Family Summer Camps

"It's something that more and more camps are starting to offer or consider," Ogale says. "I think that more and more families want to spend time together, but they also want to have some structure for their children. So it's a good way for parents and kids to do an activity together, yet in a setting that's very child focused."

Not only does it help families bond, but family camp also offers some parents the opportunity to relive and share their own camp experiences directly with their children. "It's almost like a trip down memory lane sometimes," Ogale says. "Or if you're a parent, like me, who maybe didn't get a chance to go to camp (as a kid), here's your opportunity to see what camp's all about."

For kids, family camp introduces the camp experience, says Cam Green, the family camp coordinator of YMCA Wanakita, in Haliburton, Ontario.

At Wanakita, kids and adults can participate in activities separately or together, giving children the opportunity to assert their independence within a safe environment. "They get a chance to be free," says Green.

On top of all that, family camp can also help create family memories, says Heather House, supervisor of volunteer services and programs for the Toronto Zoo. The Toronto Zoo's Serengeti Bush Camp gives parents and their kids ages six and over a chance to spend the night at the zoo and to get up close to the animals. That's something that everyone in the family is going to remember, says House. "I think it's a unique experience for the family."

Photo: Toronto Zoo Serengeti Bush Camp (by Cheol Joon Baek)