Day camps continue to be a popular March Break activity for parents and kids in Sudbury

Enrolling children in day camps and other activities during March Break continues to be a popular choice for families, despite the costs to participate.

In Sudbury, organizations like the art gallery, Science North, sports clubs, and others offer day-to-day or week-long day camps for March Break, in addition to traditional summer camps and programming.

Many of the camps sell out weeks in advance, with some having to put families on wait lists.

"Our camps are incredibly popular," said Annemarie Mantione, STEM Specialist with the Youth Engagement Unit at Sudbury's Science North. 

"We sold out this March Break with a waiting list and we also offer summer camps that are open right now for registration across 39 communities across Northern Ontario and those also often sell out."

Mantione said there are 88 children enrolled in the five-day March Break camp between the ages of four and 11. She said the theme this year is "creative building," with kids doing hands-on STEM activities that focus on building, problem solving and creating.

"Our campers have been having an absolute blast," said Mantione. 

"They've been really enjoying all the activities, getting to explore the science centres. Parents are excited about how many activities their kids are doing."

Another business seeing their camp spots fill up early is Northstar Martial Arts in Sudbury.

Northstar offers March Break and summer camps for up to 20 children between the ages of four and 12, and owner Sonia Paquette said she is trying to increase her class sizes due to more demand year after year.

"Our March Break sells out every year and then we're almost sold out for summer camps already," said Paquette. 

"So it's something I have to plan in advance. And we're trying to accommodate more kids so that we have more spots available." 

Paquette added that camps are a great way for children to learn different social and physical skills and try new things and experiences in a safe, fun environment.

Those are the main reasons many parents say they choose to keep enrolling their kids, despite how expensive some of the camps can be to attend.

Many week-long day camps can cost hundreds of dollars for the five days.

"We think this is an awesome investment," said Jessica Hall, who enrolled her six-year-old son Robin in the Northstar Martial Arts camp this week for the first time.

"He meets new people and learns new skills and for us that's really great."

For Suzanne Hallet, she said it's a worthy investment for her eight-year-old son to attend the martial arts camp, but knows the expense can be harder for some families.

"At the end of the day, we're all trying to get ahead, so I think that it's really important to keep the camps as cost effective as possible to allow access for all kids to have fun and play and learn and grow," said Hallet.

Jenny Labrosse's daughter spent a few days at art camp this week, and said when it comes to weighing costs, it depends on the type of activity they are looking at.

"It varies from household to household," said Labrosse. "If it's something she's going to like and if it's something she's interested in, then I mean, cost really isn't a factor for us."

The Art Gallery of Sudbury is one of a handful of organizations that offers individual camp days in addition to week-long programs, which can be an alternative and more cost-effective option for parents who don't want to book a full week.

Art gallery education coordinator Sarah Blondin said their art class sizes are smaller with about a dozen kids at a time, so spots fill up quickly.

"They are pretty popular. They do tend to sell out kind of fast, which is a good feeling. It means that we're doing something right," said Blondin.