Cost-Effective Summer Camp Alternatives

The economy is influencing family summer planning. Parents are deferring decisions about summer camp this year, according to an Associated Press article in the Los Angeles Times*. Requests for financial aid have increased at summer camps, and registrations have been slow. When parents register their children, it may be for shorter time frames or local rather than out-of-state venues.

Summer is a time to build memories, learning about a broader understanding of the world. Pull out the map and learn about the history of your community and county. What did we look like 100 years ago? 200 years ago? Visit some of the local sites. Go green - plan to become familiar with and use public transportation as much as possible this summer. This in itself can be an adventure. Not into self-directed projects? The great news is that there are many reasonably priced alternatives for summer camps and other activities for youth.

1. Colleges
Community colleges and universities offer a variety of programs for children and teens, which include enrichment classes, academic credit classes, languages, sports, technology, art, music, science, theater, photography, film and speech. Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove and Aurora offers programs that include "Zookeeper for a Day" and a "CSI Waubonsee" class on criminal investigation. The College of Lake County in Grayslake offers Lego^® Engineering and Robotics.

The "Kids and Teens on Campus" programs at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn and "Summer Kids' Classes" at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills are enticing enough to make a parent wish they were a kid again.

Northern Illinois University sponsors camps in speech, creative writing, film and the sciences. North Central College in Naperville offers a Radio Camp and a Computer Game Programming Camp. These are only a few of the numerous choices.

2. Local Museums
The Adler Planetarium, National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Museum of Science and Industry are just a few of the Chicago area museums that provide summer programs and can be resources for career exploration activities.

3. Other Area Resources
The DuPage County has an Animal Education Day Camp that is perfect for young lovers of furry things who are thinking of becoming an animal breeder, trainer, veterinarian or vet tech. FermiLab in Batavia sponsors Science Adventures; how fortunate those of us who live in the greater Chicago area are to have access to educational programs at world-class facilities!

4. Park Districts and YMCAs
Sometimes the best programs are literally, "in your own backyard." Programs designed for youth and teens range from sports and recreational activities to arts and crafts, all of which build strong bodies and minds. Tennis anyone? CPR training? Yoga?

5. Day Trip Options
Searching on area tourism or factory tour websites yields a bounty of choices in this category. And nearby locations are easy on the gas tank.

Fair Oaks Farm in northwestern Indiana is a mammoth, state-of-the art, high-tech dairy operation. It's been tagged the "Disneyland of Dairy" by the "America's Heartland" public television series. The Fair Oaks operation is both entertaining and educational, teaching visitors about the dairy production process "From Grass to Glass." There is a birthing barn where visitors can observe calves being born, a tour of their cheese factory, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the barns and the 24/7 milking operation, made possible by their 27,000 cows. Fair Oaks Farm is off I-65, just north of Rensselaer, 75 miles from Chicago.

Further down I-65, Wolf Park is a research and educational facility for several packs of grey wolves which offers interpretive programs on wolf behavior. Their "Howl Nights" are popular with kids of all ages. Wolf Park is in Battle Ground, Indiana, near West Lafayette, 125 miles from Chicago.

Heading north to Wisconsin, Harley Davidson, the motorcycle manufacturer, hosts factory tours at its Wauwatosa plant west of Milwaukee. Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee also has tours of its manufacturing facility.

*"Parents delay decisions about summer camp as economy weakens", by J.W. Elphinstone, The Associated Press. Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2008.

© Copyright 2008, Career Vision / Ball Foundation. Article may be reprinted with permission.

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