It’s mid-July, and for those of us in the U.S. that means it’s the middle of summer vacation.
Ahhhh, summer vacation.
photo by Aitor Escauriaza
When I was growing up in Oregon, we ended the school year in mid-June and didn’t start up again until after Labor Day (the first Monday in September). So we had a good 2 1/2 months to sleep in, hang out with friends, watch TV, and…get really bored.
Being dreadfully bored is one of the first things I remember about the summers of my youth.
Ok, it wasn’t all bad, or all boring. I mean, I read a lot, swam at the local pool, attended dance practice, and went to sleepaway camp a couple times. I even started a rock band (which was unsuccessful, by the way) and a lemonade stand (also not my most successful venture).
And my family always went on a camping trip in the mountains or took a family roadtrip to visit relatives for a week. So it’s not like I just sat in my bedroom staring at the wall all summer.
But still, there were days where it seemed like there was a absolutely n o t h i n g to do.
photo by Max Wolfe
Nowadays, however, there seem to be endless summer options for kids in the U.S.
In the form of camp. Everywhere I look, there are advertisements for summer camps. The vast majority tend to be half- or full-day camps that usually last one or two weeks. Kids could conceivably visit 6, 8 or more camps in one summer.
Here are just a few of the options in my local area:
Art Camp (Offbeat Arts, Arts Around the World)
Horsemanship Camp (Learn how to ride and care for horses)
Kid Chefs Cooking Camp (Each week focuses on a region of the world)
Cheerleading Camp (You no longer have to be on your school’s team to learn to cheer)
Eco Adventure Camp (A camp focused on ecology)
Rock Band Camp (Ends with a rock concert)
Summer Traditions Camp (Old school camp as I remember it: hiking, crafts, camp songs)
Extreme Drama Camp (Writing, games, music, dance, monologues)
Science Camp at the Planetarium (CSI: Chapel Hill, Secret Formulas)
The options for youth-focused organized activities are endless. My nieces, for example, have attended farm camp, music camp (in fact, one niece just updated her Facebook status from music camp), German camp, Japanese camp, sewing camp, tennis camp…you get the idea.
So, now I’m wondering two things. No, make that three things:
- How long is summer vacation in your country?
- Do kids go to camp (sleepaway or day camp) in your country?
- What did you do during your summer vacations while growing up?
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One summer when I was in High School, here in the USA, I went to a Jazz Band Camp and also to Boys State, which was a camp where you learned about your state’s government and local politics.
When I was growing up in Romania, there weren’t many options as far as camps. There are now, though. Even if you do not live in Romania, and are interested in working in camps, you can apply for a job with various organizations and work in an English camp, in, let’s say, Transylvania! These English camps are attended by Romanian children, who learn English by communicating, and, of course, playing with English speakers. How cool is that?
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