Why?
Get close to nature and one another at an old-fashioned sleep-away camp with counselors, cookouts and s’- mores. The lodgings are rustic, but the experience will be one-of-a-kind.
Smart Strategies
Check out the American Camp Association website at campparents.org for a list of accredited sites that welcome families.
Crowd-Pleasing Ideas
At Medomak Family Camp, in Washington, Maine, meals are served family- style and include a weekly lobster dinner. Mornings are generally for splitting up; while kids head off in age-appropriate groups for crafts and sports, you can try a photography clinic or guided hike. Come together again at the lake in afternoons for water sports and crafts. Evenings are reserved for team activities, talent shows and campfires. Weekly sessions run from late June to late August and cost anywhere from $800 to $1,000 for adults and kids 13 and up; $650 to $850 for children 5 to 12. All meals and activities are included. (Call 866-MEDOMAK or visit medomakcamp.com.) Weekends at YMCA of the Rockies’ Camp Chief Ouray, at Snow Mountain Ranch (near Grandby, Colorado), are action packed. There’s hiking, archery, fishing and canoeing in summer; sledding, tubing and guided snowshoe hikes in winter. Family camps are held on select weekends and include all meals and activities. On Labor Day weekend three-night packages cost $150 per adult, $75 per child; on the first weekend of December and third weekend in January, two-night packages for a family of 4 are $198 for YMCA of the Rockies members and $218 for nonmembers (for advance reservations, call 970-887- 2152, ext. 4110, or visit ymcarockies.org).
Success Secret
“Remember that a camp setting has upsides and downsides,” says Vicky Denhoffer, of Boynton Beach, Florida, whose kids are 7 and 9. “You’ll have to deal with bugs, even when using plenty of repellent. But the payoff is worth it. My daughter still talks about how Grandma taught her to hula hoop, and my son loved playing Ping Pong with Grandpa Ira.”
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