Top Tips for Choosing a Holiday Club

Looking at choosing a holiday club?  With such a wide choice on offer, it can be difficult to know even where to start!  Here are Raring2go!’s top tops to choosing a Holiday Club.

In a third of all households in the UK both parents work, so unless one of you is a teacher, or you have flexible working arrangements, managing school holidays can be difficult. Even if one, or both of you, are at home, you still need to keep the children occupied during the holidays; in our local area, we are very lucky to have such a great range of holiday options.

Here are some holiday options:

• Local council run play-schemes
• Managing a rota with friends to share childcare on each other’s days off
• Days out with / or holidays to visit grandparents
• All day private play-schemes – often covering the whole holidays
• Private nurseries open year round for pre-schoolers
• Holiday courses

The main trick is to be organised and think ahead. Book courses and play-schemes in advance to avoid last minute stress and get the best rates too. There may be discounts for early bookings or multi-weeks, and many will also accept childcare vouchers.

Make lists covering what each child is going to do and keep it simple so you are not running all over the place. This is where holiday clubs can hold their own as they often have a wide choice of activities, so all of the children can find something they like to do. These camps often cater for a range of ages, and group children accordingly.

Holiday Camps / Clubs

School holidays also give the opportunity to brush up on skills, like swimming, or to develop hobbies, such as dance or drama, that will often finish with an end of week show.

Here’s a brief check list to getting organised:

1. Create a list – what type of activities do they enjoy the most?
2. What will keep their interest? Is there enough variety?
3. Indoors or outdoors? This could be a major factor in your selection of holiday camp.
4. What are their friends doing? Maybe book with a friend!
5. Have you had any recommendations?
6. Do they need to brush up on any skills? Consider crash-courses in swimming, for example, or book a drama workshop.
7. Is there a club you want to try out for term time that offers a holiday scheme? You’ll then be able to try it out before committing to a term.
8. How flexible are the courses? Can you do a few days or just the whole week?
9. Is there early morning drop off and a later collection time?
10. Are the classes cost effective? Work out the hourly rate and check if they offer a sibling or early booking discount.

We are so lucky to have an amazing range of holiday clubs and camps in South West London and Surrey, so for local camps and clubs, check out the Raring2go! Summer Holiday Clubs Round-Up.  Click here for details!

Please also visit our website for holiday camps and more…