area to the choice of any camp will always be safety. A good summer camp will offer very thorough information about all matters having to do with camper safety. Ask about how the camp staff handles emergencies. The camp should have a clinic with its own nurse. If your child needs has special medical needs, you should discuss these in detail with the camp directors and feel satisfied that those needs will be met and accommodated at that camp.

Here are a few tips to begin with; a complete reference guide for camp safety issues can be found at www.summercampadvice.com.