Kids camps in Geneva 2025 - 3 yo

In Geneva, kids camps offer a dynamic blend of language learning and recreational activities. Language classes, ranging from 5 to 25 hours weekly, are often complemented with specialized subjects like mathematics or physics, taught by experienced professionals. Typically based in private Swiss boarding schools, these holiday schools provide high-quality educational experiences.

Mornings are dedicated to language classes, followed by an array of leisure activities. Winter camps feature popular sports like mountain skiing and snowboarding, with professional instructors ensuring even beginners enjoy the experience. In summer, activities expand to include hiking, glacier walks, swimming in pristine lakes, and traditional sports such as tennis, football, and cycling. Springtime in Geneva uniquely combines the allure of both winter and summer camps, offering skiing in the mountains and outdoor activities in the warmer foothills.

Excursions are a highlight, with visits to ancient castles, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the UN headquarters in Geneva, and the famous Cailler chocolate factory.

Sian Thomas

International Student Recruitment Specialist at Inspired Education Group

What is the camp's philosophy or mission, and how does it guide the program's activities?

Our camp's mission is to provide a fun, educational, and culturally enriching experience for campers. We prioritize personal growth, teamwork, and global awareness through a variety of engaging activities and excursions.

The cost for summer language camps in Geneva ranges from 1,500 to 4,000 CHF per week, covering foreign language study, accommodation, meals, and entertainment. Factors influencing the fee include:

• The number of language classes and course intensity.

• Seasonality.

• Duration of stay.

• Accommodation type.

• Location of the camp.

• Additional options like individual classes, excursions, and transfers.

Choosing Geneva for holiday schools offers multiple benefits:

• Safety and ecological consciousness.

• Opportunities for language learning and sports activities.

• Varied programs including advanced language courses, intensive sports, fashion and design, art history, and painting.

Students are grouped based on language proficiency and interests, ensuring a tailored experience. Accommodation options vary from university or school residences to host families, with typically 2-4 bedrooms and full-board meals. Day camp options allow children to spend time with their families in the evenings and weekends.

Geneva's camps provide a comprehensive program that includes sports, entertainment, and excursions, ensuring a well-rounded and memorable experience for children. Whether it's football, volleyball, horse riding, or winter sports, there's something for every interest, making holiday centers in Geneva an ideal choice for enriching school holidays.

Lack of Short-Term Linguistic Programs

More than ¾ of the programs offered by schools, camps, and educational centers are geared towards those residing in the country, planning to move here permanently, or already working or studying in Switzerland. These programs are designed for long-term stays, and many summer language courses in Geneva are oriented towards day attendance. Only a few camps offer accommodation along with lessons.

Dialects

Swiss French resembles Languedoc French and sometimes Burgundy French; it is less similar to German — it sounds much like the complex Alemannic dialect, which can be difficult to understand.

Lack of Live Interaction

In Switzerland, nearly everyone speaks German — about 70%; French is also fairly common (~50%). However, almost everyone in Switzerland speaks English fluently or quite well, often more clearly than in their native language.

High Costs

Everything is very expensive in Switzerland: food, transportation, accommodation, and education. For example, a one-bedroom apartment in Geneva costs twice as much as a similar one in southern Germany, or 30-40% more than in southern France. It’s important to pay attention to the rental agreement conditions: if utilities are not included in the price, this will automatically increase costs by 20-30% in the summer and by 40-50% in the off-season. However, this does not apply to summer camps with boarding accommodation.

Switzerland offers various types of camps for children and teenagers, but the majority are aimed at the age range between 5 and 17-18 years (although there are camps for younger children as well). In the canton of Geneva, French is typically used as the working language, but there are also German-speaking, English-speaking, and bilingual camps.

Summer camp sessions usually start in early June and run until the end of August. During the winter, existing camps offer both short-term programs for the Christmas holidays and longer programs lasting several weeks or even months, which allows for a good grasp of a foreign language.

There are several main types of camps:

Day Camps

Children’s recreational and educational organizations for younger and middle school-aged children. They operate from 8 AM to 4-6 PM: children need to be dropped off in the morning and picked up in the evening. They often work closely with NGOs and public, religious, cultural, and sports organizations.

The main advantage is the low cost: suitable programs can be found starting from $200-250, which usually includes two meals a day and medical insurance (quite beneficial — often even covers dental services). However, this affordability is often offset by the need to find an official guardian for the child or to use an agency providing such services (~$2500-4000/month, depending on accommodation conditions).

Typically, these camps offer electives in areas such as:

- Visual arts (drawing, ceramics, sculpture, or graphic design),
- Music (from vocals to various musical instruments, choir),
- Performing arts (drama, theater),
- Sports (usually football or athletics, but some offer less common sports).

