YMCA Day Camp for 5 Year Old

Hi T. -

My daughter attended the Day Camp with YMCA Frisco @ Corbell when she was 5. We did the aftercare and the summer camp at Corbell. She really enjoyed it and we never had any incidents even during field trips. She couldn't really swim either so we made sure she took a life jacket to Hawaiian Falls when they went. The only negative thing I can think of is when my husband would pick her up her clothes were pretty much ruined from paint, markers (she a pretty messy little girl though) most days.

Overall she really loved it. She's with the Boys N Girls Club in Frisco this year, because they are more reasonably priced.

If you have a bad feeling in your "gut", then never ignore that. I think 5 is a bit young for this type of experience and wonder if he'll be with children his own age or is it a mixed age group. The YMCA ones I've seen are mixed, and that raises a big red flag for me also.

I, too, would be greatly concerned about the water activities and would skip the camp.

I am also over protective and would not have sent my daughter to that camp at that age. I think that the two field trips could be too much.
I know nothing about the camp so I can not say anything about how well supervised he would be. Find out about counselor/child ratios.
Good luck.

Hi T.,
I'm overprotective too. I wouldn't do it. The water fieldtrips are a bit much for 5 y/o AND teenagers. I will be using the YMCA for after school care in the fall, and that's only b/c they will be at my son's school and they don't have to transport him anywhere. The world needs more 'overprotective' parents! If you need a place for him to go during the day, IM me and I'll give you the name of the dayschool our kids are at. They have some field trips, but not to water parks and the director attends with the other teachers. They are well supervised. Most of the 'field trips' come to the school so that's even better. D.

I vote no on this one as well. I never feel good about big groups of kids on field trips, much less five-year-old non-swimmers. My girls are at Little Gym camp right now and they love it. They are three and six years old. You can just call the Little Gym and sign up for two sessions to see how you like it. The kids play in the gym, chasing balls, popping bubbles and playing group games for three hours. It's great and, at five, he'd be one of the big boys there. My girls go to the one in Plano and I'm able to call the day before I'd like them to go and have had no issues.

A