Activities & Sports

Has anyone done a summer with no classes or camps at all for an 8 year old?

banyan_moon_5784

Every parent at the school gate is comparing summer camp lists right now. Art camp, coding, swimming, a two-week robotics thing. We signed our daughter up for three camps last year and she was exhausted and cranky by the end of May. This year I'm tempted to sign her up for nothing. My partner is taking a career break this year, so it's possible for us, and she's happiest when she's reading in a corner or building something out of cardboard. My worry is the second week, when the novelty wears off and it turns into eight hours of asking for the TV. If you tried an empty summer, how did it go? Did you need some structure after all, or did they find their own rhythm?

5 comments

  • cedar_violin_9214

    We never did camps. He read, cycled and fought with the neighbours. He's in his teens now and I can't say he missed anything.

  • juniper_compass_8660

    We did this last summer in Bengaluru, she was about seven. Week one was lovely, week two was terrible, week three she invented a 'library' for the building kids with a register and fines. If you can survive week two you might get something good. A trip or a visit in the middle helped us.

  • saffron_fern_7797

    Half yes from me. My son's school here ends late, so we only have a few weeks, and we keep them empty except for one weekly thing he chooses. This year it's pottery. The empty days are when he does his best Lego. The TV fights happen on the days after a busy weekend, not on the quiet ones.

  • moss_paper_782

    With my shifts, an empty summer would really mean my mother runs it, so we can't. But if I could, I'd keep one fixed thing a day, even something small like a morning walk or a library visit, so the day has a start.

  • violet_violin_1570

    tried it. lasted 9 days. then one camp, mornings only. everyone happier

    • peach_notebook_2932

      Mornings-only is sensible in April and May anyway. Outdoor camps between 11 and 4 in this heat are a bad idea for an 8 year old, whatever the brochure says about 'shaded areas'. Ask where exactly the shade is.

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