
For working parents, summer camps mean your kids are cared for while you’re at work. For work-at-home parents, it’s your salvation when your kiddos start to wear on your last nerve.
As crucial as camps are to the care of kids, they offer your children so much more than fun-filled activities. No matter if kids are studying STEAM or strutting their stuff on the soccer field, camps build skills that translate into the school year, strengthen their confidence, and expand their social circle each and every day.
While summer is still months away, it’s not too early to begin searching for a camp that’s the perfect fit for your child as well as your budget and schedule. But navigating the hundreds of options available in St. Louis is a job in itself.
Thankfully, that’s where Parkway-Rockwood Community Ed steps in. With its free Summer Expo on Saturday, Feb. 11, you and your family can explore the region’s best camps in one spot. And thanks to a few tips from Michael Seppi, Director of Community Education for Community Ed, you’ll be ready to better narrow down your choices before you step inside the door.
Simple tips for choosing a camp
Each year, the Summer Expo brings together more than 100 local and regional summer programs that serve kids from age three to 18. The Expo is free and open to all families in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Parkway West High School, 14653 Clayton Road in Ballwin.
“The Expo provides parents with a centralized place where they can go and get as much information as possible,” said Seppi. “Parents can meet face-to-face with representatives and get immediate answers to the questions that are most important to their family.”
Here are his tips for finding the perfect camp:
No matter which camp you and your child choose, the benefits to them are significant. According to Seppi, camps help minimize the summer learning loss that may impact a child’s ability to jump back into the school year. In fact, a study by The Brookings Institution found students’ achievement scores drop over the summer by one month’s worth of school-year learning.
“Kids don’t have to sit in front of a book to reduce loss,” said Seppi. “Just keeping them engaged in a variety of activities keeps their minds active and learning. That’s where camp helps – it gets them off the couch and out in the world to explore, whether they’re in a coding class or on the soccer field.”
To learn more about the Summer Expo and to see a list of exhibitors, visit www.summerexpostl.com.
Metro East mom Nicole Plegge has written for STL Parent for more than 12 years. Besides working as a freelance writer & public relations specialist, and raising two daughters and a husband, Nicole's greatest achievements are finding her misplaced car keys each day and managing to leave the house in a stain-free shirt. Her biggest regret is never being accepted to the Eastland School for Girls. Follow Nicole on Twitter @STLWriterinIL
Beautiful Forest Park is the setting for the annual free concert performed by the St. Louis Symphony, complete with fireworks to end the show.
Visit The Magic House for Toddler Time, a special early-morning program for toddlers. Children age 1-4 can take part in exhibits and exclusive interactive activities designed just for little ones. There are new themes every week!
Open Gym at Miss Kelly's Gym is an opportunity for any child to have supervised free play in the gym. They can work on existing skills, try something new, or simply play around. It is completely up to them! Open Gym is open to both members and non-members ages 12 and under.
Learn ways to nurture your baby's development and make new friends in a relaxed, supportive environment at Baby & Me, a free class offered at the St. Louis County Library. Baby & Me classes are for parents and caregivers with pre-walking infants ages 0-12 months.
The Saint Louis Science Center has expanded its Preschool Science Series to include new offerings for different age groups of young scientists. Storybook STEM is for ages 3 to 5.