My husband and I were staying at a fairly posh resort in Mexico, and we noticed these kids at the beach. They were obviously brother and sister, and they looked miserable as they half-heartedly made sandcastles with the bored-looking teenaged kid’s club employee.
Dumping the kids in a holiday club
We saw them every day, and every day my we’d turn to each other and ask “Why bring your kids?” and wonder which drunken yahoos by the pool were their parents.
Sound harsh? It was meant to. As honeymooners more than 2 years away from parenthood, we uttered that daily with as much judgement and disdain as we could muster. Of course we would never take our future kids on holiday and dump them.
Judge less, play more
It’s now 6 years later and we’re parents of two. I’ve softened my stance, but not by much. We don’t go away with the hope of sending our kids off to a kids club, but it took just one rainy afternoon at a bare bones resort in Cuba for me to realise the importance of having at least a few amenities for children.
Under normal circumstances, the beach, a pool, and each other are all our family needs to have a good time. This was our pre-portable DVD player period, so having nothing around to keep our almost-two-year-old busy was only made manageable with the controlled consumption of mojito.
An indoor play area would have been much appreciated.
Your kids are worth the effort
The place in Mexico where we honeymooned was a lovely resort that did not exclude children but did not actively market itself towards families either.
I think if you are going away with the intention of enrolling your children in what is essentially full-time day-care it’s worth the effort to select accommodation that targets itself to families. When a kid’s club is clearly an afterthought, a bored caregiver is the least of your concerns.
There are numerous resort and hotel chains that feature wonderful children’s programs. If it’s an amenity that you’re planning on using it’s worth the effort and/or extra expense to choose somewhere your child will be well looked after and happy.
Never say never
Years later, at another resort in Mexico, we witnessed children reluctant to return to their parents after a day at the kids’ club. The children could not stop raving about how much fun they were having. Should the time come when we do want to ship the kids off, we’re going back there.
Your thoughts on holiday kids clubs
Thanks to Corinne McDermott of Have Baby will Travel for writing today’s post. I would like to know your thoughts on holiday kids clubs. Have you had a negative experience with one? Why would you take kids on holiday and then leave them in the care of strangers.
Related posts
- British not local standards for holiday kids clubs
- Can kids travel?
- Add more fun and culture to your next family holiday
- Holidays need to be made more educational for children
- See The World With Your Kids
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Lily | 27 December, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Yes of course, it’s fine to be judgmental about people who put their children in a holiday club, because portable DVD players are so much a better way of keeping a 2 year old entertained.
Jan Ross | 27 December, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I think there is a compromise between dumping your kids in the kids club every day and using it sometimes. At many of the resorts I have visited, the kids clubs are absolutely wonderful, with actively involved counselors and tons of fun activities for the kids. Plus, kids like being with other kids sometimes! And maybe mom and dad would like a little alone time – nothing wrong with that either. I think you have to do what works for your family and there are certainly resorts out there that cater to families and whatever you want.
Darren Cronian | 27 December, 2009 at 9:58 pm
@ Jan
I am not a parent, but surely travel is about educating kids? I realise that the parents might want a rest but I am not sure I like the idea of dropping them off with strangers while I sit back and relax on the beach.
Chris Clarkson | 27 December, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Up until our last holiday in Tenerife we’d never used Kids Clubs, as the author states, why take your kids on holiday if your aim is just to offload them?
However, after the first 4 nights of going to the mini-disco in the evening, our eldest (4) got on very well with a few of the animation staff. So on the fifth morning, we went for a look round the club, which was very well furnished and the staff qualifications and training were available to view. We dropped both kids off for a 2 hour “tester”, although we did come back every 10/15 mins to make sure they looked happy! They loved it, as Jan comments above, kids do like the company of other kids. The following 2 days our kids thoroughly enjoyed their spell in the kids club, and were heartbroken on the day we were leaving saying goodbye to the animation staff.
So following a 7 day holiday, getting to go swimming all day every day with Mum and Dad, the favourite part of their holiday was the 6 hours they spent in the Kids Club, obviously 
Darren Cronian | 27 December, 2009 at 10:18 pm
:@ Chris
I suppose it depends on the age of the kids and how good the facilities are on offer? Maybe I am just old fashioned and maybe when (if) I am ever a parent, then my opinion on this will probably change.
