Flip Fest for 7 yo?

[hannahsmom]

I've been intrigued by the threads about Flip Fest. My dd loves going to camp, but they have always been day camps. Has anyone had experience sending their 7 yo to Flip Fest and how did they handle it? Did they go alone or with other friends? I obviously think having some friends/teammates go would be best, but if we can't find any parents willing to send their kids, going alone might be the only option. I also saw that as a parent, you can apply for one of the positions (I'm a registered nurse and EMT) and be there for the week, but I don't know how much interaction that would be anyway.

 

[Billy]

I don't know anything about being a parent at the camp but my daughter went last summer at 7 years old and she absolutely LOVED it. She had a blast and has been talking about going back ever since. LOL She did know most of the girls in her cabin (they were her ex-teammates; long story) but she also met several new ones, including the girls she trained with (the training groups are different from the cabin groups and are skills/level based). She liked all the coaches and even got to learn front walkovers on beam with Nastia Liukin! She wasn't homesick at all and only called me once- to ask for more money! LOL

A side note, Boo just got a Christmas card in the mail yesterday from the two Olympians who run Flip Fest. I thought that was really nice.

 

[coachmolly]

I was a counselor at Flip Fest a few years ago and most weeks I had little ones in my cabin. Some did better than others, but overall I think they all did really well. Some came with teammates and some just made friends with other girls in the cabin from other gyms. Homesickness was really not a huge problem, at least for my groups. Girls who stayed for
At Flip Fest there is a phone girls can use to call home whenever they need to during the day if they have a calling card which is different from some camps which don't allow calls home until the end of the week. This can be good for some, not so great for others.
A lot of times younger girls that come with their team have a team parent come along to be the cabin counselor. That way they are in the cabin with an adult who they are familiar with and who knows the individual child. So if your daughter comes with her team, maybe you or another team parent could travel along. Also, traveling with older teammates can help some of them. Two of the girls who had the biggest problem in my cabin had older teammates in another cabin and went to them with problems.
Since you are an RN, you could probably get a position at camp. In those positions, I think you can have your daughter stay in your cabin with you. She still gets to go to the gym, participate in all the activities, and make new friends. Even if she stays in her own cabin, you can visit her frequently, watch her in the gym, eat meals with her, so there is lots of interaction. I would definitely look into that if you are interested, when I was there they had some problems finding medical staff for some weeks.

 

[Optionals United]

hey yeah i went to woodward this summer and my mom was the nurse that week. my whole gym went that week and we had like 2 mini's who were put in the mini's cabin. those girls often one of the girls mom's is the consoler. if she goes by herself she defently will make friends.mostly in every case you click with the girls in your cabin.even if she just makes one friend the whole week she will have a blast. also she will meet girls in her gym class that will probably be the same age and lvl as her.as for you my mom had to sleep in the nurses station incase someone came in the middle of the night.but you will get to interact with you you can watch her in the gym,eat meals with her,and she can come in and talk to you just about anytime.with my mom i would just go talk to her if i was having a bad day or i was bored.also you meet a lot of people coming through the nurses station. that summer i went for two different weeks and i liked the week with my mom better in a way.i hoped this helps

i <3 gymnastics
lvl 7 gymnast =)