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I think I was 12 and I feel like I was on the older side for a first time camper... So maybe 10?

I see people sending their 9 year olds for the full 7 weeks of camp around here. I think that's too long!

I don't think I want my kids to go away but maybe I'll change my mind.

I don't think I'd be okay with sending my son at any age, even if he wanted to.

Maybe 5th grade? Not any earlier.

For a week (not the whole summer) I'd say after 2nd or 3rd grade. And I'd probably like a half week version for their first year if possible.

I did a week long sleep away Camp around that age through age 16 and loved it!!

@Andrea: my in laws sent their 3 kids at 6/7 and 9 for 4 weeks to start and then after that, they went for like 6 weeks or something! i can't imagine sending my kids away for that long but what do i know?!

but i would send them for a week at like 7 or so.

I did one week just before turning 8 - I had a blast but now that seems so young to me!

I think I did a week in elementary school (6th grade?) and then church camp through middle and high.

It all depends on the camp! At some point though, I was very happy to have the experience of sleep away camp before moving away to college.

I don't remember for sure, but I think I did a 4 week camp when I was in third grade, so maybe 8 or 9. It was awesome.

My neighbor and another friend just sent their 8 year olds who are best friends to camp together for 1 week. I haven't talked to them since that, but I think it was a success.

I don't think ever! My husband and I are crazy overprotective!

I went at 7 for about 5 days. I loved it but I remember two girls from my unit were horribly home sick.

I did just one-nighters at Girl Scout Camp starting at maybe 7? Then no other sleep-away camp until high school, but I never asked before that!

I'd probably be fine with my kid doing week-long camps at maybe 10? And longer after middle school. If we could afford it, of course!!

I think I had just turned 7. I went for one week that summer, two weeks at a time most years after that.

I went for a week at 8 years old. I thought it was great, the rest of my cabin cried a lot so they moved me in with older girls. I wish I'd been able to go more. Living in NYC I understand the desire to send kids to the woods for a chunk of the summer. My kids might have to settle for getting shipped to the grandparents...

I did it at eight years but that seems really young.
They're only going if they beg me. I don't like the Camp Idontwannaseeya mentality I see often around here.

I worked as a camp counselor at a sleep away camp in college. It was specifically for under-privileged or abused girls (all were referred by social workers). It was a 10 day camp and our youngest cabin was 6 years old, and that's the cabin I was assigned.

The 6 year olds did get homesick, but we had 3 counselors that slept in the cabin with them, and we were very attentive to them. No one was left to cry, and extra special attention was shown to those who were struggling (one on one time during the day, taken to the food hall for milk and cookies and a little chat if they couldn't sleep).

I think if it were a camp where I knew the counselors would be so attentive, I wouldn't mind sending mine off at aged 7 - but maybe for not so long for her first time.

One time, a mother lied on the forms and got her 5 year old in! We didn't know about it until it was too late, and we couldn't send the child back (mother was very poor, from NYC, the camp was in Maine). So that little one became my shadow throughout her stay. I just took her everywhere with me, got her dressed/showered every day and sometimes slept on the floor by her bed. She actually handled it really well.

The camp we're planning to send our kids to starts with a 10-day session at age 8. I'm counting down the years, haha. My DH and I both went there as campers, met there as counselors, and know the director. The kids have such a great time and form lifelong friendships - we are a total camp family!

I went to sleep-away camp for a week starting at age 10 (it was GA camp) and then to church camp in middle/high school. For two summers starting when I was 7, we slept over at my Nana's house during the week and went home on the weekends. My parents couldn't afford full-time daycare for the two of us and DC traffic is crazy, so we stayed the week there. I could see doing something like that once my kids are in elementary school.

I went for a month straight when I was 9 and 2-3 weeks a summer after that to regular summer camp. I also did sports camps out of town a lot in middle and high school. I've not ever been a homesick kind of person. We will probably send our kids for a week or two a summer, maybe starting around 7-8.