How to Choose the Right Summer Camp for Your Child

Choosing a summer camp is really choosing three things at once: a place, a group of adults you're trusting with your kid, and a schedule your family can live with for a whole summer. Most parents spend the most time on the place, because that's what the website shows you. The lake looks great. The cabins look cozy. Everyone in the photos is having a wonderful time, which, to be fair, is also true of the camp down the road. The photos can't help you sort them out, so it's worth slowing down on the other two.

Start with day versus overnight, since it knocks out half your options right away. Age matters less than you'd expect. Some eight-year-olds are ready to be away from home for a week and some twelve-year-olds really aren't, and that's okay. If this would be your kid's first time sleeping away from you, a short overnight session of four to six nights is a much gentler test than jumping into two weeks, for them and for you.

Then get specific about the staff, because they're what your kid will actually remember. Ask how many campers each counselor looks after, and ask how many of last summer's counselors came back. That second number tells you a lot. A camp where most of the staff returns gives kids the same adults summer after summer, people who already know their names and quirks. A camp that rebuilds its staff every June is asking a new group of college students to figure all of that out in the first week. And if a camp can't or won't tell you its return rate, take note of that.

Next, find out whether the camp is licensed and whether it's accredited, because those are two different things. Licensing comes from the state or the town, the rules vary from state to state, and it's fair to ask the camp what license it holds and who issued it. Accreditation is voluntary. A camp accredited by the American Camp Association has agreed to have its practices reviewed against standards set by people in the camp industry, covering areas like health and safety, staff training, and risk management. The review is done by trained volunteers from other camps, with an in-person visit on a regular cycle and a report from the camp every year in between. It doesn't replace licensing, and it doesn't guarantee a great summer. Plenty of excellent camps aren't accredited. But if a camp is, you can cross a few things off your own checking list.

It's also worth asking how campers are grouped, since it shapes the whole summer. Some camps put kids in a fixed age group or cabin for the entire session, so by week two they're a tight little family. Others reshuffle every day by activity or skill level, so your kid meets more people and tries more things but may finish with fewer close friends. Which one is better depends entirely on your kid, so describe both to them and watch which one they get excited about.

Then there's the practical stuff, which is less fun to research and matters just as much. Find out what the price actually includes (meals, trips, transportation, extra fees for things like horseback riding), what the refund policy looks like if plans change, and how long the drive is. A camp 45 minutes away sounds perfectly reasonable in February. In July, if it's a day camp and you're doing that drive twice a day, it starts to feel like a part-time job.

If you can, visit before you book. Fifteen minutes on site will tell you more than any brochure: how the staff talk to kids, whether the place is clean, whether the director has time to answer your questions. If you can't get there in person, get the director on the phone and see how it goes.