Hi,
My two boys will be in a YMCA camp in a few weeks. The camp is all day for one week. I am wondering if anyone has any advice or experiences to share with the Y? I think I'm feeling nervous about it since they have never gone to camp like this and they are only 5 and 6. I'm honestly not a very paranoid person but I'm kind of freaking out about their safety especially since I found out they will be going on a field trip to a water park one of the days. I would appreciate any advice hopefully to ease my mind!!
Thanks,
E. T.
Both of mine (ages 5 and 8) are in a YMCA camp and they love it. The counselors are very well trained and great with the kids. (My oldest now wants to be a counselor when she is a teen). As for safety, keep in mind that the YMCA teaches safety classes on a year-round basis and all of their counselors have that training.
My kids come home from camp tired and happy (but not especially clean, which I think is great at their ages.)
i sent my ss to the y camp when he was that young. it was fine. he had a great time. my sd is currently in her schools camp. they do not do nearly as much as his y camp. every week they would do a different fieldtrip. they were great about the child safety stuff. i had a great experience with the y camp.
Hi to response to your concern with the YMCA camp.I work for the YMCA and I do the summer camp program. I am not sure which YMCA you are taking your children but I can assure you that the YMCA takes the safety of the children in their care very seriously. There are many precautions that the Y takes so that your children are safe. We put colored bands on their wrists and they are asked to wear their YMCA shirts so that they can be easily identified. There is also a sticker on their back saying what group they belong to and what their name is. The counselors have a roster of their kids and have their file with them. The counselors split the kids into seperate groups and buddy them up with a friend so that they can keep track of the kids easier. Also depending on what field trip it is they also will have a meeting place and the counselors and kids will all meet at a certain place to just regroup and make sure there are no issues. Counselors are talk to the kids before they go about how important it is to follow the rules and make sure they can always see their counselor. As far as everything else at the Y camp the kids have an opportunity to meet new friends, play games, do crafts, go on hikes, swim, and just to be a kid and have fun. Counselors will keep contact with you about any concerns or issues via notes, or phone calls, even in person. Anyways I hope this is enough information to put you at some ease. If you have any more concerns maybe I can help you out some more.
My 5 year old just did the Y camp last week. I was really nervous also with the day being so long and she didn't really know anyone going in. She had a GREAT time! I must admit that I usually picked her up 1/2 hour to an hour early just because it seemed so impossibly long to me. But I think she would have been fine...it was all me. The counselors were great and she had a lot of fun!
