Want to send your kids to summer camp? There are limited options in the Sacramento area

As distance learning comes to an end in the coming weeks, parents are desperately exploring options for summer camps and other activities to keep their children occupied.

But with stay-at-home orders still in place, and concerns that the coronavirus could still spread over the summer without a vaccine, the options for organized summer activities in the Sacramento region are slim.

Large, popular summer programs like the Sacramento State’s Peak Adventures, and religious camps such Camp Shelanu have been canceled. Little Leagues and other organized sports leagues are either postponed or shut down.

The YMCA has not announced cancellations as of yet and is waiting for county officials to provide direction. Local YMCA communications director Al Goldberg said the progress in reopening the state and county may prevent the YMCA from holding camps.

“There will be a growing need for child care and camps as parents begin to leave home to re-enter the workforce and we are doing our best to secure facilities that will help us promote social distancing and gathering limitations if we can proceed,” Goldberg said in an email. “In addition, we are appealing to the Sacramento region that if they have a facility or building that will not be utilized this summer, the YMCA has the trained staff ready to go to create a safe and fun camp environment for children.”

While some restrictions are beginning to ease, parents are still mindful that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to put children at risk of exposure, whether at camps or when school resumes. Still, both parents and their children are craving things to do. Students and their families have spent more than two months in self-isolation, away from classrooms, spring sports, middle school graduations and Girl Scout activities.

Celeste Romo, a mother of 7-year-old twins, relies on camps during the summer to keep her children busy while she and her husband work. Now with the many cancellations, she’s concerned she will have little to no options.

“As working parents this is super stressful,” Romo said. “Over the summer, I was planning on doing a mixture of Folsom Parks and Recreation and private camps based on availability. And now with all of them being canceled, I have nothing. I don’t know what we are going to do.”

Outdoor camps on, for now

Tamara Geary registered her 5-year-old daughter for three weeks at Sacramento’s Fairytale Town FunCamp, which is continuing on with its program. While the local favorite camp is moving forward, the program will reduce its group sizes, implement social distancing and disinfect the grounds often.

Education and program manager Sarah Thomas said it helps that the 3.5-acre facility is outdoors, located in Sacramento’s Land Park. Thomas estimates more than 220 reservations have been made for the summer, with some students registering for multiple weeks.

“We exist to be of service to the community,” said executive director Kevin Smith-Fagan. “We really want to operate the program, but we will only do it if we know we can operate it safely. It’s a huge advantage to be an outdoor park, because we know the risk of transmission is so much lower.”

But Geary said she isn’t sure if she will still send her daughter.

“She needs interactions with kids again, and they are going to try everything they can to keep them safe, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the risks,” Geary said. “She went last year, and loved it.”

Geary is expecting a baby in August and is concerned that she could contract the coronavirus while pregnant or infect her parents, who are in their 70s.

“Overall we are a pretty healthy family so I’m not too afraid, but there are still just so many unknowns throughout this whole thing,” she said.

In an email to registered families, Fairytale Town directors said they are encouraging those who cancel to donate their tuition fees to other children and keep the non-profit park afloat.

Meanwhile, a popular summer camp at the Sacramento Zoo across the street from Fairytale Town is canceled.

“As we move to reopen the zoo we will be looking at alternative safe educational experiences that we can offer as a bridge to our new way of engaging children safely in groups on zoo grounds,” read a statement from Director of Education Ann Geiger.

Some camps are navigating through this new normal and finding ways to serve children, while attempting to address the concerns and fears of the lingering pandemic.

Jennifer Stuart, who runs a small summer camp from her home in Folsom, is starting her program one month late in July and taking extra precautions. Stuart, a former science teacher, serves no more than 12 children between the ages of 2 and 10 at You are My Sunshine where she incorporates science and art in her three hour program.

Her program is run entirely outdoors, and she is practicing the same health and safety measures she always does: Stuart sanitizes often, kids wash their hands regularly and parents and guardians don’t participate in or attend the activities.

“Kids need to be outside,” Stuart said. “There has been a lot of screen time and I understand that, no fault to anybody. I have been telling my families to take kids for a walk, ride their bikes. Sometimes we don’t understand our children are missing those friendships, and friendships are one of the ways they grow.”

Several area camps are utilizing technology to continue their popular programs.

Connected Camps offers a free Minecraft server for a kids camp and teens. Children can also join moderated summer camps designed to build tech and animation skills.

Melissa Sheridan plans to enroll her 11-year-old daughter Lindzi at Bayside’s Church Breakaway camp. The camp, which has seven locations throughout the region, will look entirely different this year as an online camp coined “Kids Camp in a Box.” The camp will offer live streams, drive-thru activities and a box of materials available for participants, including a crafts, biblical lessons, and a tie-dye kit for hundreds of elementary aged children.

Sheridans’ daughters have been participating since they were 3 and 5 years old.

“For me it’s nostalgic,” she said. “I just want to be supportive of anyone who is trying to think outside of the box, and create an environment for families and children. It’s important to keep them going at a time like this when so many things have been taken away from them.”