Children's camps abroad

For almost a hundred years in our country, the tradition of sending children for the summer to rest somewhere far from home has remained popular. The budget option of such an idea would be a trip to the village to the grandmother, but this is only a minimal outdoor recreation. At the same time, there are special camps where the child can not only rest, but also take advantage of other advantages that will make his summer unforgettable. Nowadays, such institutions are ready to accept children from all over the world, so you can send a son or daughter even for the border.

Children's camps are not the only way to spend the summer, so it’s worth considering separately why they remain in demand for long decades. The fact is that they have a number of different advantages:

• Any modern camp offers a certain organization of free time under the guidance of educators and teachers. This means that the child will not hang around without work and will not even spend the whole summer at the computer - on the contrary, they will take something really interesting that will help him to distract from the gadgets. Now there are even themed camps. For those who are closer to a certain sport (or creativity), the possibility of in-depth study of foreign languages with carriers.
• In the camp, children are in the company of their peers, in a wider circle - in the company of children of a different age. Live communication contributes to the expansion of horizons and the acquisition of new acquaintances, as well as getting rid of the complexes.
• All children strive to be independent, but often this happens only in words. Staying in a camp without parents will surely help the children to gain a certain independence.
• Active games organized by camp staff in combination with monitored meals will definitely contribute to the health of the child. In addition, such facilities are usually located in environmentally friendly places, which in itself is useful for children from industrial cities.
• The camp will also monitor the moral status of the child. Firstly, there he will not fall into bad company, which could happen to him at home. Secondly, the charge of positive emotions will allow him to continue his studies more confidently after the end of the summer holidays.

In the end, there is another plus. Parents sometimes want to remember youth and relax without children, because summer is also a time for holidays. In this situation, the camp will be the best answer to the question of where to put your baby.

The minimum tasks of the camp include watching the children, as well as organizing their leisure time. If in inexpensive institutions the entertainment-training program can be quite primitive, then in a good thematic camp counselors will make sure that the program is interesting, exciting, and quite unusual. Restaurants for children's activities can be divided into many varieties, but from the unusual and quickly gaining popularity, we highlight the following:

• Camps with learning English. Speaking about the main benefits of a foreign camp, this is the practice of a foreign language. Today, the main international language is the same English, which children still have to learn in school. To communicate with peers will have to use it.This is perhaps the only way to make the child really interested in learning, because he will not even perceive it as learning.
• Health camps. Nobody has canceled the classics - rest with the purpose of restoring and strengthening health. A trip to other countries is good because there may be found conditions that are not in the usual places. It can be pure alpine air, sunny Mediterranean coast. Although we have mountains and the sea, it is not a secret for anyone that it can be better.
• Volunteer camps. This option is well suited for active teenagers who already understand that they would like to do something useful. In such institutions, children are taught to work, but without excessive zeal. Vacationers here can take part in various types of social events - and at the same time learn how to benefit society.

Abroad, the practice of children's camps is not as common as ours, however, the approach to organizing there is completely different. In our country, most of the camps are a relatively small recreation center with fairly modest opportunities, while abroad can create huge international centers aimed at the full development of children during the summer holidays.

Such centers represent several thematic camps, united in a single whole. This allows the child in a short time to try different activities - and decide on what he likes more.

Due to this, experiencing the need for everyday communication, the child will be able to significantly improve their knowledge in this area, as well as learn a lot of interesting things about other countries.

