With your child out of school for the summer, make sure that you fill up at least a few of your child's free weeks with day camp. Day camp can be a great way to expose your child to different ideas and experiences. Many daycare facilities run day camps during the summer time in order to serve a large population of children and to make up seasonal changes in their enrollment. Here are three tips for choosing the right day camp run by a daycare for your child.

#1 Look Into The Camp Schedule

The first thing you need to do is look into the camp schedule. Find out how the camp structures their days. See how much time the camp includes for food and snack breaks. Make sure that the camp offers a variety of activities throughout the day that allow your child to get out their energy, but also allows your child to get the rest that they need throughout the day as well.

Additionally, make sure that the theme of their camp is actually integrated into the day. If the camp, for example, is all about how to make a robot, make sure that there are activities each day that lead up to this ultimate objective. The purpose of the camp should be clear from the schedule.

#2 Find Out How The Camp Partners With Parents

The second thing you need to do is see how the camp will partner with you as a parent. Will the camp counselors that are with your child be there at the beginning or end of the day for you to talk to? Does the camp encourage communication between the counselors and the parents? Does the camp send out announcements? Do they communicate via social media? Make sure that you are comfortable with the communication system that the camp has in place. Since the day camp you are using is run by a daycare, they should already have some sort of communication system in place, which should strengthen this aspect of their camp. 

#3 Learn About Staff Ratios & Training

Third, learn about the staff ratios that will be in place at the camp; this will let you know how many adults are in charge of each child. Find out how many additional staff members will be at the camp, taking care of things such as food preparation. Next, find out what type of training and qualifications that the staff are required to have. You want to send your child to a camp where the staff have adequate medical training and child development training. Camps run by daycares have to comply with their local Department Of Human Services regulations for daycares, which require all staff to meet certain training and certification requirements and to meet specific student to staff ratios to ensure the safety of your child. 

You also want to make sure that the staff are trained in the purpose or objective of the camp. For example, if the camp is about soccer, the counselors should have training in soccer.

#4 Find Out How Your Child's Safety Is Ensured

Finally, find out how your child's safety is ensured. You need to find out what type of signing in and signing out procedure the camp has in place. Next, you need to find out how the staff will make sure that they keep track of all the kids throughout the day. You want to send your child to a daycare camp that has an adequate system in place to watch and protect your child.

Make sure that you feel comfortable with any daycare camp that you sign your child up for. See if you can stop by the daycare during their normal operating hours during the year so you can get a better feel for the staff and the environment.