Summer camps are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Whether your child is academically-minded or after a summer of sports and activities, there are thousands of programmes to choose from at home and abroad.

Not only do summer camps provide you with some much needed time away from the kids, they help your child learn valuable life skills, develop their independence, and make friends outside of their immediate circle. And of course have heaps of fun!

There are many different types of summer camps out there so we’ve rounded up some of the UK’s best and most popular. For more advice on summer camps in the UK and worldwide, speak to Camp Experts.

Kingswood Camps

Where? Camps in North Wales, Kent, Isle of Wight and Norfolk

Age group? Depends on the camp, but anywhere from 8-17 years old

Duration? Depends on the camp, but anywhere from 3-7 nights

Activities? Plenty of physical activities, such as hiking, water sports and high adrenaline challenges.

XUK Camps

Where? Camps in Worcester, Monmouth, Suffolk and London

Age group? Depends on the camp, but anywhere from 3-17 years old

Duration? 1-6 weeks, or one day for their day camp

Activities? XUK offer a huge variety of activities, everything from cookery, to football, to circus skills. This is complimented with excursions out of camp and inventive games in the evening.

XUK offers four different camps: Activity – allowing your child to take part in a huge range of timetabled activities; Excel – where your child can specialise in a certain area (from sports to the arts); English – for English language tuition; and Day – day camps and play schemes in London

PGL

Where? Centres across the UK and France

Age Group? Ages 7-17

Duration? 1-2 weeks

Activities? PGL Adventure Holidays offer a variety of adventures: activity, adventure, creative, learning and international holidays. PGL also offer family adventures and organised group trips, for example for school trips or sports teams.

Outward Bound Summer Adventures

Where? Centres in Aberdovey, Loch Eil and Ullswater

Age Group? Ages 11-19

Duration? Choose from 7 or 19-day adventures

Activities? Outward Bound is all about teaching outdoor and survival skills – such as camping in the wild, and how to build a shelter and light a fire. You can even use an Outward Bound summer adventure to complete part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Mill on the Brue

Where? Bruton

Age Group? Ages 8-15

Duration? 1-2 weeks

Activities? There are 40 activities on offer at Mill on the Brue including raft building, climbing, camping and canoeing.

Understandably cost can be a preventative factor for some families when considering summer camps. However, if your employer offers Childcare Vouchers you can use your vouchers to cover the cost of most UK camps (they just need to be registered with Ofsted or the relevant governing body). If your company doesn’t currently offer a scheme you can recommend Edenred Childcare Vouchers to them here.