When Camp Granada Doesn't Cut It . . .
Try a Camp That Offers Something "Special”
by Jill Miller Zimon

Hello Mudder - Hello Fadder
Here I am at - Camp Granada
And it's very - entertaining
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.
-- Original lyrics by Allen Sherman

My mother sang me this verse every summer that I needed a trunk for traditional overnight camp.  And, when I tell her now that I hated that camp, she assures me that I always said I wanted to return.

If uniforms, canteens and cookouts haven’t turned your child into a happy camper yet, maybe it’s time to try something truly special. With day and residential options that offer sports and theater, or juggling and woodworking, a tailored choice might fit your child’s needs, and yours.

What is a Specialty Camp

Virginia Armstrong-Whyte, a representative for Peterson’s (www.Petersons.com), publisher of Summer Opportunities for Kids and Teenagers, defines traditional camps as those with water and land sports, and arts and crafts.  Specialty camps fall into one of at least nine categories: academic, adventure, arts, Bible, community service, cultural, special needs, sports and wilderness.

Camps can also be differentiated by how much choice they offer a child. Eve Eifler, Co-director of Tips on Trips and Camps, (www.tipsontripsandcamps.com), says that these camps replace a set schedule with one determined by the child. She says that they tend to offer “not the mainstream activities…[but rather] cooking, ham radio, rock music, skateboarding, magic, animal rehabilitation, and robotics.”

When To Consider and How To Evaluate Specialty Camps

Bill Cole, a marketing consultant to camps, private schools and non-profits, suggests that parents think first about age. “The younger the child, the greater the preference for an all-around program. Then, as they get older, they can specialize.”  Eifler advises parents to think about how strong an opinion their children have and whether they, as parents, are comfortable with their kids making the decisions. She believes that kids avoid activities they don’t like or do well. Parents who think that camp is supposed to stretch kids need to ask themselves whether they want to relinquish choice or need to find a camp that gives more guidance.

Enid Grabiner, of Student Camp and Trip Advisors (SCATA), says that parents should evaluate them as if they were traditional camps. Investigate the program’s structure, the facilities and whether it emphasizes or de-emphasizes competition. Get specifics on the camp’s size and demographics, its medical care and its communication policies.

When specialty camps are involved, Grabiner likes parents to focus on what goals they want to satisfy. Do they want their child to get a performance or technique-based experience? Which arts do they want their child exposed to? Do they want their child to participate in competitive or skill-oriented programs?

Explore issues of time and material, emphasizes Bill Cole. Will the kids create something from start to finish, or will they just add final touches to a preformed object? How much of your child’s lesson will be spent on the actual activity, such as horseback riding, versus other related or possibly unrelated tasks, such as grooming or waiting their turn?

How To Find Specialty Camps

Libraries, camp fairs, the Internet, the yellow pages, local parenting magazines and newspaper inserts can spur ideas. Recreation departments offer camps that focus on chess, karate, kayaking and rock climbing. Specialty programs tend to be more costly, but aren’t necessarily unreasonable or out of reach in price.  The American Camping Association (ACA), a nonprofit accrediting organization, www.acacamps.org, lets you search for and read about camps, trends and advice.

Peterson’s, www.Petersons.com, offers a Summer Opportunities-Arts section that links camps via 120 different arts including glassblowing, radio broadcasting, several kinds of dance and music, and blacksmithing.  A Special Interests section directs you to camps that satisfy curiosities about bicycle mechanics, flight instruction, organic farming and many more.

For-profit referral services provide trunks full of information. Camps that want to serve your child pay fees to these businesses, although information on their websites is free.
Tips on Trips and Camps, SCATA, Camp Specialists, Camp Advisors and Summer Scope are just a few that you can find on the Internet.

In the Name of Fun

No matter where your kids go this summer, just talking with them about their interests and investigating programs that might meet those interests puts you ahead of the game. With a little luck, at the end of the summer, your kids will shower you with sentiments like those in the closing verse to Hello Mudder:
Wait a minute - it’s stopped hailing
Guys are swimming - guys are sailing
Playing cricket - gee that’s better
Mudder, Fadder kindly disregard this letter.