by Catherine Leahy

Created on: June 09, 2008   Last Updated: June 12, 2008

Managing school-age children during the summer months is a difficult task for parents. Long hours of daylight and good weather mean that children easily get bored and need activities that entertain them. For working parents, providing child-care is more expensive than during school term. Finding affordable child-care for school-age children during the summer holidays is a challenge that requires creative thinking and research.

St. Louis has a wealth of services to support children. The government's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department runs free summer camps including art, soccer, tennis, golf, basketball and football. Their Recreation Division operates additional summer camps and programs, free of charge, with a wide and varied range of activities that are sure to keep children of all ages entertained. These kinds of activity-centered camps are stimulating and rewarding for children and are also a healthier alternative to the TV or computer. Check out the website at http://stlouis.missouri.org/ and search for summer camps. Book early because places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

The YMCA is another source of free or affordable childcare during the summer months with a range of activities and summer camps for children of all ages, now is the time to sign up, look at http://www.ymcastlouis.org/ for more details.

The St. Louis Neighborhood Network is an organization that offers a range of summer camp activities for children at a nominal charge. They can be found at http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c/slnn/index.html. Check them out because the most useful thing for any parent is a network of like-minded people and a community for support.

Other organizations such as the after-schools services (http://www.afterschool.gov/) can provide further information and resources on other subsidized summer camps and child activities for the summer months. There are many more organizations that may help, the community resources listing on the government website is a good starting point and can be found at http://stlcin.missouri.org/resources/getresources.cf m.

However, summer camps or activities do not last all summer long and may not be the answer for you. So you need other avenues to look at for some child-care options that won't break your budget. Do you know other parents in a similar position that could perhaps share child-minding with you over these months? If you work part-time and can find another parent who does, you could care for each other's children

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