If you really want your child to have positive memories of the time spent, you should pay considerable attention to choosing a particular organization, otherwise the effect may be completely opposite. Here are some simple tips to help you avoid mistakes:

• Do not postpone the choice to the last moment. First, in order to find a standing camp, it is advisable to look through more than a dozen options. Secondly, all really good trips are bought up for many months in advance.
• It would not be superfluous to discuss the options under consideration with the child himself. Ask what's interesting to him - maybe he is afraid of going to a company where everyone speaks only English, but agrees to do this for the sake of the daily game of volleyball. Now there are organizations even with a very narrow orientation. You can find places of recreation with such rare areas as golf, horse riding. By the way, a good argument in favor of choosing an institution will be the presence of a companion familiar to the child, the two with whom they adapt faster and easier to new conditions.
• Get a clear idea of ​​where you plan to send your baby. As a rule, well-known organizations are not in vain at the hearing - they provide good conditions, but you can find a less popular camp, which in this case will not be worse. From the minimum - well study the site of the organization, look at the photos, read reviews, do not hesitate to call the organization and ask any questions of interest. Specify the specifics of nutrition (especially if your child needs something unusual) and the daily routine. Make sure that the rooms are comfortable, and there are enough playgrounds in order not to stand in lines to them.
• If there is such an opportunity, ask about the skills of counselors - at least where and on what system they are recruited. In the best institutions of the world, an ordinary counselor can give a child much more than an average school teacher. Checking this remotely is quite difficult, but still ask what the camp can confirm the high qualifications of its employees.

It all depends on what kind of camp or center you have chosen, where you found it at all. The easiest way is if the institution has been advised to you by good friends who have already sent their children there and are satisfied - then they will also tell you where to get the desired ticket.

Another option - if the camp was found on the Internet. Then, most likely, you must have found their website and studied it in detail, and it is there indicated how to get into it. This can be either an online form to fill out, or just contact phone numbers that allow you to contact the administration and resolve this issue.

Many tour operators also offer trips to major international centers. Such cooperation is mutually beneficial, since it allows customers and recreation centers to quickly find each other, and experienced employees of travel agencies will certainly orient in the selection of the camp faster than the parents who are doing this for the first time.

In addition, registration through the tour operator is also good in that the company will certainly help with compliance with the numerous formalities necessary for sending a minor abroad - in particular, he will issue all the documents correctly and organize the proper support.

Preparing a child for the trip should be no less careful than choosing a place to rest. Get in touch with representatives of the host country and ask what they would advise to take with you on the road. In any normal thematic camp, they will be given everything they need (except for clothes), but still, such moments should always be clarified.

A simple example: if the recreation center is located on the sea, then surely there are lifebuoys, and it’s not a problem to pick one up on the spot, but in the camp in the mountains you may not find suitable equipment specifically for your child, since it is chosen strictly according to size.

In any international center there is a good first-aid post with qualified personnel and medicines. If a child needs some special medicines, it is better to give them with you - it may not be in place. In the end, on a long journey do not forget to provide your child with food and drink (or also some kind of entertainment).

Consider the psychological state of your child - especially if such a journey is the first in his life. Anyway, adaptation in completely new conditions is not an easy process - even for those who go through it in a matter of days or hours. For some children, the adaptation may be delayed so much that they never feel like their own, and then a good rest will not work at all.

Explain to your child well that he is going there to rest and relax, that he himself is interested in coexisting peacefully (and even be friends) with his peers. Do not be afraid to meet and communicate with others.

Provide that the child may become sad away from home, so find a way to contact him (if not every day, then at least every few days). Do not forget: if the child turns out to be hard abroad, it is unlikely that it will be easy to take him out of there before the time.Before booking a trip, think about whether your baby is ready now to live very far away from his parents, in the company of peers and educators alone, for several weeks.

Judging by the feedback left by parents on various thematic forums and websites, public opinion about foreign camps for children is much closer to positive than to negative. Separate negative reviews are also observed, but they are usually caused by the wrong choice of a place to rest. In such cases, either the camp profile is chosen incorrectly or the camp itself is of a very mediocre level. There are also negative opinions related to the fact that the child was never able to make friends during the holidays, but again this is a problem for individual children, and not for international camps in general.

As for the most famous recreation centers for children abroad, they consistently collect only positive reviews.

Slightly less popular, but Montenegro, Malta, Greece, Cyprus and even the USA are also quite in demand.