Leading children’s ministry publisher creates school-age summer day camps with an emphasis on variety and engagement
This past year, Colorado parents spent thousands of hours searching for summer day care options for their kids. Amy, a working mother from Northern Colorado, was one of them. Like many moms, she was discouraged with the choices available for her 9-year-old son, Cooper.
“I had a long list of things I didn’t want: I didn’t want him on a screen all day. I didn’t want strictly STEM classes. He’s not into sports, so I didn’t want a camp with a sports emphasis—but I did want him to be physically active. Basically, I didn’t want him doing the same stuff day in and day out,” Amy said.
She’s not alone. The majority of parents we surveyed agreed that most day camps tend to focus on one primary area: athletics, daily field trips, STEM, music, or general play time.
“For my kid, variety keeps him engaged and well-rounded,” said Amy. “Last year I ended up sending him to 10 different places throughout the summer. It was a lot of work, to be honest.”
That’s where the team at Group saw an opportunity.
“We have a long history of keeping kids engaged in meaningful activity. We know exactly what works best for kids of all ages, abilities, and learning styles,” said Joani Schultz, Group’s chief creative ofcer. “Providing that same kind of care and attention to detail was a logical next step for our team in creating Lifetree Day Camps.”
Lifetree Day Camps is a new approach to summer care that appeals to kids of all abilities and interests. With faith-based programming as a foundation, Lifetree builds its program on variety. Every week features a different theme, such as Beach Week and Glow-in-the-Dark Week, with a total of seven unique themes. And each week includes daily programming that has something for a wider variety of children.
“Kids can plug into any week or all of them,” said Sue Templeton, regional manager for Lifetree Day Camps. “We want exibility to be a key benet to parents, since we know how unpredictable and inconsistent summers can be.”
Although new to the day camp business, Group is no stranger to creating activities and experiences for kids and teens, and offering programs with kids’ safety in mind is the most important consideration.
“Our organization has been developing summer programs since the late 1970s, and kids’ safety has always been our top priority,” said Steve Kyle, business director for Lifetree Day Camps.
Lifetree Day Camps is condent that their high level of quality programming is second to none.
“Our team creates programs that involve nearly 3 million kids every summer. We’ve got top-tier music, videos, games, science projects, crafts, and other activities that kids and teachers love. Our programs have been tested and proven again and again to be engaging, safe, fun, and effective at growing kids’ faith,” said Schultz.
To round out your child’s summer schedule, visitlifetreedaycamps.com
