For many parents, the end of the school year doesn’t mean the morning routine is over, as many kids go to summer camp. If your child is heading off to camp this summer, here are a few tips to make your lives a little bit easier. 

For Rosemarie Zenga of the 4Cats Arts Studio in Vimont, the most important advice she has for parents who send their children to camp, specifically art camp, is to make sure they’re dressed for a mess.

“We want them to come in comfortable clothing, comfortable footwear, whether they are staying the whole day or just half a day. We want them to really feel at ease when they’re working and not have to worry about their shirts getting dirty or their favourite pair of pants getting stained,” Zenga explains.  

Marie-Michèle Limoges operates the Cosmodome space camp, which offers a five-day summer or spring break camp as well as a sleep-away space camp for children up to 15 years old. When it comes to what to pack for camp, Zenga and Limoges both advise parents to keep their child’s electronic devices at home. At the Cosmodome sleep-away camp, electronics aren’t allowed in rooms. “At 4Cats, the children are there to be in a creative space, so they try to take a step away from electronic devices,” Zenga says. Healthy peanut-free snacks are also encouraged to help with focus and an extra set of clothes is also recommended.

“There is something really cute that a lot of parents do. They dress their kids with stars,  astronauts, or NASA. It helps them prepare,” Limoges says.

Zenga explains that since summer camp coincides with the end of the school year, sometimes parents need to sit down with their children to remind them of what is expected of them. “It’s just important for parents to know that any kind of expected behaviour they would have of their child in school, is the same kind of behaviour that should be translated here in the studio during camp,” she says. “We respect one another, we are appreciative of one another’s artwork, we don’t criticize other people on their work, or criticize ourselves on our capabilities in our artwork.”

The most important thing, Zenga and Limoges agree on is that summer camp is for the children to have fun. “We want the kids to have a chance to relax,” Limoges explains. “It’s more like having fun, doing science in a lighter way than in school.”

Zenga agrees and adds that some parents need to taper their expectations when it comes to what their kids get out of specific camps like art camps or sports camps. “You’re not being graded on this art work. We’re not going to be evaluating you. The goal is really that you’re here to learn. You’re here to have fun and to just enjoy your experience,” she says.