When summer camps close, workplaces step into the picture: The companies bringing the 'Big Vacation' to work

The 'Big Vacation' has long ceased to be just a matter for children. Ahead of the summer, the state expanded the 'Big Vacation' programs with an investment of about 1.1 billion shekels, but even after expansions and extensions, the gap between the education system's vacation schedule and the parents' work routine is still felt. The next school year will open only on September 1, while the economy continues to operate throughout the month of August.

For high-tech companies, this reality has become an opportunity in recent years to rethink the connection between the workplace and life outside it. Beyond traditional benefits, more companies understand that supporting employees also means addressing the daily challenges that accompany them as parents. Summer camps, activity days, and programs adapted for children of different ages have become a tool that allows parents to get through the 'Big Vacation' period more calmly, and at the same time strengthens the sense of belonging and connection between the employee, their family, and the organization.

'The Big Vacation brings with it a social challenge'

'The Big Vacation brings with it a significant social and family challenge, and this year it was important for us to create activities with real value for both children of all ages and parents,' says Liron Or, VP of Social Responsibility and Employee Experience at AppsFlyer, who chose this year to step up and offer a comprehensive and age-appropriate response for employees' children during the 'Big Vacation'.

The program includes a summer camp for younger children at a dedicated complex outside the office with plays, story hours, and a tractor ride; a summer camp for older children who arrive daily at leading attractions such as the Luna Park, museums, and a pool; and a unique activity for teenagers — including youth from the Gaza envelope — combining volunteering in the south, enrichment workshops at the Peres Center for Peace, and workshops at the company's offices. Every day, at the end of the camp days, the children arrive at the AppsFlyer offices for quality time and team building, and the whole week is concluded with a festive pool happening for the whole family.

'We wanted to create for the children a rich, diverse, and connecting experience — from the little ones to the teenagers, while incorporating values of volunteering and community,' concludes Or.

At the gaming company Plarium, the summer camp has become a beloved tradition in the company for employees' children. During the month of August, the Plariumland camp was held in Kfar Hayarok, which took place this year under the theme 'Around the World', and during five days the children went on an experiential journey between different countries and cultures — from Italy and Israel to Thailand, Brazil, and Africa. A few days before the opening of the camp, the children received a branded Plariumland kit that included a shirt, a hat, a bag, and a water bottle, and with the new equipment, they set out for a week full of activities, experiences, and adventures.

Also at the gaming company mavens by Zynga, they hold two rich and specially adapted summer camps for employees' children, in a wide range of ages. The first camp is intended for younger children, aged 3-5. In this framework, the office becomes an experiential complex for five consecutive days, with a different concept chosen each year around which activities take place. This year the chosen theme is the magical world of Disney, and last year the theme was the North Pole. The camp is operated by a skilled team that arrives especially at the company's offices, and the parents are with the children in the office, and can both work and be with the young children. At the same time, another camp is held intended for older children aged 6-12, who arrive every morning at the office, and from there go out to various activities. The camp lasts five action-packed days outside the office, including going to two leading attractions every day, among them Luna Park, the Children's Museum, a pool, Babylon, and more.

'The connection between home and office is an integral part of the organizational culture'

At the company BUYME, they marked the 'Big Vacation' with an invested and experience-filled camp day for employees' children at the company's offices. 'The camp day is an opportunity to bring families into our work, to give parents an easier and more enjoyable experience with the children at the peak of summer, and to create for the children happy memories at mom and dad's workplace,' says Noa Hayman Lahav, Creative and Employer Branding Manager at BUYME, and adds: 'For us at BUYME, the connection between home and office is an integral part of the organizational culture.'

Alongside the initiatives that come from within the workplaces, other bodies are trying to provide an answer to the challenge of the 'Big Vacation' through programs that create significant frameworks for children and teenagers during the period when schools are closed. One of the most prominent models is the transition from the traditional summer camp to an experience that seeks to provide also values, social connections, and tools for the future.

The Tel Aviv Foundation raised 4.8 million shekels from the Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation from Canada for holding the screen-free summer camp 'Camp Tel Aviv-Yafo', from the Kimama network. The project, intended for students entering 9th grade, operates in cooperation with the Education Administration of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and the 'Summer Camps Israel' forum. Since 2021, about 2,920 trainees have gone to the camp for a ten-day journey without mobile phones.

'Ten days without screens are today one of the greatest gifts we can give to children and teenagers,' says Dr. Hella Oren, CEO of the Tel Aviv Foundation. 'The fact that almost 3,000 children from all the city's neighborhoods have gone through this experience, alongside significant subsidies for residents of the south of the city and Yafo, is the heart of our commitment to provide the city's residents with an infrastructure of hope, security, and equal opportunity. We will continue to act together with our partners in the Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation to make such empowering experiences accessible to as many teenagers as possible from all the city's neighborhoods.'