Concord Monitor staff
These days kids are bombarded with endless screen time, stress and pressure in an ever-complicated world.
Luckily, New Hampshire has an antidote for that. The state has more than 150 licensed summer camps with so many options it can be hard to choose which one is the best one.
Day camp, overnight camp, boys only, girls only, co-ed. You name it, they’ve got it.
If you’ve already found the right spot for your child, superb. Keep up the good work. If you’ve thought about it, or want to get some more information, here are some resources:
Check out nhcamps.org for a directory of licensed summer camps in the Granite State. The website has filters to help you with your research, and links with more info than you’ll know what to do with.
Consider the region of the state you’d like to send your child. Close to home or a little more remote. On the lake? Definitely. That’s part of what makes summer camp so memorable.
Your kids will miss you a bit. No offense, but one of the best parts will be being away from you, their parents. That doesn’t mean they don’t love you. It means they get to explore their independence a little, find their own voice, take small risks they normally wouldn’t. After all these are the very skills you hope they bring in life too.
Consider it an investment in their future that comes for a price fueled by s’mores, bug bites and pine needles.
Your kids will eat it up because camps are filled with choices of things to do. They want to explore sailing, archery, arts and crafts? It’s all there and more.
The YMCA is one of the organizations with a long track record of running camps around the state. Other independent camps have stellar reputations too. Talk to other parents, maybe a guidance counselor at school. More than anything, don’t be afraid — for your child, for yourself.
Truthfully, parents can have a harder time letting go of their kids than the other way around. Our advice, give them a big hug, tell them everything is going to work out and drive away.
They’ll be OK. In fact, they’ll be better than OK.
Consider that most of the people working as camp counselors were former campers. Generations of families — both from inside and outside New Hampshire — send their kids to the same camps the parents attended years before. It’s such an iconic industry, about 150,000 children will attend camp here next year.
But it’s not for everybody and that’s OK too.
Finances can be a real hurdle for parents to send their children to camp, especially in households with more than one child. Most camps have financial aid programs that lower the cost of attendance.
With enough research, the perfect camp is out there waiting to be found.