Corinne McDermott | 27 December, 2009 at 10:21 pm
@Lily
I’m (mostly) no longer judgemental about any parent’s choices now that I’m a parent myself. And I get that holiday clubs can be fun for kids AND offer parents a break as well. Same as a portable DVD player… (which, for the record, I also said I’d never use)
My point is that if you know in advance you’re going to be using the children’s facilities, it’s worth the time and money to choose a resort that puts an effort into these amenities, instead of just offering them as an afterthought.
Rob M | 27 December, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Ah, I remember those days where my parents dumped us on the kids clubs at Butlins while they relaxed. Kids clubs can be good to leave your children for an hour or two but surely a family holiday is all about spending it with the family?
Chris Clarkson | 27 December, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Yup, staff and facilities were the only thing that made us even consider it. I can’t imagine we’d just turn up on day 1 of a holiday and stick the kids in. Having spent a few days getting to know the staff, then looking round the facilities gave us confidence that our kids would be both safe and entertained.
From another perspective, we stayed at a hotel in Dubai at the end of 2008, where we often sat opposite a family at mealtimes who had brought a nanny with them. The Dad spent all mealtime on his mobile phone and Mum didn’t engage with the kids at all. I did think at the time the kids would have been better off in a Kids Club, they always looked absolutely bored out of their heads!
Julie | 28 December, 2009 at 12:49 am
I think a Kids’ Club at a resort (and let’s be serious Darren, no one goes — or takes their kids — to a resort as an educational experience!) has its place and I agree that it is worth researching in advance.
This is especially true when you have an only child who is craving some fun time with other children. In one resort we went to (where the kids club was free), there was no way we were going to leave our child with the bored staffers who seemed only to be entertaining the boys with television and the girls with painting their fingernails. Plus, there was a pool there and I like to be personally supervising my child in the water.
But at another resort (that I researched better in advance!), there was an excellent kids club that provided arts & crafts and other different daily activities that the kids could enjoy. This is helpful because (a) you don’t want your kids in the sun all day, and (b) they can enjoy the company of people their own age. It was only open in the mornings, and you could choose which mornings you were interested in. Our daughter loved her time there.
In the afternoons, we had lunch and went swimming or hiking about the resort. Kids Clubs can be a very helpful service for both children and parents. Adults can indulge in “adult” activities like wind-surfing or scuba-diving for some of their time on holidays, while children can indulge in children’s activities like imagination-play with other kids. Then, together, the family can also enjoy “family” time. So I hope that helps answer why I would take my children on holiday with me and then “leave them in the care of strangers.”
Darren Cronian | 28 December, 2009 at 9:57 am
@ Julie
My comment was more based on the typical package holiday back here in the UK, rather than a resort. I suspect most people who want to visit a resort just sit back and relax, not my kind of holiday, but I am surprised that people take their kids to destinations like Greece and just sit them in a kids club or next to the pool rather than taking them around and learning something.
I suppose though not everyone goes on holiday to sightsee, but to just relax, not my kind of holiday at all. Boring. I take your point though for those in resorts, the trip won’t be to educate their kids, but, I am sure they are things that they can do as a family.
Maree | 28 December, 2009 at 10:15 am
On long trips, anything beyond a couple of weeks, children tolerance of their parents and siblings starts to run very thin. I’ve done a couple of six week plus trips with under 10s and find it is essential to plan in playtime with other kids.
This can be something as simple as finding a play ground or enrolling them for a day or two in a Kids program of some sort. Families need a break from frantic activity and each others company at some point in every extended trip.
In these circumstance as long as the supervision is adequate that they are safe, it isn’t so much the quality of the activity or the person running that matters, simply the chance to socialise and simply play with other children, rather than raising on to the next attraction or the next activity. Building sand castles on the beach with a bunch of other kids would fit the bill just fine as a downtime day. Naturally it is quite a different matter if that is what they are doing every day.
