The "Best" Camp 

Renee Flax is the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey’s Camper Placement Specialist.  She speaks with hundreds of parents a year, helping them find the right camp for their children.   Check out her blog post on the best camp for your child.

When speaking with parents about choosing a camp and discussing various options, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is, “but what is the BEST camp?” My answer:  the best camp is the camp that is the right fit for your child and the camp he or she is going to be happiest at.   

There are many great day and resident camps to choose from but parents need to do their own research. Each camp has its own philosophy and feel to it, and it’s important for parents to understand what the camp is all about.   The “best” camp for one child may not be the best camp for another.  If your child hates sports, would you send your child to a camp whose program is sports focused just because your best friend’s child goes there?  

My suggestion to parents is make a list of questions and “must haves” for the camp experience you are looking for.  Call the camp director and go over your questions and needs.   Ask yourself if he or she is happy to answer all your questions and spend the time doing so?  It’s important to click with the camp director when choosing a camp so make sure you are comfortable with the director when making a camp decision.  Schedule a camp tour, either the summer before registering so you can see camp in action or if that isn’t possible, tour in the off season which will give you a chance to see the camp and get to know the director and staff.   Camp directors will also do a home visit in the off season so don’t worry if you can’t do visits during the summer.  Make sure whatever camp you choose is inspected by the Department of Health and is ACA Accredited.  ACA Accreditation goes beyond the state's basic licensing requirements and the ACA Standards address specific areas of programming, personnel, health care, emergency response, management practices and youth development.   Involve your child in the search.   Look online together and bring your child to the camp for the tour.  

You might want to take camp information you hear or read about with a grain of salt.   Some parents may voice an opinion about a camp which they haven’t even been to and are just repeating something someone told them.   Comments on camp rating websites are often left by disgruntled parents who feel like they were slighted for some reason and want an outlet to voice their personal opinion.  Articles written on the “best camps” are often just arbitrary lists compiled by a reporter.   Personally, I was once standing on a supermarket line and overheard a woman bad mouthing a camp that I feel runs an amazing program. There are always two sides to every story.  If you see a poor review at a camp you are interested in or someone said something bad about a camp you feel might be good for your child, call the camp director and ask him or her about it.  

Remember, you know your child best and once you do your OWN research, you will just get that “feeling” that you have found the BEST camp for your child.