I hope you didn’t miss that you don’t have an article last week. We were traveling and I just didn’t feel like writing an article. I will talk more about traveling in the monthly update of next week.
We have reached the unofficial end of the summer. Boo. Flutes. It passes twice as quickly every year. As usual, my children are the last to return to school. Their first day is today.
Technically we have a few weeks of the summer, so it is not too late to think about my children’s summer camps and how much they cost. I have been writing such articles for several years now. You can go back and read the 2022 edition, the 2023 edition, the 2024 edition.
In 2022 it cost $ 4,500 for my two children to spend 7 weeks in the summer camp. In 2023 it was $ 5,400, but that was 8 weeks camp. In 2024 it was 5,794 for another 8 weeks camp. It goes up steadily, but that is to be expected with inflation.
When the children were younger, we did several camps. The idea was to expose them to as many things as possible. Perhaps it is exactly where we live, but I feel that there are so many more options today than when I was a child. At the time there were about three local camps and they were very cheap. I am forever signed A better person because he had survived the morning of prospect Hill swimming lessons that were needed to swim for free in the afternoon in 200 degrees heat*. (Hello mom!)
Even if our children were younger, they could not get along at all. It was often better to have them in different camps. That meant a lot of coordination with driving because they all started and ended around the same time.
Nowadays they know which camps they like. They can also get along much better. Things are much more stable. With all this infrastructure that have been set up, we only have a little flexibility for a week or two to engage things every year.
Kid 1: twelve -year -old
This year, Kid 1 continued to build on his love for theater. He did five weeks, which consisted of three weeks of musical camp and two weeks of Shakespeare Camp. In the musical camp, the children make their own musical with a lot of help from the camp staff. New parents in the camp are always surprised how good it is. That is his fourth time that I do it, I realize that the counselors have around twenty songs that can apply to almost everything. These were the same camps as last year.
In recent years this has gone from $ 1750 to $ 1850 to $ 1975. It is sold out, so I am not surprised.
For his sixth week he did one Cybercamp by the air and space troubles. From that page it seems to cost $ 1200 for the week. It was free! I think it can be a state or federal subsidy. I have not asked any questions. I was just happy that he learned about MD5 hashes. That is the dream of every father for his son, right? He judged a 6 out of 10 because there was a lot of learning, but he loved the counselors, and the treasure hunt on the last day was very nice. I know it is not a typical summer camp, but we have no computer skills around us, so I will settle for that.
In the 7th week he did a cooking camp. This was his fifth year from Kookkamp. The food they make there is really great. It is expensive for $ 390 for just three hours. There were times when I couldn’t even touch my computer before I had to turn around and pick it up. Despite that, I am a big fan of children who learn cooking – it is one lifelong skill that will save them a lot of money. The last day ends with a cooking competition such as those TV programs with the jury members. This year my son was the leader of the team who won.
With the 8th and last week of the camp we opted for a golf camp. He liked it well enough to come to the golf club this fall. That was a bit expensive for $ 249 for just three hours a day. I wish we could somehow combine these camps that only go from 9-12.
The only drawback of the summer camp season is that we could not fit in the Boy Scout Overnight Camp this year. The mess ran earlier during one of the theater camps, so he couldn’t do that like last year. Hopefully it will be better next year.
Kid 2: Eleven -year -old
Last year my younger son loved the same musical camp as his brother. However, he was in the stage team, built the sets and conducted the lighting for the piece. He likes art and building stuff. This year he expanded to do it for both the musical and the Shakespeare camp. That was five weeks where I didn’t have to take them to different places. Phew, what a relief!
After the musical camp, he literally went to another art camp for a week. For the second year in a row he was surprised that one of his friends was also in the camp. We are a member of the Local Art Museum, so the price was $ 356.
He finally did one stint (two weeks) sailing camp. We had planned this with his best friend and their parents. That worked great because we could carpool. The other mother works about a block from the camp, so she came by and picked up our son every day. Our house is on the road, so it was at least extra work for her. Even when their own son was sick, she picked up our child and brought him to the camp. They almost always walked to work and she drove them home. It was great!
Zeilkamp remained for two weeks at $ 550 – the same price as last year. That is a great price. It must be subsidized because sailing in a yacht club must be one of our most expensive camps.
The costs of the summer camp
Summer camp has become a large company. There will always be people who will pay for the training of their children. Also the
Last year every child also spent eight weeks in the camp. The Kid 1 camps came to $ 3,325 and KID 2s came to $ 2,469. That is $ 416/week for kid 1 and $ 309/week for KID 2. In general it was $ 5,794.
This year the Kid 1 camps arrived in $ 2,614. We have saved a lot by not having a ‘Maker Camp’ and exploring an overnight camp. The free Cybercamp also played a major role. The Kid 2 camps were at $ 2,881. His second theater camp was more expensive and the Kunstkamp went up. In general we have spent $ 5,495, so we saved a little money.
We were able to save some money this year, because my wife received a plan at work to store the money for taxes for some childcare purposes.
I know many families who don’t have that much camp. They clearly save a lot of money. I don’t know how to survive with their children all the time. It drives me crazy and they will watch endless hours of YouTube. When I take away their devices, they just beat each other up. That’s what guys do at that age, right?
I also know many families who have children who spend more time with nanny and many weeks in the night. That is a lot more expensive. I instinctively felt that we were a bit above average in our expenses. Then I became a bit curious and I did some research. It seems thatA Nerdwallet research Says that 25% of parents expect more than $ 2,000 per child. So maybe we are in the reach of 15-20%.
If we didn’t do that much summer camp, we would probably fill the time to travel. That is much more expensive than camp, but you make lifelong memories. We are limited in how much we travel because of the amount of military leave that my wife gets. She does not have the option to take a sabbatical or unpaid leave. We would travel more if she could. In the meantime, summer is the best time for my dog board company.
Last thoughts
I have a very selfish reason to write this article every year. I can look back on the previous camps and read what I wrote. In the article of 2022 I continued with a full section over the sailing camp, of which I expected to be the highlight. The camp that I was most concerned about was the theater camp. Sailing camp turned out to be a huge bust for child 1 **. The drop-off for the theater camp was terrible, but it turned out to be a great first day. Since then, every day has improved and now he takes as many theater programs as possible.
This reminds me of how valuable summer camps can be.
It is not only something that could grow into a lifelong passion, but it gives you awareness for when it can come back to your life. Maybe KID 1 will never use an MD5 hash or sail with friends. However, it is quite possible that he is asked to play golf. I was asked a few times and I had to reject it. I have only been to the driving range a few times and nothing more than that.
* I am convinced that the summers in the suburbs of Boston were 200 degrees when I was a child compared to today. Perhaps it was when the lack of air conditioning or the fact that I now live near the coast with ocean breeze.
** It is not as if the sailing camp was bad. Kid 2 thought it was great the next year when he was old enough. As you can see from above, he thought it was great and still goes.
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