Kidcam Summer Camp @ Oak Mountain

★★★★Kelly Grimes

"KidCam" gets flagged on FB for key words,. w/o a direct link, you can't see the page. KidCam vs Grossout Camp @ Oak Mountain comparison: SIZE: ~70 campers, & that was full. GrossOut had ~15, 2 weeks prior. KidCam has plenty of counselors, but 70 kids is a mob. I've read past reviews saying kids are on their own but IMO that's mostly untrue. There's not as much 1 on 1 attention to each child though (see complaint below). HOURS: KidCam offers early drop off & late pickup. Grossout wasn't as flexible. KidCam's bus at the gate is nice. Seems like it could be transport for cooler activities (but didn't the week my son was there). FOOD: KidCam offers hot lunches/snacks ($6 for breakfast or lunch, $2 per snack) if you want. Gross Out doesn't. I marked off daily (at drop off) that I'd packed my son's food and snacks and every day I was billed for snacks and one day even lunch too (which he claims he didn't eat). This is not really a complaint, I'm glad there's extra food there if they need it. And if I had it to do over, I'd just buy the hot lunches. ACTIVITIES: Camp activities are similar to a really long recess/PE. That's not bad, but it doesn't feel like they take advantage of Oak Mountain as much as they could (hikes, nature center, other activities unique to oak mountain). A "field trip day" (done every week) would be nice (paddle boats? horse back riding? archery? ). Gross Out camp really leans into the fact that they're at Oak Mountain and the science aspect too. KidCam claims they do STEM programs (and perhaps some weeks they do), but I didn't see that on the agenda nor did my son describe that. I did see on a previous week where they went to Flip Aquatics which sounds amazing and wish my son had gone that week instead. Also another week that a police dog robot came to camp. SWIMMING: They DO swim, and my son LOVES swimming, but they never did the swim test, as described, so they all got treated as "non-swimmers" (shallow end, no going under-water). I imagine they just had too many kids swimming at once to try to manage the good vs bad swimmers. It wasn't as fun as it could be for my son who is a strong swimmer. At Gross Out camp they DO swim tests, jump off the pier, go under water, and generally spend a lot more time in the water to begin with, including other water games, searching for crawfish, etc.. PRICE: If you're young, KidCam is cheaper (if you drop off at 9 and pickup at 3 and bring your own food). If you're older, Gross Out camp is cheaper (if you do counselor in training). KidCam you have to watch the fees. They refunded me for the lunch but maintained that he DID eat it. They might be right, but I did appreciate them refunding it anyway. BULLYING: Saw on another review where somebody said there's bullying. My son said no way, not at all. all the kids are really nice, plus the counselors absolutely wouldn't stand for that. They're on top of things (his words). I assume they've responded to a prior complaint of that and nipped that in the bud. COMPLAINT: My biggest gripe: My son (11) was playing hot potato and for fun they'd dump pine straw on the person when they got out. So he had just gotten out and had straw dumped on him when the counselor told him to go inside (in retrospect maybe they were telling him to go inside and clean up, and he misunderstood the tone). He said he thought he was in trouble and put into timeout. He sat in there from 1 until 5 (4 hours) and nobody ever told him he wasn't in trouble or asked why he'd been sitting out for so long. I asked the counselors about it, and they just said he was never in trouble and that he would have been written up if he were. It just makes me wonder that nobody asked him why he was sitting out for 4 hours though. I mean what if he was sad/sick/etc.? He's old enough to ask questions (why am I still in time out?) and he did say he tried, but he is also shy and soft spoken, so maybe that's on him. Eager to see pics posted of the camp. No pics on Facebook and it's weeks end. In comparison, Gross Out camp posts a TON of pictures daily.

★★★★★Nick Renouff

Kidcam Summer Camp at Oak Mountain State Park was an absolute blast for my 5-year-old! From the moment we arrived, the staff greeted us with warmth and enthusiasm, setting the tone for an unforgettable summer adventure. The range of activities was incredible - from nature walks to arts and crafts, my child was constantly engaged and excited. The counselors were attentive and nurturing, ensuring every child felt included and supported. Safety was clearly a top priority, which gave me peace of mind throughout the day. My little one came home each day bubbling with stories of new friends made and exciting experiences had. We can't wait to return next summer for another round of fun at Kidcam Summer Camp!

★★kierra walker

Do not send your 5 year old here. I sent my son, hoping he would have fun and get some independence. He got independent alright! They did not watch after him. He lost something everyday and it was big things that a counselor should notice if they were indeed watching the children. Every time I picked him up he was not being watched by any adult. All the adults were walking around talking to each other. One day he was walking around in the parking lot by himself when I picked him up. He was punched multiple times by a big kid. They don’t take any pictures even during the special activities but lied and said it was on the fb page. They haven’t posted on their in a whole year. They charge a lot to join the camp but then charge for every little thing each day. They say there’s fishing but forget to tell you there is no fishing until Aftercare which is dumb. They broke my son’s brand new fishing pole and gave it back that way. They allowed him to get the sharp hook out and cut himself and lose it. If you send your child, just know they are out there on their own. I gave it a 2 because he did have fun as much as he could. Kids love unstructured stuff.

★★Taylor

Good Program) When entering into the camp program it appeared the kids enjoyed themselves and I didn’t have a complaint at the time. I am not sure of all the counselor ages “middle school” or if they’re experienced with children, and that is important. My 5 year old had to have an incident report documented due getting the counselor attention by tapping or touching her hip or bottom. I did not agree with that. I recommend the counselors are experienced with children, and know the ways of an adolescent. I would recommend only if the counselors are experienced or able to shadow experienced head counselors.

★aheil78

If I could give zero stars I would. My kids attended the camp in Kennesaw, Ga and probably the worst experience ever. My kids are seasoned with going to camps, for years I have rotated them around various camps each week every summer for a variety. If really enjoy one, send them there for a couple of weeks. This camp, after day one, my kids were begging me to not make them go back. They said counselors yell non stop, withhold activities from kids doing it (that we paid for them to be doing), they used scare tactics and threats if miss behaving. My kid said he was so terrified I was going to be mad at him if he did anything as the counselors kept threatening to call parents, telling them your parents are going to be mad at them as they will get kicked out of camp. They were punished from participating in activities based on the kids behavior from the previous week!! They weren’t even there. They said they had to sit with their heads down on tables for long periods of time and again entire group had to even if they were not apart of the problem. Then the worst part is they made the kids pick up trash in the morning from the fields after the University students had been using the field the night before. I am all for kids cleaning up their messes but they should do it at end of their day not next day after college kids trashed it. They were forced to pick up used mouth guards!!! With no gloves ! My kids felt like they were at a prison camp. I even pulled them out early. Will not be back and encourage others to not send their kids either.