Which Summer Care Option Works Best for You?

5 strategies to give your kids a fun, memorable and educational summer – while you still get work done. 

By Katie Bugbee

From September to June, your childcare is covered. Drop the kids at school and head to work. From sports practice, after-school activities or the after-school sitter you have for a few hours a day, everything runs smoothly.

That is, until June. Your sitter says she needs to be out of her dorm by a certain date, and once that final school bell rings, you have kids sitting around – waiting to be taken somewhere, played with, fed and tended to.

Here are some summer care ideas – with best practices for organizing them all in place:

  1. Camp with extended hours: Camp is a great place for kids to thrive and challenge themselves with new friendships and activities. My friend’s son “grew up in one summer” after attending a certain day camp. Needless to say, we’re enrolling this summer. If you want to do drop-off and pick-up, look for a camp that will fit your work hours. Many have extended days that go from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  2. Overnight camp: If your kids are ready, this frees up a lot of care concerns – even the weekend date-night babysitter need. Often these camps focus on a range of activities and interests, and create lifelong friendships. They tend to start at age 7 and can go from two to eight weeks.
  3. Summer nanny: A 3-month job, this is great for teachers on school break, or college kids home for the summer. Place a job post in April or May and list your needs, the qualifications and personality type you are looking for. Will she cook? Be in charge of planning challenging activities? Do light housekeeping? Many parents plan summer nannies instead of camp, but charge the nanny with planning a fun activity each day. In a way, the nannies become camp — and can include other nannies and friends of the kids in the fun and games.  Always be sure to interview your candidates, run background checks, and call references (with tough questions) before you make an offer.
  4. Part-time summer sitter: This is your part-time nanny who might help out every day, but only for a few hours. Perhaps she’s picking kids up from camp and taking them home to get dinner ready and unwind before you arrive. Or, she’s shuttling kids to and from activity and play date, depending on the day. Either way, she only works half-days or a few days a week. But she is depending on regularly. When hiring, you will want to use the same practices as hiring a nanny. Be sure to run your due-diligence and consider this someone who can be a role model, disciplinarian and general helper to your children. And if she’s driving them, be sure to run a driving record on your top candidates.
  5. Family Co-op: Great for parents who work at home and know each other well. Gather 2-5 families and set up a schedule in which you care for each other’s kids for 1-2 days a week. Enroll the kids in the same activities or camps, and share car pool duties. 
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Associate Publisher