Safety at Day Camps and Play Schemes

Day camps offer a wide range of activities for your child such as horse riding, snorkeling, scuba diving and rock climbing. All equipment will have been tested to meet regulations and regular inspections are made by independent bodies to ensure they meet safety standards.

No child is left unsupervised at anytime of the day when taking part in any of the activities and proper training is given at all times. Camps which include such activities as climbing horse riding and water sports are required by law to obtain a license from the Adventure activities licensing authority.

This means that an independent body will inspect the activities on a regular basis to make sure they meet with certain standards.

Camp Staff Qualifications and checks

Most centers which are based on activities involving sports will have official coaches for instructors and courses for young children and those under the age of 8 have to have staff that are registered as child minders.

All staff will have had to take a course in first aid and gained a certificate and all centers will have a qualified medical person on the premises. All staff working in a registered day camp or play scheme will have undergone a criminal records background check too.

Security At Camps For Summer

All camps will be set in secure surroundings completely fenced in and staff will all wear a uniform making them easily identifiable to children.

Visitors to the camps will have to pass security and must wear a badge at all times, children who are staying at the camp will have been sent a form when booking stating the name of the person who will be picking your child up from camp and requesting a signature and password, when collecting your child checks will be made with the password and signature ensuring total safety.

Food At Camps For Summer

All camps must offer three nutritious and varied meals per day as well as mid morning and mid afternoon healthy snacks with fruit juice. Your child will be able to choose from various options with staff on hand to make sure they receive nutrition with each meal, for example your child can’t just eat burgers and fries all week.

Camps: What To Tell The Center

Well before your child attends a camp they will send out a form requesting any medical information the camp should know about, for example if your child has epilepsy or asthma. They will want to know any medication they take, when they should take it and how much your child should take and also if they need assistance taking it.

This form must be handed in on arrival along with any medication which should be clearly labeled with your Child’s name, age, address and the name of their Doctor. Every site will have a sick bay with staff trained in first aid that is available 24 hours a day.

The booking form will have included space for contact numbers in the case of an emergency and this will be checked over with you upon arrival at the center.

Contacting Your Child At Camp

You will have access to calling your child whenever you wish but some centers advise against calling during the first couple of days which will allow any child who is homesick the chance to settle down.

Staff will be on hand for any child who is having problems settling into the care and will do their best to reassure your child, in the event that your child doesn’t settle down in a day or so a staff member will call you.

There are usually card telephones in the camps so it is wise to purchase a card for your child before leaving the camp this gives the child peace of mind knowing they can reach you if they need to.

Development through Play – Types of Play

Children engage in different forms of play, and while they don’t understand this categorization, it is important that parents and child care professionals do, so that they can direct the activity and ensure that children are exposed to and can learn from games. Children play either on their own, with other children, or with adults. Games take the form of activities that involve exercise and movement, or activities performed while seated or sprawled out, with limited motion. Games also include use of toys, props, imagination, and children’s tools or play-items like beads or coloring books.

Learning Through Games – Life Skills and Play

The strength, energy and fitness levels of children increase when they play in a healthy manner. Exercising muscles, developing active habits and burning up excess energy that could turn destructive are the more obvious benefits of learning through games. Play time is also a good time to teach children about life skills like good manners, appropriate behavior, obeying rules, sharing and team playing, cooperation, and concepts of winning and losing. Vocabulary, speech, curiosity, problem-solving, cognitive and intellectual understanding are some of the abilities that develop through play that is guided or planned. Behavioral problems such as temper tantrums, fussy eating and refusal to perform tasks like using the toilet appropriately or getting dressed can be solved through patient play.

Learning through Play – Tips on Learning Games

• Role playing and dress-up activities help children develop their imagination, and teach them about different roles in society
• Sorting, building and fitting shapes and blocks help children understand concepts of color, shape, size and relative concepts like inside/outside, bigger/small, above/below
• Singing and reciting rhymes and songs develops vocabulary, speech patterns and introduces new ideas
• Story telling encourages children to pay attention and to ask questions
• Painting, cutting and pasting, drawing or coloring and jigsaw puzzles develop motor skills and coordination, as well as teaching about colors, shapes and new objects

Directing and guiding play activities are an important part of a caregiver’s role. Children can often lose focus, put themselves and others at risk, or just get bored while playing. A caregiver is there to side-step these issues and lead children towards healthy development through games. A good child care professional knows when to let children play on their own, and when to control or monitor a game. A simple “What are you doing?” question during a game can lead to the child having to think through a concept, use vocabulary to explain it, and develop interpersonal interaction skills in replying.