Summer Programs through Parks and Recreation
May 1, 2008 by Deborah Ng
Filed under Kid Stuff, Simple Pleasures
When my husband I began shopping for day camps for our son, we were very discouraged. $200 per week, $500 per month…how can anyone afford this? Fortunately we found a great program through our townships parks and recreation department. For a full day at camp, it’s fairly inexpensive - we’ll be spending less than half the price than we would at one of the specialty or private camps.
The day camp is held at the elementary school and our son will play sports, do crafts, play games, take swimming lessons at the local college, bowl once a week, have lunch from local restaurants and more. As an only child, he can have a much better time making friends his age at camp then spending the day at home with his old mom. Plus I have a cheaper option of bringing him home at three instead of five or six, still plenty of time for us to go to the park, visit friends or play in the pool together.
How do your children spend the summer? Do you take advantage of programs through the parks and schools?
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LRN
I wish we had parks and rec. We do have two branches here in town. But the one with all the programs is WAY across town; as in useless. The one close to us only has stuff like football. It’s really weird and unbalanced.
We have a town rec club for grammar school kids in the morning from 9-12 and it is free (trips are optional and cost a little bit). It only runs for five weeks, but that’s five weeks of activity for them.
We also join the local pool and spend the majority of the rest of our time there.
My daughter goes to summer camp at the YMCA. It’s about the same price as regular daycare. The city has a summer camp through parks and rec which is a little cheaper, but I have observed them and found the supervision lacking. We are very lucky to have some good programs.