International day camp for 12 year old?

English language camp is a tough find on the continent. Frankly, parents who have the means for camp and value language education send their kids to anglophone countries.

An expat couple I know in Spain is coming back to the States to send their daughter to camp. They've only been there a year but she's in an American school and doesn't have nearly enough Spanish for them to send he to camp there.

edit to add—I failed to notice the day camp specification. My above comments were regarding sleepaway camps, and may be irrelevant. I'll leave them up as penance. My apologies.

Because of the number of international schools in Frankfurt, there may be some day camps available. I would need to get in touch with a friend of mine who knows more about them though, since he has run some of them.

I was also going to suggest contacting international schools in or near your home base. Most major cities have at least one or two schools. Some (like Frankfurt) have several.

I would do it a bit backwards in considering this. Look at what possible destinations would interest you, and then look for an international school in that area that is English speaking (thinking British and American schools). Then, search or get in touch to see what summer day camps they offer. I'm thinking you would have more luck in major cities with an international population due to the business of that city (i.e., embassies, finance, etc.). If signing up for camps is anything like what it is in my area, you have to get on it by end of February before they fill up.

Check out "Kids Camp America", contact Sarah Taines. This is in the Frankfurt, Rhein Main region.

In Chamonix, the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix offers day camp with different outdoor activities every weekday. Your daughter would be in the 11-13 age group, and here is their program:

https://www.chamonix-guides.com/en/activities/details/multi-activities-summer-cham-kid-ages-11-13

They are accustomed to taking care of English-speakers in their guiding activities for adults, and I imagine that would apply to the kids’ programs as well. But you could contact them and ask. If not, maybe your daughter could learn a bit of French between now and then to help her make friends?

This is all very helpful—thanks! I could use all the help I can get. France appeals to us more than Germany, but we are not ruling anything out at this point.

I would suggest for France looking at Strasbourg because of its importance.

In case you want to choose an international school in Germany, my suggestion is Düsseldorf, where the population includes 10% Japanese, if not more. Where do they sent their kids to schools if not to the public school system in Düsseldorf.

Another place in Germany is in Brandenburg, near Berlin-Grunewald, also near Potsdam, the international school in the small town of Kleinmachow

Because of the EU, Brussels has a large English speaking community and corresponding English international schools that may offer summer camps. Brussels proper is French speaking, so it would also fit your own language background.

Here is a link to a list of international schools in the Brussels area:
https://www.international-schools-database.com/in/brussels

Think about the Netherlands, both because English broadly spoken and exceptionally gay friendly. I'd not be surprised if there were English language first camps for Dutch kids that age (but don't know for sure).