Get Your Kids Out of the House
TO ADVERTISE CALL 813-501-4894 | VOLUME II • ISSUE IV | LUTZ MAGAZINE | 19
BY SANDY PARRISH
As a parent, you’ve probably become accustomed to seeing
your child’s face illuminated by that bright blue glow from their
electronic devices. But as we know, all that sparkles isn’t gold.
As summer camp season approaches, parents can give their kids
the gift of being unplugged and out in nature. Is it hard to imagine
your child disconnected from their cell phone or tablet? Luckily, most
summer camps require kids to check all electronics at the door, so this
time you won’t have to be the bad guy.
Many adventure camps are nestled right in our own backyard,
offering outdoor fun ranging from highly specialized sports programs
to horseback riding at a nearby dude ranch. Others provide rock wall
climbing, ropes courses, hiking, paddle boarding, sailing, kayaking,
and many more physical activities.
Getting out of a sedentary comfort zone helps children develop
healthy risk taking skills where they practice taking new steps in a
safe, structured and supportive environment, while being cheered on
by their peers. There’s nothing more freeing than getting out of your
mind and into your physical body where you have only one option - to
actually be in the present moment.
Different types of camps are available including partial or full
days locally, or sleepaway camps. In addition to offering the same
perks of a day program, sleepaway camps deliver their own unique
individual responsibility. This principle is paired with the development
of a strong sense of community and teamwork, while immersed in a
new environment free of established habits, patterns or thinking.
Some parents get anxious sending their little ones out of town for
a sleepaway camp, however the kids are usually chomping at the bit to
go. Many camps offer family weekends where you and your kids can
go for a weekend either to take a camp tour or sleep over to have the
experience that your kids would enjoy. Visiting the camp ahead of time
makes kids more comfortable when it’s time to check in because they
are already familiar with the staff and camp grounds.
Regardless of the location, when kids arrive home from a day
at summer camp, they often talk non-stop about how much fun they
had and the new friends they made. Many parents are greeted by
extraverted than when they left home. Camp offers kids a refuge from
any preconceived notion of who people think they are, at school or at
with new possibilities. This encourages kids to safely stretch their
wings a little at a time, resulting in great leaps in personal growth and
This Summer
Here are a few of the tips offered by The Florida Department of
Children and Families for considering a summer camp program.
√ What are the program’s health, safety and nutrition procedures?
√ Ask about the sign-in and sign-out policies, medication and discipline
policies, lifeguard certification and water safety, field trip and transportation,
handling of sick children, and missing children policy.
√ Is the staff screened? Has everyone in the organization been
fingerprinted as required by law? Has the camp conducted a check of local
law enforcement records, national and statewide criminal history check
through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Florida Department of Law
Enforcement for all of the staff and volunteers?
√ What are the staff-to-child ratios and group sizes of the program?
Florida’s maximum staff-to-child ratio for school-age children is 1-to-25.
National quality standards recommend between 1-to-8 and 1-to-15 for
children age 5-to-teens, and group sizes should be no larger than 30.
√ Is the staff well-trained? Ask about staff experience and education in
early childhood, school-age care, recreation, serving
children with special needs, CPR, first aid,
lifeguarding and if they are appropriately
licensed for transporting children.
√ Is the program licensed or
accredited? These are not required,
however licensure and accreditation
ensure that basic health and safety
standards are met and often requires
meeting additional quality standards.
√ Are parents welcome to visit?
Are family activities offered? Day
programs should be accessible and
welcoming to parents at all times.
√ Quality programs provide more than
continuous free play. Ask to review a typical
lesson plan. Plans should be consistent with the
philosophy of the program and should include indoor,
outdoor, quiet, active, staff-planned, child-initiated and free choice activities.
√ Outdoor programs should include indoor or sheltered areas for resting,
respite from the sun and to use for bad weather days.