Summer camp is a time-honored tradition across the country, with more than 11 million participants every year. Camps are a great way to make the most out of the warm season: outdoor activities, life skills, social bonding, and healthy living are all par for the course in any decent camp.

But should these activities really only be confined to the summer months? Two out of every three children don’t get in enough physical activity on a daily basis throughout the year. How can we get the benefits of summer camp to translate all year long?

While education is important, there’s more to life than sitting at a desk all day. One easy way to incorporate more fun and fitness into your child’s routine is with after school programs that focus on physical activity and development.

Not every child is suited for traditional team sports like soccer or baseball, but lots of kids love summer-camp style activities like archery, climbing, swimming, and rope courses. Luckily, indoor gyms and fitness center spaces are increasingly offering child care programs that run after school all year long.

The benefits of after school programs are a lot like the benefits of summer camps, but maybe with fewer s’mores. And if sleep-away camps have always seemed too long or too expensive for your family, after school programs are an easy solution. Instead of long weeks apart from your child and expensive tuition fees for room and board, after-school activities run only a few hours a week but still give your child a chance to get in on the fun.

As we’ve all heard by now, sedentary lifestyles in front of television and computer screens are wreaking havoc on our children’s generational prospects for a long, happy, and healthy life. Somewhere around 33% of kids aged six to 19 are considered overweight or obese; they need regularly scheduled activity to ensure that fitness and physical activity becomes a normal routine, not a summer trend.

Find a summer activity your child enjoys and make it a year-round pursuit. If you can dream it, you can find an after school program to make it a reality. Find more on this here.