Camps for kids in other countries?
Hi all,
As we plan a future vacation abroad, I was thinking how great it could be to enroll our kids in a local camp wherever we vacation. I'm open to sleepover camp or a day camp. Since starting school, my kids' Spanish is weakening, so I'd love it if this were a thing in a Spanish-speaking country where my kids could go to camp where they're speaking Spanish. But I'm open to other languages or a camp where kids speak English. Is this a thing? A camp for the kids of vacationing families?? Or is the only thing close to this a resort with a kids club?
If anyone has done this and loved the camp, please share!
Oct 19, 2022
Parent Replies
I have exactly the same question, but for French-speaking countries, and welcome any and all ideas! My limited search so far indicates that in the US we plan much in advance of other countries, and the right time for other countries for, say, a June camp, might be March or even May, or even upon arrival. My only other insight so far is that looking at local school calendars carefully might help - e.g. in France June is a school month but July and August are not, so more camps are available in July and August (but conversely, everything else child-related will be less crowded in June). In Argentina perhaps much of June, July and August are part of the school year (but not in Spain or Mexico?), so the school calendar considerations might be more diverse. Any and all advice very welcome
I think for Argentina there are some summer caps "Escuela de Vacaciones" or "colonia de Vacaciones" that are often run by universities in January-February-March (summer break there) and often free and easy to register to once you find the right place (e.g. google that with your city of interest - I used to love going to ours in La Plata). For France, I've been searching a lot for our sabbatical summer there next year and found some really interesting ones (in Paris) some run by schools some run by centers (e.g. the Louvre, Pompidou, Ecole Lenotre for cooking, etc). Many appear on quick searches of Colonies de vacances or similar terms. My best luck has come when I ask friends local from that country what to search for.
Hi! Last year we went to Sayulita (in Mexico) and kids did surf camp every day (while we worked 'from home' from our great Airbnb. This worked well. This year we've started doing research already for Spain and there are loads of options - both sleepaway and day camps with many activities and interests all over Spain. We will likely 'live' there for 3+ weeks while kids attend camp.
Until recently, I lived in Costa Rica for 5 years. This is a reputable program that also offer for families. https://www.interculturacostarica.com
Antigua Green School in Antigua Guatemala has had a summer camp in the past called Green Camp, which is a bilingual day camp immersed in nature for kids ages 3 through 15.
I've started looking into this for French language study in Quebec. There are a few camps geared to French study, with options to live in dorms or be a day student, as well as a YMCA traditional camp that offers programming in English (but because it's Canada, everything in writing has to be in French too), so some exposure. I started with Yelp which is okay for Canada but not reliable for other countries outside the US.
If you are interested in sleepaway camp, I definitely struck gold with ours and recommend you check it out. It's in Maine, so perhaps you could drop your child off en route to Europe? Hidden Valley Camp is on 350+ acres with a lake, horses, llamas and other animals, water sports, dance classes, glass blowing, you name it. You child gets to choose whichever classes interest them. And then of course there are all kinds of cabin group-bonding activities, songs, trips, friendship bracelets and all of that. Bonus: NO electronics for the whole month. My kids come home so renewed after a few weeks off the devices - it's amazing. And now they have *friends for life* from all over the world. :) Let me know if you want to know more.
https://hiddenvalleycamp.com/
https://hiddenvalleycamp.com/