What To Expect from Summer Camp

Has your child recently expressed an interest in attending summer camp with their friends over the school break? Summer camp has been a long-standing way for children to learn valuable skills and for parents to continue going to work knowing their children are being safely looked after at camp.

Many parents went to summer camp as children and knew what to expect. But for parents considering sending their children to summer camp for the first time, below you will find what to expect from summer camp, including information about what happens should your child need urgent care.

A day in the life of a summer camp kid

Not all summer camps are the same, and a day in a summer camp attendee’s life will be slightly different from another. Depending on which summer camp location your child will be attending and the time they are attending, camp experiences can differ for every child.

Here’s a brief step-by-step of what a typical day in summer camp looks like for a kid:

• Kids are woken up early to attend breakfast.
• They are then taken for supervised morning activities such as horse riding, crafts, treetop climbing, etc.
• Lunch is served, and kids get to mingle with other groups.
• Supervised afternoon activities commence and will include hours of exciting and thrilling activities such as ziplining, dance lessons, archery, sports, sailing, and more.
• Kids then have free time, dinner, and inclusive evening group activities like campfire and discos and are sent to bed before 10 pm to get a good night’s sleep.

The same process is repeated the next day until your child has finished summer camp. The most popular camp session is one week or less, but many camps cater for up to 8-week sessions.

All activities, including free time and meals, are supervised by camp leaders that must minimize risk, harm, and unnecessary accidents.

Summer camp is fun, safe, and very well organized. But occasionally, accidents happen, and urgent care is required.

What happens if your child needs urgent care while at summer camp

American camps have been able to run successfully for generations thanks to various factors, including the requirement of camp screenings and physical examination for both children and adults.

Before attending summer camp, you must take your child to their doctor or an urgent care clinic to access their medical records and assess their current physical health. Camps will not accept your children without the green light from a physician to prevent foreseeable healthcare concerns for all children attending summer camp.

Although being proactive towards your children’s health at summer camp is necessary for avoiding possible injury and illness, accidents can still happen. If you’re concerned about the care that will be provided for your child, should they need emergency care, it’s important to know that all summer camps, whether remote or close to medical healthcare support, are required to have staff on board that understand and can administer second level first aid and wilderness first aid support– i.e., first aid and CPR certifications.

Summer camp qualifications

More than 14 million children and adults experience summer camp annually throughout the US. Summer camp allows children to develop new skills, explore their creativity, and keep from boredom, or simply because parents cannot afford the time off work. But there are quality control measures in place.

Children must submit relevant health checks for summer camp, and all adults joining camp for work must do the same.

Working camp leaders and counselors must complete the appropriate background check and be deemed fit and able to work in a camp based on medical forms and physical check-ups completed by their doctor.

The bottom line

You can expect that your children’s summer camp leaders and organizations have your children’s best interests at heart and will work tirelessly to prevent your child’s summer camp experience from being negatively affected by injury or illness.