Kelly and Stark Hayden collected survey data from other parents to help them build Hazel Camps.Photograph by Melissa Hayes Photography Anyone with elementary- or middle-school–aged children knows that planning for next summer begins before Christmas. When day-camp registration opens in early Janua ry, parents must be ready, schedule in hand, to snatch coveted spots at the hottest camps. Transportation options, camp hours, the friends who are also attending—everything must be researched and considered. The most organized parents keep a spreadsheet to track the mess; others wing it and find themselves scrambling come May. Stark and Kelly Hayden, parents of two in East Cobb, decided there must be a better way. “It’s really hard to figure out where you want to send your kids,” says Stark, a technology and product expert. “But I thought that if parents had one place to go, it would benefit them and the camps.” What started as casual text messages with other parents evolved into a survey and then an app, Hazel Camps, which the Haydens cocreated in 2024, before moving the project to a website this year. Named after a character from Watership Down (his favorite book), hazelcamps.com features more than 200 camps—primarily in metro Atlanta—searchable by theme, location, hours, and camper ages. You can peruse camps alphabetically or utilize the “Popular Camps” categories, such as dance, art, swimming, and sports. Each camp has a dedicated page detailing the cost, location, age range, and description, along with a link to the website for sign-ups. “The majority of my MBA program was focused on building start-ups, so I was always interested in what’s a problem that I could solve and how could I do it quickly,” says Stark. The frenzy for 2026 summer camps is just gearing up, but the Haydens are already plotting website expansions for next year. Stark says he plans to add features that allow parents to build a schedule and a favorites list, and invites summer camps to add custom profiles with more information about their programs. He also wants to expand to other metropolitan areas in the South and find a way to monetize the site while keeping it free for parents. If the Haydens get their way, this camp season will come with less focus on stress and more on sunscreen. This article appears in our January 2026 issue. The post An Atlanta couple’s app helps parents win the summer camp registration race appeared first on Atlanta Magazine. ...read more read less