Darren Cronian | 28 December, 2009 at 10:21 am
@ Maree
Thank you for the comment. I should think back to my own family holidays and I was much happier in the company of other kids. I suppose the point I am trying to make is that family holidays are for familes, and while the kids and parents will want some “time out” I do not agree with sending them to a kids clubs every day of the holiday. I am not a parent though, so shouldn’t comment and would probably change my opinion if I am every a parent.
Maree | 28 December, 2009 at 10:44 am
@Darren
I don’t agree with the 100% kids club option either. However the trap for many of us who love to travel is not the temptation to put the children in kids club for the duration, but rather expecting them to cope with an adult paced travel schedule. I suspect that like me, this is the trap you will need to worry about when you have children.
Reading this article made me think about what child time I’d placed in the in the four week trip itinerary I’ve just put together for Jordan, Syria, Lebanon & Northern Turkey.
My boys (7 and 10) are getting Medieval Castles? What more could they possibly want, surely that’s sufficient! Clearly the answer to that question is no, which means I have more work that I need to do on that schedule.
Darren Cronian | 28 December, 2009 at 10:52 am
@ Maree
Great point re. expecting kids to cope with an adult paced travel schedule. Just thinking back to the times I’ve taken my 13 yr old nephew on holiday, he’s wanted to spend some time on the beach, and I had to give him that time, other wise he would have been bored of doing the sight-seeing. It’s always worked out well, just that I didn’t realise till now that I was making sure that he did some activities that he wanted to do too.
Andy Sears | 28 December, 2009 at 12:07 pm
The first time we took our (then 5 year old) boy to Salou, we had leaflets pushed under the door saying about a kids club on the complex. A believer of wanting my kids with me when on holiday we never took up the offer.
The next few days we received many notes under the door asking us why my boy had not been to kids club.
Our apartment overlooked the room where the kids club took place and have to say, it looked crowded and unpleasant with kids sitting around drawing pictures and watching DVD’s.
My idea of a family holiday is just that… a family!.
The other big thing that disgruntled my was that the kids club appeared to be used as a dumping ground so the adults could get tanked up all day, with the evening the kids left to their own devices while the adults got tanked up a bit more.
Julie | 28 December, 2009 at 1:51 pm
@Darren
For Canadians, a resort is basically just a fenced-in beach in Mexico or Dominican Republic! We just want to get away from the cold! It’s not really a “travel experience” since it’s rare to actually leave the compound.
I’ve never done a 100% kids club thing because I’ve found that just as much a kids crave some kid time, they also crave undivided attention from their parents and holidays are such a perfect time to enjoy each others’ company. But if I was a single stay-at-home mother of children who are home all day with me, then the family’s needs would likely be very different and a 100% Kids Club might work (if it was a well-supervised, safe place with great activites).
I think most parents are trying to do their best by their children, so it’s not my place to judge what they do or don’t do on holidays. But then again, I’ve never witnessed drunk parents on a resort before (like @Andy Sears notes), and if I had, I’m sure I’d be hard pressed not to judge them very harshly!
@Maree
I think you’ve raised all the points I wish I had. I am in full agreement that it is possible to travel with your children from a very young age, you just need to modify your expectations. Our daughter has traveled all around the world with us, and simple things like taking the time to stop at a park where other children are playing can make such a difference.
Jeanne | 28 December, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I don’t think I would use a kid’s club if we were on a week or two holiday/vacation, but the activities & friends at the kids clubs we’ve been to has been one of the favorite things for my child on our open ended world tour!
We all really enjoy the nightly “baby disco” in several languages which we had never seen before we came to the continent together. Good family fun… and even a little educational with the various languages to suit all the families/kids from various countries.
Europe is one of the best places in the world for a child to experience the value of knowing several languages, so just being in a kids club group that has kids & assistants from many countries is a positive experience for future global citizens of the 21st century. English will not always be the dominant language! Exploring how to play with kids who don’t speak your language can be very useful.
That said, we have only used very high quality kids clubs, for VERY short periods of time & keep a very close eye on things, often hanging out there ourselves. They do fun, sometimes educational things like hunting butterflies (OK, partly to get you to buy the net thing, but not a bad deal for us as we reuse it every year). They often have fun creative things to make, which is my daughter’s favorite part.
Travel IS the best possible education, so I think family vacations should be educational, but there are many ways to make that fun and family friendly. You can mix museums, tours, related kids books etc along with pools, beaches & kids clubs if you just use common sense.
