Reply to How much do you spend on camps per summer per kid?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I usually max out my FSA, which until recently was 5K.  About 4K was on summer camps and the rest on spring and winter break camps.  Most we do are $350-550/wk, depending on whether a bare bones camp, or private school or specialty camp.[/quote]

Oh and this is for one kid.  We’ve found that you get what you pay for.[/quote]

Totally disagree.

My kids have done ridiculously expensive summer camps in Maine and (DH wanted them to go it's a thing for his family), not worth it.  The grounds were nicer and maybe bunks were slightly nicer, that's it.  Everyone drove up in a fancy car or helicoptered or flew private jets in didn't matter. Staff same period. It's not like these camps pay staff more than the cheaper camps. They are not run any better than a good one at even half or a third the price

If I had it to do over again my kids would have skipped those expensive ones and I would have donated those monies. W[/quote]

+1 Anyone who thinks they are getting what they paid for has drunk the cool aid.[/quote]

PP here, that’s been my experience with day camps.  I can think of a couple day camps we did that were cheaper, but they basically were unstructured babysitters.  Aftercare was basically kids sitting at a table.  I’ve heard even worse for some DPR camps in DC.[/quote]

I would say that the really inexpensive day camps, like the Y in Reston, provide great coverage hours but the programs are basic and nothing overly exciting. They were highly unstructured, did not have equipment for all of the kids (like fishing rods on fishing day), and were uninspiring. The kids were looked after and DS enjoyed the days of doing whatever he wanted but the theme camps rarely did what they said they were going to do. But kids were safe and fine. They are by far the least expensive camps that we have tried and were fine but nothing to write home about.

We have found that the Fairfax Park and Rec and Reston association camps are more expensive but the programs are far better. There is more structure, although plenty of down time. Theme camps actually follow through with the theme. The kids are engaged and well cared for. DS had a great time and prefers all of those camps to the Y camps without a doubt.

If money was tight, we would do the Y camps. With money being fine, we choose the other camps. I do not see the need to pay for the private school camps or the Cavella's and other similar camps. They sound wonderful, they really do, but DS is having a blast at camps that are close to half the cost and closer to home. But different families have different ideas of what makes a great camp and will make decisions that work best for them.

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