Over Dh1,000 per week: UAE parents question if high winter camp costs are value for money
Dubai: Parents are concerned with the price of winter camps for their children, some of which cost up to Dh1,100 per week and lasted only a few hours per day.
While all the national schools are out for a three-week winter break (December 16th through January 5th, 2025), families are trying out different camps. But the camps are too expensive for many parents to afford, and so they have tried to find other ways, like taking time off work to raise their children on their own.
Neha Bhagwat also told me that she is thinking of sending her young son to a football camp. But she doesn’t know if it’s worth it, especially since she already has a larger kid at home.
"I would like to send my younger son who is in Year 4 to the ISM football camp, but it costs Dh780 per week. But most camps are around Dh1,000-1,100 a week," she said.
"Once you’ve got multiple kids it’s hard to say if it’s worth it," said the Indian expat. "But my older son who is in Year 8 will not be going to any camp this year. Rather, he’ll be home studying and hanging out with friends in the street".
‘I want the kids busy’.
"While picking up from these camps in the afternoon can be a logistical headache on top of a busy day at work or when trying to set up a carpool system, if parents are at work, leaving kids at home with the nanny while parents work can also give way to too much screen time since they don’t always hear the help so that’s another problem. So often it is better to put them in a camp," Neha wrote.
As another parent, Sally Maddison, told me: Camps are what working parents need, but they’re expensive. "These camps are really expensive but unfortunately that’s all we have," the mother of two said. ‘I have to keep the kids busy because being at home is boring and I cannot work.
Sally listed sports, art, play and more from the local area around her home at Sustainable City, ranging from Dh165 per day to Dh715 per week for a child. "For two kids, that is not much: it’s almost Dh1,500 per week," she said. While camps such as the PlayPoint camp at a local soft play centre have a sibling discount, Sally isn’t really ready to pay for it because of the hours it’s not on school day.
"Camps are always 9am vs 8am, making the time even less. And sometimes you just don’t know if you want to send them to camp or go on holiday and take care of them yourself. But if you do, then you go out for money, because they’re always out doing things," the British expat said.
She also said most camps have some entertaining stuff going on, but nothing really like what they’re advertised about. "I picked a sports camp because I thought they’d be doing sports but they said at home they painted and they played Tag," she said. ‘I wanted more structure, because I’m paying for a sports camp.
Diverse camps run by experts
Though expensive, the range of camps in Dubai is an upside for some parents. The Russian expat Elena Tatarchuk, who has been living in Dubai for six years, pointed out how numerous camps were there to cater to different interests and ages. She also said that parents here are lucky because we have camps for every age and level of child, organised by professionals.
Elena’s considering camps for her kids, such as a creative arts camp at Oli Oli, a multi-sport camp at Sunmarke School, and the FitRepublic Camp in Sports City.
According to the JVT (Jumeirah Village Triangle) resident, the Sunmarke School camp (Dh700 a week, half-day programme) was both affordable and decent. ‘The kids are having fun, meeting new people, and getting skills for five to six hours a day,’ she wrote.
Elena is especially interested in sending her two sons (9 and 7), age 9, to the camp because, she added, it is a productive break from screen time at home. They take good care of the kids and have fun.’ After a week at camp, Elena will be taking her family on holiday the rest of the school holidays. "I’ve had very good experience with camps in Dubai and I think there’s something for everyone, sports to creative arts, it’s something for everybody," she said.
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