No camps. Video games, writing tutor, piano, reading, walking, swimming (for fun). Hiking vacation.

And more reading, which is what he loves to do.

What about for tween or teen when don’t have money to pay for camps?

My 11 year old does a week of sleep away camp and then various specialty camps (kayaking, basketball, baseball, speed/running are on the schedule this summer). Plus two weeks of vacation and two weeks with his grandparents.

We've generally stayed away from day camps even at the younger ages. He has always mostly done specialty camps, typically bouncing around to different locations depending on the offerings. He hasn't given any indication that he is bored with camps and is now asking about CIT programs he could potentially do in the coming years. He does really hate the before/after care at camps so I've adjusted my schedule to minimize time in those programs.

She is too old for camp. Mine stays home by himself. He is 11. He has a phone to contact me. I prepare his food so he just has to heat it up. Most of the kids in the neighborhood are home by themselves too. No one does camp. They bounce around to each other’s houses. If I stay home one day, then I take them all out to local places like skyzone, movies, etc. the other parents/ older siblings do the same. In addition, we do two family vacations for a week long each

Sleep away camp, one week of a teen travel day camp, volunteering at a camp for SSL hours, swim team and coming home in the afternoons, and family vacations.

She's way past when day camp is fun, so I feel her there, OP. It seems like around age 9 or 10 kids start doing more sleep away camp and specialized camps for their interests.

Mine did a programming camp, robotics camp, dance camp, gymnastics camp, cooking classes, soccer camps, volleyball camps, etc. start at age 9.

Plus sports practice really ramps up during the summer. My DD does travel volleyball and they do a lot more practices and conditioning during the summer. My son's travel soccer will practice 6 times/week plus toss in a strength & conditioning day!

A mix of day camp, sleep away camp, and volunteering at a camp for SSL hours + family vacation.

Anonymous wrote:My tween has a sport that practices 4 days a week year-round, two of those during the day during the summer, so she can't really do camps. On non-practice days she does a lot of "nothing". Reads, watches TV, plays on her phone, figures out some craft things to do, reorganizes her room, gets bored, does chores...

I'm fine with her entire day not being filled.

This, mainly. Mine do a year round sport that practices 4-5x a week during the school year and 6x a week during the summer (sometimes more than once a day).

My tween has a sport that practices 4 days a week year-round, two of those during the day during the summer, so she can't really do camps. On non-practice days she does a lot of "nothing". Reads, watches TV, plays on her phone, figures out some craft things to do, reorganizes her room, gets bored, does chores...

I'm fine with her entire day not being filled.

Maybe you just need to find a different camp and concentrate on camps that have an older population. Also, you can try to find camps that cater to what she is interested in.

My dd13 still does day camp and loves it. For 2 of the camps, this will be the last year for her age group but they are still heavily populated by older kids since the camps are really good camps. It's rare she sees any of her school friends at camp although the same kids go to camp each year with her. Next year, she will be able to apply to be a CIT.

One option, since I don't know where you live, are Teens on the go type of camps that many county recreation department do. We did a couple of weeks last summer and ours was 12 years old to 16 years old and was full every week and they seemed to have a good time. There were a lot of kids from her middle school in camp.

I find there are a number of kids that actually continue to like camp as they get older because it gives them some structure, something to do other than stay in the house or do the pool all day, puts them around friends and great activities and especially with the teen camps that do a lot of field trips, it gives them exposure to a lot of stuff with independence away from family.

13yo DS is not in DC area and has only 2 months of summer holiday.

1:1 tennis and surfing lessons for the two weeks that he is in town. The rest of the day is a combo of video games, plus a commitment to read at least 1h per day. Honestly, school was really intense with exams even last week. He’s burnt out and needs to veg.

Otherwise:

1 wk Outward Bound
2 wk trip with extended family
2 wk residential tech camp at a UK school
1 wk visit 1:1 with just me to the English countryside (including falconing, fly fishing session)

.. then back to school.

Day camps for older kids like filmmaking at imagination stage, acting at shakespeare theater.

It is probably true that she is one of the handle of oldest kids.

By the time my kid was 8, summer camp stopped being as much fun, they do the same activities every year and for general camps that have a big age range, they do cater to younger kids. We even found that camps for kids ages 8-11 or 9-12 really only had a handful of kids at the oldest end and the activities were often still to simple for kids that age to enjoy,

Sleep away camp and day camps that have programming for older kids (my 11 year old likes tic and calleva).

My 11.5 year old is at the same summer camp that she has been attending for the past 5 years, and she has always loved it. This year she keeps telling me she is too old for camp and it’s just for little kids. She keeps saying she is the oldest, which I know she isn’t. Many of her friends are at sleep away camp now instead of day camp, but she doesn’t want to do that either.

Just curious, what does your tween/younger teen do for the summer. DD says she just wants to stay home and do nothing but I really don’t think that’s a good idea.