How to Organize a Successful Winter Break Camp for your Academy
Dhwani Shah
October 22, 2025
‧
8 min read
The weather’s getting cooler, and the days shorter. The festive lights are out and autumn leaves are giving way to a pleasant winter chill. Everyone is ready to slow down and enjoy the holiday season. As we draw closer to the end of the year, children get ready for winter break, families travel and regular classes pause.
With schools shut, December can mean a slowdown for most after-school academies, be it a sports school, dance studio or tutoring centre. With your daily schedule on hold, it’s the perfect opportunity to host a winter camp to keep your academy buzzing, attract new students and give your existing ones a taste of something new and different. For students full of energy and excitement, waiting to step out and discover new things, winter break camps are the perfect adventure. And for parents, a place where learning meets fun and friends is a productive yet easy way to keep their kids engaged and occupied.
With winter break just a few weeks away, now is the time to start planning a promising winter camp for kids. The entire process may seem overwhelming, you may not know where to begin, but with the right planning and the right tools, organizing a successful winter camp can be smooth sailing and stress-free.
Wondering how to start a camp? We've got you covered! In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to organize a successful winter break camp, from planning and registration to marketing and management, and how Classcard can help you at every step of the process.
Winter breaks can pause routines, leading to a decline in motivation. For those without plans, the days can seem dull and boring. Winter camps keep students active, engaged and learning in a fun, less formal environment.
Many parents look to enroll their children in camps and other activities to keep them busy and learning during the holidays. Moreover, with the pressure of academic and extracurricular activities off for a few weeks, both parents and students are eager to explore interests and try something different. A well-organized winter camp can bring new faces to your academy and potentially convert them into long-term students.
Camps are a good way to showcase your academy’s offerings, energy and creativity, and strengthen the bond with existing clients. When parents see their children engaged and learning in a safe, trusted environment, they’re more likely to stick with your academy and recommend it to others.
While holidays can mean downtime for most academies, those looking to stay occupied while in town find the perfect solution in Christmas break camps. Thus, organizing a kids’ winter camp can be a significant income boost and ensure steady earnings during what might otherwise be a slow period.
Before you jump into the logistics, it’s important to chalk out a blueprint which will guide your actions throughout the camp planning and execution process. Start with defining a clear vision for your camp:
While answering these questions, set clear, measurable objectives to define the success of your winter break camp. For example, your goal could be to:
For instance, a performing arts studio may host a theatre camp that culminates in staging a Christmas play for parents. A tutoring academy can host creative writing sessions or STEM workshops that go beyond the school syllabus.
Your activities, pricing and marketing strategy can then revolve around your objectives.
Finally, keep in mind the needs and interests of the community you operate within as well as what your competitors are offering, to design a winter camp that truly stands out.
You’ve designed a blueprint; now it’s time to design the heart of your camp - the winter camp activities and schedule.
Unlike summer breaks that stretch over several weeks, winter holidays are shorter, lasting only around 1 to 2 weeks. That’s why you need to create a schedule that accommodates your winter camp ideas and maximizes learning outcomes, without feeling too crammed or rushed.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The key is to balance learning activities with games and downtime to keep the experience fresh and exciting for young campers. Keep sessions short to maintain focus and engagement, with enough time for rest and recreation. You could also include some team-building and bonding activities to boost connection and camaraderie among campers.
To make your camp even more exciting, mix in themed days, mini-competitions, talent showcases, field trips, and other outdoor activities, taking advantage of the pleasant winter weather. You could include Christmas-themed activities to jazz up the festive spirit! For example, an art studio could host ornament-making or winter landscape painting workshops. A music academy may organize a carol-singing class or a small winter recital for parents.
With Classcard’s scheduling tools, academies like yours can:
Now that you know what your winter camp is going to look like, it’s time to create a budget to help guide further preparations and ensure profitability. While formulating a budget, consider all the potential expenses that you may have to undertake to run the camp, such as:
Once you've outlined your budget, develop a robust pricing strategy to offset your expenses, balance affordability for parents and sustain profitability. While pricing your camp, keep in mind factors such as:
To attract more sign-ups, you could consider creative pricing strategies like early-bird discounts, sibling discounts and group deals, and flexible payment options, all of which can be set up and managed effortlessly on Classcard.
