ST. LOUIS — Parents: the school year is winding down, and that means the kids will have a lot more time on their hands.
If you don't have summer camp plans already, now is the time to make them. St. Louis camps are filling up quickly.
5 On Your Side's Sydney Stallworth met with Zasmine Johnson with Blueprint 4 Summer STL to find out how their website can help parents secure spots for the kiddos in as little as 10 minutes.
“There are a lot of programs out there," Johnson said.
Before, parents would have to do a Google search or go by word of mouth, she said. But for parents in the St. Louis area, that process has gotten a whole lot faster.
“We thought if we created a website where all the information lived in one place, it would be super easy and simple for parents to find the information,” Johnson said.
Blueprint 4Summer STL is a database with thousands of camps in the St. Louis area. Just search what kind of camp you’re looking for and go.
Jasmine says there are plenty of options. “... Looking for karate, looking for volcanoes -- whatever your kid is interested in. We also know there are some things that aren’t as important to kids but are important to parents… like scholarships, before and after care, if it’s within a certain distance of her home.”
It could take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to find a camp you and your kids love. Then it’s time to get registered! “Forty to forty-five minutes to include registration and payment… most programs do it online," Johnson said.
Virtual camps are still a popular choice, even two years after the start of the pandemic. Zasmine also says more parents are looking for camps that work in elements of the classroom.
“The pandemic has been really hard on students. A lot of programs are making sure they work in academics into their programming. Whether it's reading for 30 minutes a day, or if it’s a sports camp-- reading about a famous athlete and what they went through while they’re also trying to become that athlete," she said.
Camps and childcare over the summer can really add up for parents. Blueprint 4 Summer STL tries to make sure every kid gets the chance to have the summer of a lifetime.
“What we do is really try to help make it as equitable as possible for students to attend programs, specifically in the city and in North County. This year we plan to distribute scholarships to the camps directly,” Johnson said.
There are about 9,000 camps to choose from. But those programs are filling up quickly. “At the beginning of the pandemic it was like, will I have enough students and families to fill my programming? How do we do that?" Johnson said. "Now camps are filling up quickly and at capacity. They can’t increase their capacity because there’s a lack in staffing.”
One thing Zasmine recommends parents encourage their older teens who are no longer interested in summer camp to consider working at local camps.
They can make a couple extra bucks and help ease the staffing shortage camps in the city are facing.