All across the country, families are feeling the burden of the recession. Millions have either loss their jobs or had their salaries sharply cut. Paying even the basic bills such as house payments, telephone charges, utilities, and automobile loans is a struggle. Vacations are either exceptionally short or nonexistent. As unfortunate as it is, summer camp is definitely not going to happen.

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Something definitely has to happen though. After a year of being alone while the kids were in school, parents who usually send their kids to camp are stuck with no place to send their kids. It's not that parents don't love their children, but dealing with them alone all day for two months, that would probably be worse than giving birth to the kids again for mom. There must be other options.

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Parents can begin the search by calling nonprofit organizations to see if they are offering any free or discounted camps. With for-profit camps, ask about hardship scholarships and unpaid internships for the older children. The internship would not be about the money but about the experience. It would also look great on college applications.

Another option for saving the summer is to team up with a group of parents to do daily camps. With five sets of parents, the weekdays will be covered. Each day a different family will be responsible for either having a one day camp at their home or for taking all the children on an outing. Each family would only have a child or children in their home one day a week, and to a stressed out parent, one day is definitely better than five. Some fantastic ideas for the day camps are a hike in a local park, a field trip to either a petting zoo or vegetable farm where children can pick their favorite foods, an all day movie day, a day at the neighborhood pool, or a classic favorite, a day at the library especially when there is a children's program being held.

There are many inexpensive ways you can keep your kids entertained over the summer break. Those were just a few of them. Enjoy them all!

What to Do When You Can't Afford Summer Camp For the Kids

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