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.

School summer holidays are particularly long and if parents work who can take care of the children during this time? Some child care centers are open during the school holidays and are there to take care of your children of course but as an alternative why not try a camp?

This will make a pleasing change for your child and the choices of camps are varied with something suitable for everyone and are there for the entire summer holiday period. Children can spend as little as a single day or the entire summer holiday at camp, taking part in various activities which are usually scheduled throughout the day.

Camps are usually run in a structured format from morning until tea time then the children often have free time to choose which activities they want to do. The children are supervised all of the time be it structured or free time and camps will usually cater for children aged between 4 and 13 years old.

Local day camps

Day camps provide daily course or play schemes during the week in the summer holidays, they will usually offer different programs on an age basis including nursery schemes for children under the age of 5 to action packed activity courses for teenagers.

Prices vary from venue to venue but on average a day will cost around £25, this will include activities throughout the day, usually up to 8 activities will be structured over the day with some free time for your child to relax in under supervision. Activities for teens include:

• Snorkeling lessons
• Horse riding
• Go-kart racing
• Gymnastics
• Circus training
• Quad bike

Residential adventure holidays

Residential camps are becoming increasingly popular with children and teenagers during the summer holiday break from school, residential camps usually run for at least a 7 day period and most camps of this type are multi-activity theme camps, which mean they provide activities based on themes such as sport, drama, outdoor, water and games.

Camps of this type will also provide entertainment during the evening for your child such as a themed disco, cinema and karaoke nights. Activities provided for children and teenagers include:

• Rock climbing
• Archery lessons
• Basketball
• Arts and craft lessons
• Drama lessons
• Singing lessons
• Scuba diving
• Water polo
• Water basketball

Special interest clubs

For those children who are into a particular hobby or sport there are several clubs that offer specific courses for children, clubs of this type will normally take children between the ages of 7 and 16 and are usually provided for at least a week. Some of the activity weeks that clubs such as these provide are:

• Golfing courses
• Football and rugby
• Motor sports
• Pony trekking
• Science camps
• Music camps
• Swimming camps
• Art camps
• Water sport camps

Most clubs will offer package deals, for example the longer you book the cheaper the price becomes, price includes all activities throughout the day, full board and meals and snacks throughout the day, the price also includes evening entertainment.

All staff has to be fully trained in first aid and have qualifications in child care and all camps are inspected and have to meet certain regulations regarding safety. In most cases staff will have had to pass a criminal records background check and staffs who works with children under the age of 8 year old will have to be registered as child minders by law.