It’s February and that means Irish parents are concerned about cold and flu season, storm days and … reliable summer camps?
Thousands of families who need childcare during the summer holidays are already stressing about limited spots — and some are spending thousands of euros to secure only a few days in a summer programme.
Smaller local summer camps are still hugely popular but parents are increasingly looking for more from their child’s time away from school. They are keen to book into camps that foster academic potential, help their children to learn a new skill, or develop life skills and a new friendship group. These more exclusive camps book up fast and come with a high price tag.
Residential summer camps are on the rise in Ireland with a number of options to allow children to fully immerse themselves in their chosen activities. These camps are often hosted at private schools that are empty for the summer months, where the children are well looked after 24/7.
The Teenage Stage summer camp (teenagestage.com) offers “musical theatre” and “film-making and acting for the screen” options for the budding Paul Mescals and Saoirse Ronans in the family. The fully immersive camp takes place in July at Clongowes Wood College in Kildare and costs €885 for a week.
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Another residential option, also hosted at an exclusive boarding school, is Inside Out (insideoutcamps.ie). With the tagline “fun, friendships, adventure and discovery” for youngsters aged 12-15, it takes place in July at St Columba’s College in Whitechurch, Dublin. The emphasis is on self-development and communication for attendees in the “unplugged” camp. It costs €650 a week.
Killary Adventure Centre in Connemara (killaryadventure.com) also offers residential summer camps — for children aged 10-16 who are interested in “multi-activities” and for teenagers aged 14-17 who want to explore the wilderness, offering camping and more. A week-long camp here costs €768.
The Connemara Maths Academy (connemaramathsacademy.com) is a popular residential summer camp with outposts in Tipperary, Mayo, Down and Louth. It is about more than just mathematics, with a focus on Steam (science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths) workshops in the mornings, and adventure and team sports in the afternoons. A six-night stay in the Tipperary camp costs €959.
One offering that is not residential but hugely popular nevertheless, booked up in record time each year, is the King’s Hospital School summer sports camp. This camp, which runs throughout July and August at the Palmerstown school (kingshospital.ie) in Co Dublin, is suitable for children aged 6-12. It aims “to provide a fun-filled camp while encouraging your child’s competitive spirit within their own age group”.
A wide range of sports is incorporated, including GAA, swimming, hockey, tennis and tag rugby, with an emphasis on healthy lunches and snacks; parents can even pay extra for a hot meal for their child. This costs a much more reasonable €150 a week and the hot meal option is €35 a week extra.
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If academic skills are high on the agenda, there’s a plethora of other options nationally. Euro Languages College (elc.ie) has non-residential language courses in Spanish, French and German for Junior and Leaving Cert students.
Colaiste na bhFiann (cnb.ie) offers that traditional rite of passage for Irish youth — the Gaeltacht summer — with immersive two and three-week residential courses in Galway, Meath and Donegal.
Parents interested in keeping their children’s brains engaged during the holidays may investigate the likes of Summer Scholars at DCU’s Centre for Talented Youth (dcu.ie). Open via application for secondary school students, its mix of “new academic challenges and fun times” offers a glimpse into college life for older teenagers.
Children into technology are catered for by both Techkidz (techkidz.ie/summer-camps) and Whizzkidz (whizzkids.ie/summercamps), which have camps nationally throughout July and August. The camps are geared towards developing children’s digital skills in a fun and entertaining way.
Science genius on your hands? They will appreciate the Anyone 4 Science camps (anyone4science.com) held at the TU Dublin campus in Grangegorman from late June onwards. A range of camps caters for children aged from seven and older, including one that blends the scientific and literary worlds by conducting experiments inspired by Roald Dahl’s fantastical characters and stories.
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There are plenty of activity-based camps too. Sport Ireland (sportirelandcampus.ie/kids/kids-camps-2024) runs an array of summer camps for children aged from nine, including a multi-sport one, gymnastics, diving and more.
The Carlingford Adventure Centre (carlingfordadventure.com/summer-camp) offer both residential and non-residential camps for juniors (aged 6-9), seniors (10-17) and even families, with activities such as kayaking, ziplining, archery and laser combat in the mix.
Children interested in learning a new skill while spending time outdoors, without having to run, jump or chase anything, should look no further than the School of Irish Archaeology (sia.ie). It runs camps at several locations around Dublin in July and August for children aged 7-12 — and promises to “introduce children to the mysteries and adventures of our past in a fun, practical and hands-on way”.
The worst thing, of course, is your child having their heart set on a summer camp only to find that it’s been booked out. In that respect, it’s a good idea to plan ahead for the more popular camps, including the national Let’s Go! camps (letsgo.ie/summer-camps), which cater for children aged 5-12.
Lego has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years — as the queues at its new Irish shops at Christmas have attested to — so expect the Lego-based camps Bricks4Kidz (bricks4kidz.ie) and LearnIt (learnit.ie) to fill up quickly.
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Similarly, the Designer Minds camps (designerminds.ie), which emphasise learning through Steam subjects, are always popular but they don’t go on sale until April. Meanwhile, last year’s Rockjam (rockjam.ie/camps) summer camps for aspiring musicians, with locations across Dublin, sold out completely.