Neil | 29 December, 2009 at 12:52 pm
As a relatively new parent I can completely understand the need for hard worked parents to have a break on holiday, but having worked for 4 seasons in resort for a tour operator which specialised in “family friendly” holidays I am totally against wall-to-wall childcare as part of a package holiday.
Kids Club/Childcare catered for kids from 6 months to 18 years and ran from 9:00 am to 17:00 each day with a two hour break at lunchtime. (And some parents stil brought a nanny on holiday as well, so they didn’t have to have anything to do with their children.).
Although there is no doubt that the quality of care was outstanding and the kids had a great time I think it is a crying shame that parents spent so little time with their children on holiday.
Holidays are the one time when you can spend quality time with your children and to palm them off to paid help so you can relax or do an activity is selfish. By compromising, sharing new experiences and spending time as a family you will have a truly unforgettable holiday and hopefully your kids will not grow up with fond memories of the nanny rather than you.
Amy | 29 December, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I think like most things in life if you do it in moderation it will benefit rather than hurt you. I have experienced using Holiday Kids Club on the cruise (not exclusively – only a few hours a day). So I think it’s up to the parents to know their kids and compromise.
The first time we tried the kids’ club was on Disney Cruise ship. Surprisingly, our kids didn’t like it so we never went back again to the kids’ club again. Then on our 2nd cruise vacation on Carnival, they loved it. We had to drag them out. Both trip, we only did that during the sea day.
I agreed with Maree that when we travel as a family we have to consider what kids want as well. It might be too much to ask them to enjoy museum all day long without any kids’ activities. But it also doesn’t mean we should hand our kids off to a stranger for duration of the stay. Moderation and flexibility will make family travel happy.
Heather | 29 December, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I think there’s a place for the kid’s club although I can’t say we took the kind of package holidays that had them when my kids were smaller. I think we often tried to team up with another family when we went on holiday, or we went to see my sister in Greece where they had cousins to play with, or to a camp site where there were other children around.
The reality of parenthood is that many children don’t want to go out and see the ‘interesting’ things that parents like – they judge their holiday by how much fun they have in the pool or on the beach, preferably in the company of kids their own age and eating as many pizzas and ice creams as possible.
Nick | 31 December, 2009 at 10:55 am
My child loves kids clubs and is upset she is growing up. It is more of a case of stopping her going rather than dumping her. On cruises we would not see her all day, until we put our foot down and said it’s a family holiday.
If the clubs are good, the kids wish to be there… after all with what they get up to is far more exciting than being around with boring mum and dad. Even had a refusal to go to a theme park as this would mean missing out on painting competition.
Caitlin | 31 December, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I don’t have children yet so I don’t like to judge but I certainly hope I wouldn’t take my kids on holiday and leave them in a kids’ club full time. I’m sure the kids’ club has it’s place but the trip is family bonding time as well as a break from work for the adults. I would, however, send my kids to summer camp – they get more time off school than adults typically get off work, and summer camp can be a fun and valuable experience.
Nick | 4 January, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Caitlin
Intresting point on Summer Camp’s, something that in the UK has yet to take off big time. Strange when you consider weekends start at £99 and weeks at £399, yet family’s pay way more than this to take the kids on the family holiday.
Julia | 5 January, 2010 at 9:49 pm
PGL active holidays and centre parks are parks are popular in the UK for families because the families do the activities together. We have been on these and been on holidays abroad where there are just kid’s clubs. My children have never liked kids clubs, but they do like family holidays where we all get involved in this country or aborad. Could this be because I was not a stay at home mum and our holiday time has always been valued as time we share? I don’t know the answer, but I know we all have fun when we are together.
David | 9 September, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I’m with Darren. Kids clubs do not sound like a very appealing way to travel with children. I’ve been amazed at how much our kids like to do “adult” things. There’s always a kids’ spin to them of course – science museums, zoos, aquariums – but I think underestimating kids and their endurance and interest in new things is a common mistake for traveling parents.
Getting out there and Doing Stuff will – in the long run – always be more rewarding than taking the easy, boring way out.
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25 responses to “Holiday kids clubs rant”