Starting them young

Summertime, and the living is easy — especially when you’re a toddler. And what better way to while away the hours than in day camp, having fun with other kids. But at 3 and 4 years old, are kids too young to be off all day?

THOSE IN THE KNOW BELIEVE PRESCHOOLERS BENEFIT FROM DAY CAMP

Not at all, said a couple of Montreal moms, a day camp director, and a mother of two whose day job is to help parents find a camp that is best suited for their children. Plus, with so many kids starting off early in daycare and preschool programs, day camp is a natural progression with the added

element of lots of outdoor fun.

Happy Campers Day Camp caters to children between the ages of 2½ and 5 years old, and is located in the West Island JCC on Gouin Blvd. in Pierrefonds. Director Viki Zerdok has been heading the camp for almost 15 years, and she said while an increasing number of parents keep their children of this age in daycare during the summer months, she often recommends they try at least two weeks of camp.

“School and daycare are very different from a camp atmosphere in terms of spirit and being with young staff,” Zerdok said. “Even if a parent can do it for two weeks while the daycare is closed, it

would be a good experience for their child.”

Dollard-des-Ormeaux resident Tina Finkelstein has three boys ages 9, 5 and 2 ½. The two older children have been going to Happy Campers since they were barely out of diapers at 2½ years old. The youngest is starting this summer. Finkelstein said she used to be a counsellor at the camp, supervising the youngest age group, so she knew what her children would experience.

“That was the group I worked with and I know Viki very well, so I was very comfortable sending them there,” Finkelstein said. Putting her kids in day camp from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. gave her the freedom she needed to run errands or just relax, while the boys socialized and let off some steam.

“It’s just great,” she said. “There are very few indoor activities on the nice days and there are outings and every Friday is a theme day. For the care that the children get and the quality, I think it’s a reasonable expense in terms of what I had to pay — especially for the youngest group.” Aviva Reinitz works for Camp Experts and Teen Tours, an organization that represents more than 900 camps, teen tours, internship programs and specialty camps worldwide. Reinitz, the mother of two teenage girls, said she sent one of her daughters to day camp when she was 4, and the other when she was 3½. But camp may not be for every 3-year-old, she said. “It all depends on the child; if they are independent, then it is okay. But it is young, so if the child is very clingy, I don’t think the child is ready to leave at that time.” Reinitz said there are a number of factors parents should consider before signing up their child. “I think safety is of No. 1 importance,” she said. “Also, I look at the level of nurturing, the caring, and I look at the directors and owners. I think it’s important that they are there every day since they are running the camp. Counsellors should be trained in CPR and the ones that run the camp should have knowledge of an EpiPen, insulin or a pump. All those things have to be considered and it is important for them to ask parents all the questions, like if the child takes medications or has food allergies.” Safety and knowing that the camp directors are hands-on are just two of the reasons Hampstead resident Tiffany Pinchuk sends two of her three children — ages 5, 4 and 2½ — to Champions Day Camp, located on the College Notre Dame campus on Queen Mary Rd. in Côte-des-Neiges. “My daughter went when she was just 3½, in the youngest program at Champions: the Cubs,” Pinchuk said. “I went there as a kid and I actually worked there as a section head for two years so I knew how the inner camp worked, and I knew how amazing the camp was run. I didn’t have to look around. Once my son was old enough to go, he went, too.” She said she likes that the groups of 3- and 4-year-olds are kept in their own special area, away from the older children. “I love that the camp is gated. My son is a wanderer, especially if he knows his sister is close by. I told the counsellors that he is a bit of a wanderer, and they always made sure he was with the group.” Pinchuk’s children went to Champions, which caters to ages 3 to 14, for seven weeks last summer and they are going again this year.

“If I could send my little one, I would.”

“I think safety is of No. 1 importance.”

Aviva Reinitz