A good venue can have a significant impact on the overall camp experience. You need to select a space that aligns with your winter camp activities and complements your winter camp themes.
If the weather is pleasant, you might want to consider outdoor spaces, say, a performing arts camp that culminates in an open-air performance, or a sports camp held in a nearby park. However, if the winters get too cold, it would be best to keep sessions indoors where students can stay warm and comfortable.
Whether indoors or outdoors, it is imperative to ensure your venue is safe, clean and accessible, equipped with basic amenities like water stations, toilets, and first aid kits, and spacious enough for convenient movement.
If your existing academy space seems ideal, you need not rent a venue to save costs. To add festive cheer, you could decorate the space with Christmas-themed trinkets and lights. Alternatively, you could partner with a local school, community centre, or sports facility to use their space and expand your reach by accessing their student base.
You’re putting in so much effort to set up your winter camp! To make sure it gets the visibility it deserves, you need a well-planned marketing strategy.
Tailor your marketing material to resonate with your target audience and clearly communicate the highlights and benefits of your camp to show why it’s the perfect choice for the winter break.
Your promotional material must include all the essential information regarding the camp:
You could also include testimonials from past students and attractive images from previous camps to attract attention and build credibility.
Here are some effective ways to promote your winter camp:
With Classcard’s lead management tools, managing inquiries and prospects is effortless, organized and efficient. You can easily track inquiries, send personalized messages and reminders, and nudge prospects through the sales funnel to help drive conversions.
As you promote your winter break camp, you will begin receiving student inquiries and registrations. A systematic and professional winter camp registration process provides parents a great first impression and makes your life easier by collating all student information in one place.
Manual registration and Excel spreadsheets have now taken a backseat. They are time-consuming and prone to errors which can result in discrepancies and additional administrative hassles. With a digital registration system like Classcard, you can simplify the winter camp registration process, making it more user-friendly and personalized, saving you time and effort.
With Classcard, you can:
On registration, Classcard organizes all camper data in one place, making it searchable, filterable, and exportable. Coaches and administrators can quickly access details, mark attendance, or view payment status, all from a single dashboard.
Parents naturally feel worried about their kids and their whereabouts, especially when they are in a new environment with new people. Regular updates and introductions can help them feel reassured and calm, and build trust and confidence in you and your team. At the same time, instructors and staff need real-time coordination for smooth execution throughout the camp.
As the camp start date approaches, it’s a good idea to set up a WhatsApp group or dedicated mailing list for registered parents. Use this channel to send timely updates.
Continue using this channel during the camp to share daily updates, reminders, and photos.
Internal coordination among the team is equally important to avoid miscommunications and delays. Between schedules, attendance tracking, and parent updates, things can get hectic. Instead of switching between multiple tools and chats, you can manage everything in one place with Classcard.
With Classcard’s communication and attendance tools, you can:
The Classcard Student App lets parents view schedules, attendance, performance scores and other updates in real-time, and stay in the loop.
Camp ends, but your job isn’t quite done. This is the right time to gather insights, reflect on your success, and build lasting relationships with students and parents. You want to know what went well, whether you’ve been able to achieve what you planned, and what you can do to improve.
Hearing directly from parents and students helps you improve future camps while making them feel valued and heard. Ask parents and students about their camp experience:
You can use Classcard’s customizable digital forms and communication tools to send automated feedback forms or quick messages right after the camp ends. You can also utilize built-in reports to analyze attendance and student engagement trends across sessions.
The end of your winter break camp does not have to mean the end of your relationship with campers and parents. In fact, this is the best opportunity to turn short-term campers into long-term students.
Building lasting relationships with participants can truly set your academy apart and build lasting loyalty. Here are a few ways to keep in touch even after camp is over:
Winter doesn’t have to mean downtime for your academy. Whether you’re a sports academy, tutoring centre, creative arts or performing arts studio, with the right camp management system, you can streamline processes, save time and effort and deliver meaningful experiences for campers.
If you’re thinking of starting or elevating your winter camp program and want to explore how Classcard can help, book a free demo today!