I’d never heard of family camp before we were invited to try it out this summer. Turns out, plenty of traditional overnight camps offer ?Family Camp? weeks. At YMCA Wanakita, which is near Haliburton, Ont., an entire side of the camp is usually devoted to family groups only, all summer long. But this year, due to COVID restrictions, the camp decided to operate entirely as a family lodge (no sleep-away camp for kids), taking over both sides of the camp on Koshlong Lake. Instead of having a bunch of kids mixing at overnight camp, the site is only open to small family pods that stick with their household for all activities and meals, essentially using the cabin as you would a cottage rental, with access to all the different outdoor activities and instructors. Family camp is also a wonderful way to expose your kids to the concept of overnight camp, if you?re considering it for next year, or feeling apprehensive. After a week of visiting with parents, kids will feel more confident and comfortable with the idea of attending solo in the future.
We went during the first week of summer this year, and it was definitely a big change for my school-age kid, who had been doing six hours of Zoom school a day. Suddenly, he was in the woods without wifi. (Sorry, buddy, no Facetiming your friends while playing Roblox, either!) Turns out, we all needed the tech detox and nature-immersion time after more than a year of waaaaaay too many screens.
What activities can kids do"
Our week...