Catching Fish at Summer Camp...and lots of them!

One of Camp Anokijig's most-popular activities is fishing and Little Elkhart Lake is perfect setting for doing just that.  Kids can start out small, catching pan fish and work their way up to reeling in large mouth bass the size of their thigh (or so our fish stories usually go).  Anokijig campers actually do quite well at not just fishing, but catching and our wonderful staff is there to help them every step of the way.

Some of our campers are really avid fishermen and prefer an even more involved fishing experience.  For those campers, we offer our Fishing Expedition programs.  These campers will do night fishing for bass, northern and pan fish, as well as learn how to fly fish.  Their fly-fishing skills will be put to the test when we take them to one of our area trout ponds and weather-permitting, we'll cap the week off with a chartered fishing trip on Lake Michigan, to catch the really big ones and those fish really are as big as their thighs!

It is easy to talk about all the fish your child can catch during a week at Anokijig, but is the fishing really that good?  Watch this video and decide for yourself-

A Problem Every Wisconsin Summer Camp Would Like To Have

As week four of Anokijig's summer camping season draws to a close, we're faced with a familiar dilemma for weeks five through eight- we're sold out! No matter how many times we encourage parents to register early on the Anokijig Insider or our Facebook page, we always seem to run into this same situation.

Kids come to Anokijig in the early weeks and have a blast. They end up wanting to return for another week later in the summer and those campers, combined with late registrations fill up the latter portion of our camping season, leaving hundreds of campers on waiting lists.

We do still have room in Week nine, which runs from August 8th to the 14th, but outside of that week, we're packed solid. If you weren't able to send your child to Anokijig this summer or weren't able to send them back for another week, there's still an opportunity to join us on one of our three remaining family camping weekends. These weekends are tremendous values have become an annual tradition for many of our families. For more information on our family camping weekends, please visit this link- http://www.anokijig.com/10family.htm

How To Pick The Right Summer Camp For Your Kid

Barbara Rowley recently wrote an article for Parenting Magazine on how to pick the right summer camp for your child.  As a former camper and staff member herself, Rowley knows the ins and outs of sleepaway summer camps fairly well and her insight can be very valuable to families considering a sleepaway camp for their child.

Some of her key points for selecting the best camp for your child include the following-

A History
While Rowley knows there are some great new camps out there, she knows some experts and families believe that camps that have been operating for decades, especially with the same staff, has significant meaning.  Camp Anokijig has been in operating since 1926 and our core group of staff members- Jim Scherer, Darin Holden, Don Hill & Scott Stewart all grew up as campers at Anokijig and have more than 100 combined years of adult working experience at Anokijig.  Rowley states that in today's world, a camp simply couldn't stay in business for generations if it were unsafe or suffered from poor leadership and management.

A Philosophy
Rowley thinks it's important to know the philosophy of a camp before sending your child there and she's absolutely correct!  If you are looking for a camp that focuses on sports, there are hundreds to choose from, but Anokijig isn't one of them.  The week many children spend at Anokijig will be the most active week of their year, but it won't be spent on our soccer field or baseball diamond, because we don't have either.  We do play earthball and no one plays scatterball like we do, but they aren't the focal point of our activities.  We like to tell folks anything your child can do at Anokijig, they probably can't do at home and anything they can do at home, they probably can't do at Anokijig. 

An Emphasis on Creating a Community
Rowley believes good camps think about how they place kids together to create the most inclusive experience for all.  Anokijig has more than a dozen different tent sections and cabins, which allows us plenty of flexibility for assigning bunk space for campers.  Three years may not seem like a long time to adults, but we know it is an eternity for kids.  The social experience of camping is important and we know the differences between nine year old campers and 12 year old campers, because we see them every year.  While there are plenty of opportunities for all campers to interact, we do our very best to make sure kids are comfortable with the bunkmates in their sections and part of that is grouping kids appropriately by age.  Our size still allows us the flexibility to accomodate many requests for bunkmates.

A Well-Trained Staff
Rowley feels it is important for camps to be adequately-staffed and we couldn't agree more.  She suggests low ratios of 10 to 1 for kids ages 8 to 14.  Even during Anokijig's busiest weeks, our capacity is about 315 campers.  If we were at Rowley's low ratio, we'd only have about 32 staff members to monitor all those children.  Our actual ratio is far better than Rowley's, as our cooks feed more than 400 people during our busy weeks.  Rowley also feels it's important for staff to be background-checked and have plenty of references as well.  As an ACA-accredited camp, we follow all of those procedures for staffing and have known many of our current staff members, since they were campers at Anokijig.  We also run two weeks of staff training before the first summer camper even arrives at Anokijig.

