Kids Summer Camp - sleep away camps

[ExtraSlow]

Another for the parenting sub-forum:

I'm pretty familiar with all the in-town summer camp options, but looking at one or two sleep-away camps this year for my kids. Lots seem to be run by church groups, which is fine as long as they are low-key religious. Anyone have suggestions or thoughts?

[ExtraSlow]

We were looking at the boys and girls club "camp adventure" but they are not running it for 2019.
We are investigating YMCA Camp Chief Hector camps, which seem pretty cool: https://www.ymcacalgary.org/camps/ca...hector/summer/

[Buster]

Is it too late to book for Camp Chief Hector?

[AndyL]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Is it too late to book for Camp Chief Hector?

Is the child over 12months? Lol I think that was the waiting list start date

Renfrew United Church (old Calgary airport airport area) ran a really nice one up by water valley/sundre. Not religious other than grace before meals.

[ExtraSlow]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Is it too late to book for Camp Chief Hector?

Not sure, if you haven't been there before you have to register by phone, and only on weekdays. It might be, as registration opens in November.

Also, I hate how early you have to plan your summers with these camps. How are people supposed to know their plans ten months ahead of time?

Would love to hear some more options.

Have heard good things about the Blue lake" camp pu on by the columbis valley outdoor school. Pretty far from town, but I'll find out more. http://columbiaoutdoorschool.com/4-day-camps/

[ExtraSlow]

Following up on my own inquiry, there's another to add to the list. Camp Cadicasu. https://cadicasu.com/traditional-summer-camp-alberta/
It sounds pretty great, and it's not that far away, which is handy.

[xrayvsn]

Our kids have been to a few different ones over the years including Cadicasu and SABC. Both of those are Christian camps, so there is some religion in each. Of all the camps, they have loved SABC and keep wanting to come back to that one. It’s become a summer tradition for my kids.

https://www.sabc.ca/

[ExtraSlow]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Our kids have been to a few different ones over the years including Cadicasu and SABC. Both of those are Christian camps, so there is some religion in each. Of all the camps, they have loved SABC and keep wanting to come back to that one. It’s become a summer tradition for my kids.

https://www.sabc.ca/

Do you find one more religious than the other. We're athiests, and while learning about and respecting peoples religious is important to us, we aren't hoping to have religion be a major component of our kids summers.

[Tik-Tok]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Also, I hate how early you have to plan your summers with these camps. How are people supposed to know their plans ten months ahead of time?

It's the Calgary way. Sign up for anything and everything, then cancel what you aren't going to go to at the last minute.

[AndyL]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Is the child over 12months? Lol I think that was the waiting list start date

Renfrew United Church (old Calgary airport airport area) ran a really nice one up by water valley/sundre. Not religious other than grace before meals.

Sorry even I couldn't find the name - it's "camp kasota"
https://campkasotawest.com

I may have to look at sending the apprentice there since he's eligible!

[ExtraSlow]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Is it too late to book for Camp Chief Hector?

Just to follow up on this and to help anyone else out, I had a chat with the Camp Chief Hector folks this morning. Not every single week is full yet, but most of them are for most ages. If you want two kids in different age ranges to go on the same weeks (which is my preference), you really need to be registering in November, or early December. They release the schedules for the various age ranges sometime in October each year, so calling then to get a heads up on the dates is apparently a good idea.

I think this means I'll never try to use this camp again, I just can't see a year where I'd know my plans that far ahead. I'm sure the camp is great.

[xrayvsn]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Do you find one more religious than the other. We're athiests, and while learning about and respecting peoples religious is important to us, we aren't hoping to have religion be a major component of our kids summers.

Of the two, I would say SABC is more religious focused than Cadicasu. You won’t be able to avoid it completely though. In fact, it is going to be very challenging to find an overnight summer camp that is not church affiliated. I think it is just the nature of how the funding model works. Either it’s a church based organization, or rarely another nonprofit

[Perfect Dark]

My daughter and her friends go to Pioneer Ranch out at Sundre/Rocky Mountain House (age dependent). It's primarily a horse riding camp but lots of other outdoor activities included.

While there are religious bits it's nothing too crazy from what my daughter tells me.

https://www.pioneercampalberta.ca/

[ExtraSlow]

Well, we signed up for camp cadicasu. It seemed like a nice combination of 1) available, 2) beautiful setting and 3) less religious. We'll see how it goes.

[Masked Bandit]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Following up on my own inquiry, there's another to add to the list. Camp Cadicasu. https://cadicasu.com/traditional-summer-camp-alberta/
It sounds pretty great, and it's not that far away, which is handy.

Cadicasu is pretty low key on the religion. We're in the same boat as you (non-church people) and our kids have gone twice, said they enjoyed it a lot and not too much "Jesus talk".

[jake1er]

My wife went to Chief Hector as a kid and then worked there in her teenage years. She still talks about it all the time and she met lots of her closest friends there. I think it would be a really good fit if your kid is outdoorsy or you'd like them to up their confidence level in that area.

[aaronck]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Sorry even I couldn't find the name - it's "camp kasota"
https://campkasotawest.com

I may have to look at sending the apprentice there since he's eligible!

I second Camp Kasota West- My daughter went there last year for the first time and loved it- also reported almost zero church content...