How Long Should Sleepaway Camp Be? Full Summer vs 2 Weeks

"I bet she could do the whole summer, but I can't be away from her for that long."

I hear that from new moms more than anything else. Notice who the worry is about. It's about the parent, and it's almost always the mom, not the dad. If they're honest, and a lot of them are, they tell me the plan too. We'll do a summer or two like this, and then she'll beg to stay the whole summer and I'll let it happen.

So how long should sleepaway camp be? I've spent 30 summers at camp, visited more than 500 camps in 48 states, and now I run one in New Hampshire. I've watched kids do every length there is.

The Short Answer

Most first-time campers do best starting with about 3 weeks. A week or two at sleepaway camp is a great vacation. A full summer is more like studying abroad. Both are good. They're different trips.

The best setup is a camp that lets your kid sign up for 3 weeks and stay longer if they love it. There's no one size fits all here.

Sleepaway camp sessions run from one week to a full summer of 6 to 8 weeks, and a "half summer" is usually about 3 to 3.5 weeks.

What Is a Camp Session?

A session is one block of camp with its own first day and last day. Most camps offer some mix of these:

• 1 week. Often called a rookie week or intro week.
• 2 weeks.
• Half summer. Usually 3 to 3.5 weeks.
• Full summer. 6 to 8 weeks.

"Session" can mean six days at one camp and seven weeks at another. Where you live changes what feels normal too.

Why Full Summer Sounds Crazy

For parents who didn't go to camp, sending your kid away for the whole summer sounds nuts. I get it. My own mom said, "I would never have sent you away for the whole summer."

I think a full summer at camp is one of the only things left that gives kids independence and time away while they're still safe. There just aren't many places in the world anymore that let younger kids do that.

Some parents have a hard time with how much kids love it, too. It can't be that good for you if it's that fun. We're trained to think things have to be hard to be healthy. Camp is something kids love that's also great for them, and that doesn't compute for a lot of people.

Do Kids Get Enough Out of 2 Weeks?

Two weeks is fine. I'll admit something. If my camp switched to 2-week sessions, we'd be full tomorrow. There's way more demand for that.

We don't, because in 2 weeks I'd barely know your kid. I need the whole summer, enough repeated time where we happen to sit next to each other in the dining hall, or happen to be kicking a soccer ball around. That's how every kid gets known by name.

The parents who've done it say the same thing. "You could go visit your grandparents for 2 weeks," one mom told me. Another said, "It takes 2 weeks for the kids to start talking."

Camp is also where you learn to be friends with somebody, leave them, and come back still connected. Most of my friends now live hundreds of miles away. Camp is where I learned how to do that.

What Happens in the Back Half?

A full summer has a life cycle. Kids settle in and find their people. Then the whole thing builds toward a crescendo at the end. There's a reason campers say you can't miss Color War.

Three weeks is when you see the shift. Six weeks is when the change becomes part of who they are. We wrote that on our long session page because it's what we watch happen every summer.

Phones fall away too. It doesn't take long for kids to stop thinking about their phones. The mega-win is the sheer amount of time without them. I wrote more about that in Screen-Free Summers.

Last summer a girl came for the first half only. Two weeks in, the big news on every phone call home from her unit was whether she'd ask to stay. She asked. Her parents said yes.

What Does the Research Say?

Researchers studying camp found that the more summers kids attend, the more they grow in competence, friendship skills, and independence (Roark, Ellis and Bundy, American Camp Association, 2008). The number of summers matters a lot. That's the best case for starting short and coming back.

When Short Is the Right Call

Short is the right call for a kid who's never spent a night away from home, or a rising 2nd or 3rd grader who just wants to dip a toe in. A week is perfect for that.

The question I'd ask is whether your kid did the step before. Daycare, then a sleepover at Grandma's, then camp. A kid who's done a long weekend away is usually ready for about 3 weeks. That's the idea behind 3 minutes. 3 hours. 3 days. If you're still deciding on age, start with what age kids should start sleepaway camp.

Can Kids Start Short and Stay Longer?

At the best camps, yes. Sign up for 3 weeks and keep the door open. Your kid isn't locked into 7 weeks before they've tried it, and a kid who loves it doesn't have to leave while their friends stay.

Some directors don't allow switching mid-summer because they think it unsettles kids. That's fair. Here's how we do it. We work with families in the first half. If they say they're open to extending, we talk with their kid and with them to understand. Then the parents talk to their kid on the phone to confirm. Your kid gets a say. Nobody gets surprised.

When Your Kid Says "I'm Done"

One boy told his mom after a half summer, "I've done this. It felt like a long time. It wasn't that anything was bad." He was tired. Nothing was wrong. If you're worried about homesickness, start here.

Questions to Ask Before You Pick a Session

Ask every camp you're looking at these questions. Ask mine too.

It's not as long as you think. That's what one camp mom tells every friend who asks.

You got this,

Jack

P.S. Trying to figure out the right length for your kid? Text me at 585-451-5141.