Sending your kids to summer camp is an enriching experience for them. It can teach them all about team work, decision making and interacting with others. They get to learn new skills, and build up resilience, which will definitely benefit them in adulthood. However paying for summer camp can also be an expensive experience for parents. The average cost of a day camp is over $300 per child. If you are looking at private or speciality camps, these can cost between $500-$1000 per week. For many parents, this is a necessary cost, when they are juggling work and childcare over the summer months. So how can you make allowances in your budget to pay for summer camp?

Using a dedicated savings account 

There is no way around it, keeping children entertained costs money. When they are young, it is worth setting up a dedicated savings account kept solely for funding things like summer camps and school field trips. By paying a little into this account regularly throughout the year, you will be able to budget better for the summer months when they aren’t at school, and need entertaining. Managing your family finance can be made easy, simply by setting up a regular payment into this dedicated account. For instance, if you know that you need to pay $300 for camp, you’ll need to put by $25 a month.

Have a clear out

Part of really good spring cleaning, is getting rid of all of the clothes that don’t fit anymore, and the toys that are no longer played with. Every year, set by a weekend to have a clear out. You could decide to have a yard sale – you will be surprised how useful your unwanted possessions are to others. With the average price of a yard sale item being 85c, it could potentially make you hundreds of dollars to put towards camp costs. Alternatively, it is worth listing items that are in good condition on eBay, Gumtree, Craigslist or one of the local Facebook selling pages. Not only will you be able to make a little money to put towards summer camp, but you will be making your home more organized and tidy.

Look into bursaries and grants

Many summer camp foundations offer a limited number of grants to children that they feel would really benefit from the camp, or that have done something community spirited during the year. These grants recognize that there may be families that can’t necessarily afford the cost of a summer camp experience, but have children that deserve to take part in engaging and interesting activities. These funding opportunities are open to everybody. 

Summer camp is a wonderful and exciting experience for children. With some regular saving, your children can spend the school holidays learning new skills and meeting great friends.