Happy Campers

With all the different summer camps on offer across Lantau, how do you decide which will benefit your child the most? Samantha Wong reports In choosing a summer camp for your children – with your children if they’re old enough – making sure they are goingto have lots of fun has to be a first priority. After all, they’ve been stuck at home for most of this year and they’ll be ready for some excitement. Whichever type of camp you choose, your kids will be given the opportunity to be busy and social. The idea is that they’ll be able to make new friends and, with the guidance of adult mentors, discover new things about themselves. The obvious way to go about choosing a camp is to match your kids’ interests with a course that’s available locally. And with so many different classes on offer across Lantau, this will likely be a no-brainer. You’ll find camps that allow your children to focus on everything from the environment to surfing and Mandarin. Looked at this way, your decision-making process is simple enough. Sign your children up for an activity they already enjoy and give them the chance to focus on it, and get seriously good at it. Game over! But have you considered going the other way? Rather than enrolling your kids in a course they already know something about, plump for something new and unexpected, something that will expand their horizons. Let’s say, for instance, that your kids are homebodies and, like mine, tech obsessed. Any camp you choose will encourage them to unplug and get social, but one that’s based outdoors could be the best bet. Sign them up for a sports course and you’ll see them being physically active and more than that, they’ll be outdoors, connecting with nature in some way. My kids are always saying that they aren’t interested in being outdoors, that they lack access to it and it makes them feel uncomfortable… a few sessions on the playing field could well open their eyes! To keep things interesting, there’s also the option of enrolling children in a classroom-based camp. This is going to be a particularly good bet if you feel grade points have been lost during lockdown. And an educational camp doesn’t have to be dull. Specialised, teacher-led summer courses make learning and problem-solving fun and interactive. Most summer camps last a week at most, so here’s your answer: Sign your kids up for as many different courses as you can afford. Ideally, they’ll be able to explore their favourite hobbies and try something new, while keeping up with their studies. It’s starting to look like a busy, productive and most importantly fun summer!