An Element of Choice
One of the great things about a summer camp experience, is that a child is free from their daily, pre-set schedules.  When they arrive at Anokijig, we evaluate their swimming ability and then ask them to select two skills, from a wide variety of program areas.  Examples could include archery, arts & crafts, woodworking, fishing, trail crafts, and sailing.  Anokijig campers will devote time each day to their two choices, but we also leave plenty of unstructured free time, allowing campers the opportunity to try out other program areas as well.  Rowley believes this structure (or lack thereof) will help your child to feel more independent, especially if they are making the choices for which activities they participate in.

A Communications Plan
Rowley believes a consistent policy on camper phone use is important, as well as making sure there are procedures in place for contacting parents about upcoming events or if their child becomes sick or injured.  Safety comes first at Anokijig and a good portion of our camper orientation focuses on safety and emergency procedures.  Although cell phones are not allowed at Anokijig (and most don't work anyway), we always have staff on duty at all hours of the day and always have the ability to contact parents whenever needed.  We do encourage our parents and campers to write letters to each other throughout the week, but we know that frequent phone conversations can actually make it harder for both parents and children to be away from each other.

A High Standard of Accreditation
Rowley encourages parents to ask camps if they are accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA), which conducts on-site visits and reviews programs, facilities, and hiring and safety policies.  Rowley claims only the most professionally run camps qualify and we're proud to tell parents we scored a perfect 100 on our most recent ACA inspection.

Choosing the right camp can be a challenge for parents, but the experiences their children will have can last a lifetime and are well worth the effort.  If you'd like to read Rowley's entire article, you can find it here- http://is.gd/bER5o

Did You Know Camp Anokijig has a YouTube Channel?

Did you know Camp Anokijig has it's own YouTube channel?  Anokijig's YouTube channel has several of the great videos you may have seen on various sites, all in one place.  We'll also be adding videos throughout the year.  If you have a favorite Anokijig video on YouTube, let us know, so we can include it in our favorites.  To visit our YouTube channel, just follow this link

Beware of Hidden Costs at Summer Camps!

Even though we're in the midst of the summer camping season, we realize parents are still looking for the best camping opportunities for their children. Some are still planning for this year, while others may be planning already for 2010.

If we could give one piece of advice to cost-conscious parents about selecting a summer camp, it would be to make sure they understand all the expenses involved in sending their child off to camp. The fee to send a child to camp can literally, be just the tip of the iceberg. At Anokijig, the current rate for our Resident Camp Program is $510 per week.

The hidden costs parents may encounter with resident camp fees at some camps include mandatory multi-week commitments. Some camps require that campers attend a minimum of anywhere from three to eight weeks (Anokijig has no multi-week requirements). That's a big commitment for a parent to make, especially if their child has never been to an overnight camp before, which brings us to the next potential hidden expense for parents.

What if your son or daughter gets very homesick and decides they want to leave? What if a family's schedule has changed and sending a child to camp is no longer possible? How much of your deposit is refundable, especially if you've committed thousands of dollars to a multi-week camp? That's an important question to ask before making such a huge commitment, because any number of situations could arise, which would prevent a child from staying at camp (or even getting there in the first place). Anokijig's $100/week deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable, but the balance of the fees are fully-refundable.

Whether you are taking your child to camp or sending them on a bus, make sure you factor in travel expenses in your decision. Travel expenses alone can often result in hundreds of dollars worth of savings (or added expense). How far away is the camp from your home? If you're trying to save a few dollars and one camp's fees are $40 cheaper than another's, will you really be saving that much if you have to drive an extra 100 miles each way to drop your child off and pick them up?

If you choose to send you child to camp on a bus, how much will it cost? Camp Anokijig's bus service runs to ten different locations in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. We offer one-way service for prices varying from $26-$47 and roundtrip service from $52-$94, based on location. Last year, Anokijig hosted campers from 23 different states. Some of those families have found the total cost of flying their child to Wisconsin and sending them to Anokijig is actually less, than sending them to a camp in their home state!

What activity fees are not included? At Anokijig, the only resident camp programs that have additional fees are some of our Arts & Crafts projects (typically 50 cents up to $3) and our Ranch program, which offers trail rides for anywhere from $10-$12. Our trading post sells some snack items and keepsakes, so most families will send an extra $25-$50 per week for their children, depending on how much horseback riding they plan on doing.

Are there any costs incurred before arriving at camp? For health and safety reasons, Anokijig requires that all campers coming to camp must have a recent physical exam. All ACA-accredited camps have this requirement, but the time and expense involved in getting the exam done before coming to camp needs to be considered.

Finally, will your child be required to purchase special clothing for their trip to camp? While Anokijig maintains a modest and appropriate dress code for our campers and staff, we do not require special uniforms for attending our camp.

We hope these tips have been helpful in your search to find the best camp for your child!