For many kids, structured activities don’t end with the school day.
Whether it’s a sports league, a dance team or an art class, after-school activities often serve as a form of evening child care. In the summer, camp gives kids a chance to get out of the house during the long break from school.
But the costs can add up fast, especially for families with multiple kids. But local recreation centers, libraries and nonprofits can help make those activities more attainable.
When Stephanie Romero had her daughter Isabella, she started looking for free events they could attend together. She found a weekly arts and crafts class at the Logan Heights Public Library.
“Every Thursday, we were dedicated. I was going to be there with my daughter,” Romero said in a recent interview with KPBS. “She'd always come back with a book or two, and then I just kind of kept that tradition as I had more kids.”
Now, she has four kids: Isabella,12; Valentin, 9; Santiago, 7; and 5-year-old Leonardo.
Romero is a single mom and works at a local school. The price of extracurricular activities adds up quickly.
When Isabella wanted to try ballet, Romero shopped around.
“The affordability and the pricing led me to the rec centers,” Romero said.
The city of San Diego has 60 recreation centers. They offer sports, camps, teen centers and family activities. Those programs are either free or a fraction of the price of many other providers.
For example, beginner dance classes at the city’s rec centers cost about $50 for a semester of classes and $72 for the costume. The San Diego City Youth Ballet charges $315 for a semester of weekly beginner classes and offers need-based scholarships.
The city’s recreation centers have also become Romero’s go-to provider for summer camp. Last year, she sent two of her sons to a week-long summer camp for $50 each. That fee covers lunch, snacks and often a field trip. Romero’s kids have visited the San Diego Zoo and the Plunge San Diego swimming pool during those field trips.
A day pass at the San Diego Zoo costs $78 for adults and kids aged 12 and up and $68 per child under 11. The Romero family — with two adult tickets and three child tickets — would have to spend $360 to go to the zoo.
A two-hour pass to Plunge San Diego costs $60 for a family of four, and $10 per additional person. For the Romero family, that would mean $80 total. Plunge also offers a spring break summer camp at $379 per week. Campers must have a year-long Belmont Park pass, which costs $99.
Romero said that would have been out of her budget.
“For a family of five, it’s kind of tough,” she said. “Costs just keep rising.”
Day camp prices through Girl Scouts San Diego range from $310 to $650 before financial assistance this year, according to the organization.
Day camp at SeaWorld starts at $450 per week. The YMCA’s single-day camps cost $101 for nonmembers.
Romero has also been able to send her kids to summer camp at the New Children’s Museum. U.S. Bank offers scholarships based on financial need, and last year, Romero got summer camp covered for all four of her kids.
Without the scholarship, it would have cost $550 per child — a total of $2,200 for the week.
“I wouldn’t even make that in a paycheck,” Romero said, tearing up. “Who has that kind of money floating around? And people do it, but that's not most of us. I wouldn't think that’s most of us.”
She said her kids loved bringing home their artwork and learning from the artists leading the camp.
“With the support of the scholarships, I've been able to give them that experience that they otherwise wouldn't have,” she said.
It’s been years since Romero took Isabella to do arts and crafts at the Logan Heights Public Library. But the library is still one of the family’s favorite resources.
They’ve gone to places like Skateworld and the Museum of Us through the library’s Discover & Go program. Her daughter started learning French through a free Rosetta Stone subscription through the library. They’ve also participated in seasonal reading challenges, which offer rewards like museum tickets.
“It helps me vary the things that we do,” Romero said. “Maybe one day it’s a rec center event. Maybe the next day we're trying to work through the reading challenge. Maybe we're just taking advantage of the Skateworld passes.”
Recreation center and library hours were on the chopping block as city leaders crafted this year’s budget. They considered reducing rec center hours and closing all libraries on Sundays and Mondays. Residents and advocates pushed back, saying families would have less access to resources they need.
The final budget maintained recreation center hours, closed all libraries on Sundays and closed about half of them on Mondays. But the city will likely have to cut services in next year’s budget, staff told the City Council in December.
The city is also asking for feedback on its parks and recreation programs through Feb. 28.
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