How Long Should You Send Your Kid Away to a Camp?

Kid’s summer camps foster independence in your children, boost their self-esteem and instill leadership qualities into them. They also expose your little ones to America’s social diversity and help them acquire new interests and skills. But to benefit from a kids’ summer program, your child needs to spend an optimal number of days in a camp. Too few days, and your child may not learn anything at all. And sending your child away for too many days is not always a wise use of your hard-earned money.

So how long should your child stay at a camp for kids? Although there are no rules written in stone, there are guidelines that can help you.

Benefits of Short Camps (2-4 weeks)

Here are the top four benefits of sending your child away to a short camp:

Convenient for Families
It is usually easier to fit a two or three-week-long camp into your family’s summer schedule than an eight-week event.

Convincing for First-Timers
If your child has never attended a kid’s summer camp, it becomes an uphill task to convince him to go to an eight-week camp. But you can easily convince him to give a two- or three-week camp a try.

Easier to Locate in your Neighborhood
It is easier to find short camps for kids in your neighborhood because their terms start frequently.

Suitable for Budget-Constrained Parents
Short camps are perfect for budget-constrained parents. For instance, Eagle’s Day Landing Camp—a popular NJ day camp—charges only $1,350 for a two-week camp but rates can climb to $4,500 for some eight-week camps.

Benefits of Long Camps (4-8 weeks)

Sending your child to a long kid’s summer camp has its own advantages. Here are the top four:

Real Learning Happens in Long Camps
It usually takes new campers 1-2 weeks to adjust to the environment in a camp. This is the period when children are nervous. Only long camps allow your children to leave behind the nervous phase, grow into explorers and learn new things.

Your Kids can Relish all Activities
Leading NJ day camps offer more than 30 activities, ranging from horseback riding to computer programming. The kids in a long camp can relish and benefit from all these activities.

Friends-for-Life are Found
Two weeks is a short period to make good friends with strangers. You need to spend morea good time to develop a relationship. In long camps your child can make friends who will be with him throughout his life.

Long Camps: Higher Value 
If you calculate daily costs, long camps are a real value. Eagle’s Day Landing Camp’s two-week program for 3-5-year-olds comes with a price tag of $1,350 but their eight-week program costs only $3,000. It means your daily costs come down by almost 50 percent.
There is no such thing as an ideal duration for a kid’s summer camp. Both short and long camps have their advantages. You should choose the one that gives your child the best chances to grow without becoming hectic or breaking your bank.

Still confused? If you live in NJ and want to know how long your child should be away at an NJ day camp, you can speak to on Eagle’s Landing at 732-821-9155. We offer 2-8 week day camps with 30+ activities on a 20-acre shaded area in North Brunswick.