Additionally, students visit museums and exhibitions, and may go to a zoo or a nature reserve where animals are kept outdoors.

Overnight/Residential Camps

Similar to day camps, but oriented towards short-term stays. These are camping experiences. Typically, sessions last from 3 to 7 days. Some camps offer thematic sessions or focus on specific areas such as science, history, folklore, archaeology, etc.

Children are supervised by specialists and can seek medical or psychological help if needed. Meals are provided three times a day. For camping, sleeping bags and warm clothing, trekking shoes, and other outdoor gear are necessary, while tents are usually provided by the camp administration.

Scouting Camps

A more advanced version of a regular overnight camp, where the traditions of the scouting movement, which became popular in Switzerland over a century ago, are diligently maintained and enhanced. These camps are mostly attended by local children and teenagers belonging to a scout troop. Scouts are also welcoming to international peers. Equipment and gear should be purchased or rented by the participants.

The advantage of this type of summer camp is its affordability: usually, only a small registration fee and payment for some instructors involved in electives are required. Overall, scouting camps are free.

Camp Centers

Several hundred such establishments are located across the country, including around Geneva. They offer a wide variety of programs.

Language Camps and Centers

Focused on working with expats or local children learning English or other foreign languages. These camps offer diverse and rich programs with many interesting extracurricular activities, as well as a higher cost compared to other formats.

Swiss children's camps offer a wide variety of programs. For example, language camps provide a comprehensive course of instruction, ranging from 10 to 25 lessons in the chosen language. Some options offer even greater intensity — up to 40-50 hours within a two-week course.

Alongside the academic workload, campers can expect an extensive sports component, which may include:

- Volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball,
- Hockey, figure skating, or speed skating,
- Karate,
- Running,
- Fencing,
- Track and field.

Combinations of these sports disciplines are also possible.

Additionally, children enjoy a rich entertainment program, including excursions both around the camp's vicinity and to other cities in Switzerland, as well as to attractions in France, Austria, northern Italy, and southern Germany.

In addition to regular academic programs, preparatory courses are available to help students prepare for entrance exams or standard language tests — IELTS, TOEFL, or equivalent German, French, and Italian tests.

Upon completing the preparatory program, graduates receive diplomas and certificates indicating that the student has attended and successfully completed the relevant course.

Programs may combine English or one of the national languages with music, visual or performing arts, folklore studies, folk dancing, crafts, and trades.

Summer education in the Swiss Alps has long been synonymous with high-quality learning, one of the most advanced in the Old World, although this has not always been the case. Modern achievements in national education are primarily due to the efforts of local communities and well-thought-out state policies.

Switzerland is a very diverse country. In some cantons, life was quite prosperous, while others were heavily dependent on transit trade. It was a common practice to send children from rural families and small towns to work in Northern Italy or the southern cities of France — they would traverse the Alpine passes on foot, hoping to find shelter in these countries and, in the best case, send something back home to their families.

Paradoxically, against this backdrop, the first children's summer camps appeared around Bern and Geneva. Italians and French, noting the favorable climate, clean mountain air, and abundant natural beauty, considered it an excellent place for children’s summer vacations — unlike the cities of France and Italy, which had many industrial enterprises and primarily used coal as fuel.

The first camps were essentially remote villages and homesteads where children could be brought in late spring and picked up in the fall. The advantages were limited to clean air, healthy and simple food, and relaxation in nature. Children were usually housed in the homes of wealthy farmers. Conditions varied: in some families, guests were treated with great care, while in others, the treatment was harsh.

This continued until the early 20th century, when local authorities and the educational community began to take charge of organizing summer vacations in Geneva. Camps with additional educational or health programs emerged, along with professional educators and teachers. The scouting movement received a powerful response: deeply religious residents of the cantons, inclined toward individualism and self-reliance and living in nature, were eager to enroll their children in scout troops — especially since it cost parents almost nothing.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, several dozen summer camps for children appeared around Geneva. Most of these were leisure camps supported by the socialist party and labor movement; in 1927, the first health camp was established. By the start of World War II, summer vacation programs covered at least 20% of Swiss children, and the first international camps were operating on the shores of Lake Geneva.

In the post-war years, the extent of children's involvement in summer recreation gradually increased. Of course, camp fees were required, but the labor movement in Switzerland in general and Geneva in particular was strong enough that many industrial and public sector workers could send their children on vacation for free or at a substantial discount.

Against this background, more private boarding schools began to open summer programs and courses: here, children could catch up on their schoolwork, engage in their favorite sports, or simply relax. In some schools, children lived year-round; it was not uncommon for a student who first entered the school doors at 7-8 years old to leave as an adult, going on to higher education.

Today, there are several dozen camps around Geneva available for organizing vacations for expat children. These include both participants in large international networks and family-run camps with a small, close-knit, and friendly group.