Frequently Asked Questions

Age is not necessarily the determining factor and day camps tend to start as early as 3 years old. It is more important to consider your campers’ experiences away from you and home and perhaps if they have expressed an interest in attending summer camp.

Most day camps have an Open House that you and your child can attend. This can be a great way to gauge your campers’ interest and readiness for camp.

Our Camps Guide contains more information on how to choose a camp and other helpful hints.

Many families begin their research the year before their camper will attend summer camp.

We recommend families plan a visit to day camps of their choice the summer before they are planning to register their camper. Most camps will provide tours for prospective families throughout the summer.

Traditional Day Camps offer an exciting variety of activities including sports, swimming, arts and crafts, adventure, drama and more. These summer camps may be privately owned, municipal, religiously affiliated, agency-run, or special needs.

Specialty Summer Camps offer focused activities in a particular area. These include sports camps, fine arts camps, performing arts programs, and academic camps.

Special Needs Camps focus on providing a successful camp experience to children with additional needs. They have more staff support and smaller camper-to-staff ratios.

Age is not necessarily the determining factor and overnight camps can start as early as 6 years old. It’s more important to consider your camper’s experiences away from you and home and perhaps if they have expressed an interest in attending summer camp. Has your camper successfully slept out at a friend’s house or spent a weekend away from home?

There are additional ways to gauge your camper’s interest and readiness such as meeting with the Director, attending an Open House, or, if the camp offers it, attending a family weekend up at the camp.

Our Camps Guide contains more information on how to choose a camp and other helpful hints.

Many families begin their research the year before their camper will attend summer camp. This allows for a tour of the camp the summer before, while camp is in session, so you can get a real “feel” for the camp’s spirit, community, supervision, etc.

If you have done your research the year before, then you should register as soon as possible. Some camps start their registration for the following summer before the current summer has reached its conclusion. And most camps offer discounts for early registration.

Traditional Overnight Camps offer a tremendous variety of activities including land sports, water sports, arts and crafts, adventure, drama and more. Camps also can be gender-specific, and include all male, all female, all gender, and/or intergenerational.

“All Gender” is inclusive of all gender identities including male, female, non-binary, and gender variant.
“Intergenerational” refers to any program that invites parents/guardians to join in along with their child/youth.

Specialty Camps offer focused activities in a particular area. These include sports camps, fine arts camps, performing arts summer programs, academic and travel programs.

Special Needs Camps focus on providing a successful camp experience to children with additional needs. They have more staff support and smaller camper-to-staff ratios. These camps provide a traditional camp experience in a therapeutic environment.

Activity Choice and Structure – Full choice camps will allow campers to select all of their activities individually based on their own interests. A structured camp will pre-select a schedule of activities for an entire cabin group, ensuring variety and balance. Even within structured camp, there are typically some elective periods throughout the week.

Length of Stay – Camps offer anywhere from 1 to 8 week sessions.

Distance from Home – Consider the environment you want for your camper long with your level of comfort. But keep in mind that distance from home is not directly related to homesickness!