Summer camp doesnt come cheap.
Parents can end up doling out thousands of dollars to keep their children occupied while school is out.
However, some families find a financial break in organizing their own summer camp cooperatives.
Olivia Delgado, 5, plays at a playground during co-op camp in Chestnut Ridge, New York, in 2012. Olivia’s mother, Vicki Larson, helped organize the co-op camp with friends and neighbors. Photo courtesy of Vicki Larson
This informal arrangement keeps the summer fun without the summer-camp prices.
Families can customize their co-op to fit whatever works best for them.
Theres no one-size-fits-all plan for forming a summer camp co-op.
Heres how one set of parents made it work for them.
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Her daughter was 5 the first year of the co-op, which continued for three summers.
Larson said the original idea was to get about a dozen families to participate, alternating houses each week.
The host parents would take a week off work to lead the camp.
One week, they would go to the pool every day, said Adam Gorlovitzki, another parent.
One week they would go mountain hiking.
Here are four things you should probably know.
They ranged from preschoolers to early elementary school students.
When creating your own summer camp co-op, consider your childs friends and classmates.
Keeping it to one narrow age group will make it easy to plan age-appropriate activities.
Choosing families who live in the same neighborhood or close by will make drop-offs and pick-ups a breeze.
Beyond reaching a consensus among other parents, the skys the limit in what you choose to do.
Definitely have parents sign a waiver, she said.
The parents should also all be on the same page about following COVID-19 guidelines.
Summer camp is all about fun, but you want everyone safe and healthy, too.
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
