Little Shots Day Camp – Ohio

Olander Park in Sylvania, OH: July 10-13, 2023

Designed for campers age 5-10

What is Little Shots?

Little Shots Day Camp is a 4-day experience designed for children living with Type 1 diabetes aged 5-10. At Little Shots, campers are immersed in opportunities to not only make connections with other kids living with T1D, but also learn about independent diabetes management through fun hands-on activities. Your camper will walk away with fun memories, new friends, and a better understanding of Type 1 diabetes.

For kids, this is often the first place they meet another child with diabetes. At Little Shots they do not feel different, they are just like everyone else. Parents have peace of mind that their child is safe and cared for with qualified healthcare professionals surrounding their child.

About Our Staff

Our staff is comprised of medical professionals in the endocrinology field- nurses, pharmacists, Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE’s), registered dieticians and nurse practitioners all come together to make camp a success. We have people living with Type 1 diabetes on our medical staff, and nearly all our young adult counselors live with T1D themselves and role model proper diabetes management at camp. Several members of our staff were campers themselves, and over time create strong connections that last past camp!

Programming at Little Shots

Each day at Little Shots is packed with tons of fun activities for your T1D to enjoy. Each year brings a new theme with related activities that are age appropriate such as crafts, games, ice skating, and inflatables. Camp is oftentimes full of new experiences for campers, and our staff will work with you and your child to encourage new experiences in a safe setting. We also work to bring in special guests from the local and national stage to speak to campers on their experience living with T1D.

We work closely with Endocrinology professionals throughout the year to design our Diabetes Education classes based on what kids need most. Our dietician leads hands on cooking classes and lessons on healthy eating habits. Campers learn carb counting, the importance of injection rotations, recognizing high and low blood sugars, self-advocacy with T1D and so much more! Our team of counselors living with T1D as well as medical staff work to help campers understand and navigate the ups and down of diabetes. Ordinary moments become diabetes teaching moments- we don’t need a classroom!!

A typical day at Little Shots camps looks like this:

8:30 Check In

9:00 Field Games

10:00 Cooking Class

10:30 Relay Race

12:00 Lunch/dosing

1:00 Playground/swimming

2:00 Special Visitor!

3:30 Free time/snack

4:00 Check Out

Little Shots Ohio Accessibility

Diabetes Youth Services works hard to ensure every child living with diabetes has the opportunity to come to camp. We work with the Ronald McDonald House of NW Ohio in Toledo to help house families who are traveling from out of town to attend camp, at no cost to you!

Interested in housing? Download our Ronald McDonald Referral Form and submit by no later than July 1, 2023.

Family Camp Fee: $225

In our nearly 40 years of operation, we have never turned away a child for financial reasons. Please visit our Camp Financial Support Page to learn more about scholarships, payment plans, and other opportunities for financial assistance.

In 2022:

Campers gained confidence counting carbohydrates 74%

Campers gained confidence rotating sites for injections or pump 70%

Talked about meaningful camp experiences 100%

Parents would recommend DYS camp to other families 100%

"Attending this camp let my son see he’s not alone or different. That there’s others kids out there with diabetes. Being at camp, making friends helped him try new things from food to new activities to trying a new site for his pump. I’m grateful he was able to go. My son didn’t want it to end."