WHAT IS A HOME-BASED SUMMER CAMP?

A home-based summer camp is made up of families who get together to organize a summer of fun activities for their children. You can decide on the schedule, what kinds of experiences you want, which activities you'd rather avoid.

• You can have outings to the beach, the zoo, to local parks, museums, and nature centers. You can avoid video arcades, violent themes, TV, and fast food restaurants. You can ensure adequate supervision of young children at water parks and busy public places.
• You can have camp days at people's houses, with good old-fashioned games, crafts, and playing in the sprinkler.
• You can decide how many hours per day, and how many days per week to have scheduled camp activities.
• You have a ready-made group of friends to accompany you in other activities if you desire.
• A home-based camp is family centered, parent-led experience.

WHY A HOME-BASED SUMMER CAMP RATHER THAN A COMMERCIAL CAMP?

These days, we are deluged with brochures and ads for summer camps, all with good reputations, fun activities, and certified staff. Why would anyone go to all the trouble of forming their own camp?

Here are some of the reasons our families have found:

• Our children (except those that are home-schooled) are in school during the fall, winter, and spring. We look forward to spending time with our children during the summer, to going on outings together, playing games, having picnics, flying kites, going to the beach. Why pay strangers to have all this fun with our children?
• Some of us have tried the commercial camps, and found that they didn't live up to our expectations. Some problems include very young, inexperienced counselors, inadequate supervision, too much use of TV/videos. For example, at the end of one summer I met a mom who had put her 6-year-old in a full-day, 5-day/week commercial camp. The child wasn't very happy with the camp, and the mom found herself often coming to pick up the child half way through the day so the two of them could go on their own outings. When I told her about Create-A-Camp, she wished she had joined it instead.
• The children really like our home-based camp. Every year we ask them what they want to do for the summer, and describe the alternatives, including commercial camp. But their enthusiasm for our camp is irrepressible.

WHO CAN CREATE THEIR OWN SUMMER CAMP?

Anyone who is eager to be closely involved with their children's experiences!

Here are some characteristics which lead to a successful home-based camp experience.

It helps to have people who are:

• Energetic.
• Well-organized.
• Deeply committed to the well-being and development of children.
• Aware of resources and activities available in the community and surrounding area.
• Creative.
• Financially aware and responsible.
• Flexible.
• Sensitive to the needs and desires of others.

What's great about a group approach is that not every person needs to be good at everything. You each contribute to the experience. It helps to have leader(s) who are strong on organization and delegation, who can tap the resources of others.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CREATING OUR OWN SUMMER CAMP?

The benefits of creating your own camp include both logistical points, such as cost and schedules, and quality of life, The bottom line of creating your own camp is that you are creating a special family experience.

Home-based camp can provide you:

• The opportunity to spend high-quality time with your children.
• The ability to include a range of ages, which can:
• Allow you to bring all your children to the same activities.
• Give your children experience with children of various ages.
• Avoiding the high costs of commercial summer camps, averaging $50 to $100 per child per day. A rich home-based camp experience can cost $4 or less per child per day, including outings to zoos, water parks, and so forth.
• Allowing you to determine, with a group of like-minded parents, what experiences your child has. For example, if you wish to avoid violent themes, or include lots of group games, or emphasize certain values or historical lessons, it's completely up to you. You don't have to worry about "what the children will come home with from camp," because you are the camp!
• The ability to set your schedule and determine how much time you can put in. This is especially helpful if you also have part-time employment.
• The opportunity to work with and develop relationships with other families with similar values. These people can become good long-term resources and friends.
• The security of having your children with you and other trusted adults instead of entrusting them to the staff of commercial camps - some of whom are wonderful, and some of whom are inexperienced and unmotivated teenagers. This is especially a concern with younger children (ages 2 - 5).
• Being with a group when visiting places such as water parks and museums. The benefits to having a prearranged group to accompany you to fun places you would want to go anyway include:
• You get group rates, which can represent significant financial savings.
• You can carpool with other families, sharing both driving responsibilities and parking costs.
• You have other parents to help share responsibilities. For example, if some children want to go on the water slide and others don't, parents can split up. Or you can even just get a chance to go to the bathroom!

Our Camp Our Children will give you start to finish instructions and ideas to plan effective camp days.

This book is based on the experiences of our local home-based camp from the past seven years. One author has a background in teaching and the other in business. Their combined knowledge created this wonderful book.