The cost of camps for the rest of the summer, meanwhile, totaled in the thousands. Kiss, who lives in Arlington, Va., took on additional credit card debt to compensate.
“You have the pressures of parenting, plus the pressures of providing,” she said, “all wound into this one thing that happens over nine weeks.”
For D.C.-area families, the first months of each year mark a mad rush to map out the upcoming summer. Parents described relying on calendar alerts, color-coded spreadsheets and shared Google Docs to stay organized amid a camp registration process they described as “harrowing.” Some likened it to “The Hunger Games” or the race to secure Taylor Swift tickets. Navigating each program’s deadlines and plotting out logistics, one parent added, “requires the strategy and organizational skills of planning a military campaign.”
While camps are simply enrichment activities for some families, they’re a crucial source of child care for many. In the D.C. region, about 51 percent of households with children under 14 have no parent available to watch the children during working hours, according to an analysis of 2022 American Community Survey data by financial research firm Smartest Dollar. When schools let out for the summer, those children need somewhere to go.
The planning process starts early, with many camps opening registration in January or February. Parents who aren’t thinking about their kids’ summer enrichment while they’re taking down their holiday decorations can find their children wait-listed or shut out of programs altogether.
Kishan Putta, who lives in the District’s Burleith neighborhood, had to send his child to a home-based day care for parts of two consecutive summers because he hadn’t started researching camps until the spring. With the most convenient and affordable camps already booked, his now 5-year-old son ended up watching cartoons for most of the day.
“He regressed a little bit and went back to his toddler days, which, it is what it is,” Putta, 49, said. “That’s what happened when we didn’t plan ahead.”
In Upper Marlboro, Md., Brittany Williams experienced a similar scramble last June. Her daughter, now 5, was on a wait list for one appealing camp and too young to participate in another. Panicked, Williams contacted a friend, who recommended a program in Greenbelt, Md. She reached the director and secured her daughter the last seat.
Williams, 36, tries to avoid experiences like that each year by making sure she’s seated at her computer, necessary browser tabs open, the moment sign-ups begin.
“It’s like when your favorite concert ticket sells or you have a presale offering, you can jump on it and do it — that’s exactly how it looks,” she said.
The urgency is a response to a system in which programs ranging from pottery camps to horseback riding opportunities often fill up within minutes of opening to the general public. Parents are seeking camps that are affordable, cover enough hours, happen at a convenient location and are likely to appeal to their children. Programs that meet those needs for many families inevitably sell out quickly.
Costs can add up fast. Spending a full summer in one of the region’s more elaborate programs can total more than $4,000 per child. D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DCPR) programs, among the least expensive options, typically cost $135 to $325 per two-week session.
At the private Lowell School in Northwest Washington, camps sold out for this summer within roughly 10 days of registration opening to the general public, camp director Dawn Smith said. The school, which has eight acres of property…
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