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Overnight Camp

How Young is too Young?

By Lois Deckelbaum

     Most parents are like Lisa Marie Metzler of McBain, Mich., who said she felt the right age to send her daughter Nicole to camp was when she expressed an interest in it. “I didn’t want to send her to camp just because I thought it would be a fun experience. It was very important to us that she was motivated to go to camp via her own readiness and interest,” Metzler said.

     Having a child show interest in going to camp is a good sign of readiness, but what about younger children who really have no conception of what camp is all about? How young is too young for sleep away camp?

     Most kids start going to sleep away camp at age 9 or 10, says Lisa Mullen, South Florida representative for Tips on Trips and Camps. However, some families are sending their children away to camp much earlier. Mullen had a South Florida family request that she find a camp in France for their 6-year-old.

     Many residential camps take children starting at about age 8, but some are open to taking younger campers. “One year we had a five-year-old camper from Japan. When he was escorted off the plane, he spoke no English. He adjusted beautifully. When he went home eight weeks later, he was speaking English,” said Jon Estis, director of Camp Redwood in Walden, N.Y.

     Although this 5-year-old international camper is not the norm at Camp Redwood, for 30 years, the camp has taken children as young as 4 or 5. “Believe it or not,” Estis said, “homesickness is less of a problem with very young children. Younger children are very adaptable. Teenagers going away for the first time experience much more apprehension. Younger kids just acclimate and make bonds with counselors.”

     Jeffrey Solomon, Executive Director of the National Camp Association, says sending younger children to residential camps are a growing trend.

     “With dual-career and single-parent families, reliable babysitters hard to find, and more parents not working a traditional nine to five day, there is a place for sleep away camps that specialize in children as young as four or five, ” Solomon said. “Younger children really do have an easier time adjusting and overcoming homesickness. Kids who are older are more self-conscious and more worried about fitting in.”

     Many parents cringe at the idea of sending a 5 or 6-year-old away, even a week, let alone an entire summer. Moreover, not all children this young are good candidates for residential camps. “We usually ask if the child is comfortable doing sleepovers at friends’ houses,” says Dick Travis, who runs The Summer Lady, a camp consulting service, with his wife, Ann.

     Some parents feel more comfortable if their child goes away with a friend or older sibling. This can add a sense of security, but it can also backfire if the friends have disagreements at camp or if the older sibling feels responsible for the younger one.

     The quality of the camp staff is always important to parents, but it is of particular concern when young children still need help organizing their self-care. Camps that accept young children, such as Camp Cayuga in Honesdale, Penn., make a special effort to hire American teachers or college students who are majoring in elementary education or child psychology. Child-to-staff ratio is also more critical with young campers who need a great deal of help and direct supervision.

     “We have a three-to-one supervision ratio at Camp Redwood,” Estis said. “Usually in the bunk we have an adult, someone like a young teacher, along with a college student.”

     Counselors of young children provide more direct help for younger children then they do for older campers. They do everything from making sure they take showers and change their clothes to tying shoes and making sure they eat well. The staff also communicates more directly with the parents, since young children lack letter-writing skills. “They really serve as surrogate moms,” says Solomon.

     The counselors may also adjust activities to account for the different abilities and stamina level of young campers. These children need more rest time, earlier bedtimes, and more structured transitions between activities. Camp Cayuga addresses these needs with a special Junior Campus Program for younger children. On the other hand, Camp Redwood provides access to all their activities for campers regardless of age, but modifies them in developmentally appropriate ways.

     “For example, in our water-skiing program, for five year olds we simply gear the program down to their level. They use an aqua board [a single board instead of a pair of water skis] and are towed at slow speeds,” says Estis.

     Although showing an interest in going to camp is the classic way to determine if a child is old enough to enjoy the experience, 5- and 6-year-olds really have no understanding of what summer camp is all about. Talking to them and showing them pictures and videos helps, but visiting a camp beforehand is even better. Suzy Wurtz of Gibbon, Minn. sent her daughter to Camp Lake Hubert the summer after second grade.

     “We had taken her to the camp the summer before to see it, and we were not concerned about her fitting in,” Wurtz said. “If you can, you should visit the camp with your child and observe actual campers.”

     Even though the idea of sending a 5-year-old to camp may be scary to parents, camps that specialize in providing services to young children do a good job, and most children thrive if their parents can let go and convey a positive attitude about the experience.

     “A lot of times, the child is ready, but the parent is not ready to let go,” says Lisa Mullen.

     Tips on Trips and Camps, Inc is a free service specializing in overnight summer experiences for children ages 8-18. They have consultants in 14 cities in the US and abroad. To speak with a consultant call (610) 649-0911 or e-mail Lois@tipsontripsandcamps.com or find us on the web at www.tipsontripsandcamps.com.