Let’s get specific. Overnight camping has five primary goals:
- Have fun
- Improve athletic, artistic, and intellectual skills
- Gain independence
- Make friends and develop social skills
- Experience a new environment
Although some of these goals could be met at day camp, they are easiest to accomplish at overnight camp, especially Goals 3, 4, and 5. The unique experience of community living away from home is a powerful
force for gaining independence, making lifelong friends, and developing social skills. Plus, living in a new environment (especially a beautiful natural one) intensifies the experience of community living away from home because it’s a dramatic shift from familiar home and school environments.
As you read discussions of these five goals, you will begin to appreciate the powerful, positive influence that overnight camp has on the lives of children. Since their inception, overnight camps have been designed to build character. The good ones still do. Here’s how:
As you read discussions of these five goals, you will begin to appreciate the powerful, positive influence that overnight camp has on the lives of children. Since their inception, overnight camps have been designed to build character. The good ones still do. Here’s how:
GOAL #1: HAVE FUN
Camps are fun factories. Skilled camp directors and cabin leaders know how to create fun activities, regardless of the facilities they have. A good cabin leader can get a group of children excited about cleaning the cabin or picking up firewood. That may sound silly, but consider the positive example that a cabin leader sets for your child by turning an otherwise mundane activity, such as cleaning the cabin, into a fun game. You may laugh and say, “Not my kid,” but we’ve had parents tell us how flabbergasted they were to find their children cleaning up at home, without being asked, after returning from overnight camp.
Although skilled staff and choice facilities make it easy to have fun, it’s still important to check out any camp’s list of activities. The range and quality of activities varies from one camp to another, but few homes or schools can offer the variety of equipment, activities, and playmates that most overnight camps do. For that reason, Goal #1 will be easy for your child to achieve. Although some day camps offer a great selection of activities, the added time that children spend at overnight camps means that staff can provide more in-depth instruction. Added time also means that special activities, such as tournaments and carnivals, can last days or weeks.
GOAL #2: IMPROVE ATHLETIC, ARTISTIC, AND INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
Whether the camp you and your child choose offers five or five hundred activities, there will always be the opportunity to improve various skills. Of course, camps vary in the expertise of their cabin leaders and instructors. For example, at some music camps the instructors all have degrees from music schools while at other music camps the instructors are self-taught amateurs. At some traditional camps, the soccer coach is a former Division 1 All-American; at others, he is simply the guy who raised his hand a week ago and volunteered to run the program.
Who can best help your child develop skills? It’s hard to say. The music school graduate and the all-star athlete obviously have the skills, but are they good teachers? Will they set a good example for your child to follow, or are they prone to losing their temper and using profanity around campers? Do they emphasize competitive achievement or personal improvement? Clearly, when it comes to helping your child achieve Goal #2, the personal qualifications of a cabin leader or instructor are as important as her athletic, artistic, and intellectual qualifications.
Besides having staff with a winning combination of personality and expertise, the camp must have sessions long enough to allow children to develop their skills. Here is where overnight camps have most day camps beaten hands down. Overnight camps allow for a one-to-eight-week immersion. One week or more is usually enough time to achieve Goal #2. Of course, the longer the session, the more opportunities children have to develop skills. Ultimately, this skill development leads to an enhanced sense of self-worth.
At overnight camp, kids have wonderful opportunities both to master skills they already possess and to challenge themselves to develop skills in an area previously unfamiliar to them. Encourage your child to try some activities completely new to him, such as archery, sailing, acting, or ceramics. All kids—those with expertise, those with few skills, and those with special needs—will find the rewards of learning plentiful at overnight camp.
Although skilled staff and choice facilities make it easy to have fun, it’s still important to check out any camp’s list of activities. The range and quality of activities varies from one camp to another, but few homes or schools can offer the variety of equipment, activities, and playmates that most overnight camps do. For that reason, Goal #1 will be easy for your child to achieve. Although some day camps offer a great selection of activities, the added time that children spend at overnight camps means that staff can provide more in-depth instruction. Added time also means that special activities, such as tournaments and carnivals, can last days or weeks.
GOAL #2: IMPROVE ATHLETIC, ARTISTIC, AND INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
Whether the camp you and your child choose offers five or five hundred activities, there will always be the opportunity to improve various skills. Of course, camps vary in the expertise of their cabin leaders and instructors. For example, at some music camps the instructors all have degrees from music schools while at other music camps the instructors are self-taught amateurs. At some traditional camps, the soccer coach is a former Division 1 All-American; at others, he is simply the guy who raised his hand a week ago and volunteered to run the program.
Who can best help your child develop skills? It’s hard to say. The music school graduate and the all-star athlete obviously have the skills, but are they good teachers? Will they set a good example for your child to follow, or are they prone to losing their temper and using profanity around campers? Do they emphasize competitive achievement or personal improvement? Clearly, when it comes to helping your child achieve Goal #2, the personal qualifications of a cabin leader or instructor are as important as her athletic, artistic, and intellectual qualifications.
Besides having staff with a winning combination of personality and expertise, the camp must have sessions long enough to allow children to develop their skills. Here is where overnight camps have most day camps beaten hands down. Overnight camps allow for a one-to-eight-week immersion. One week or more is usually enough time to achieve Goal #2. Of course, the longer the session, the more opportunities children have to develop skills. Ultimately, this skill development leads to an enhanced sense of self-worth.
At overnight camp, kids have wonderful opportunities both to master skills they already possess and to challenge themselves to develop skills in an area previously unfamiliar to them. Encourage your child to try some activities completely new to him, such as archery, sailing, acting, or ceramics. All kids—those with expertise, those with few skills, and those with special needs—will find the rewards of learning plentiful at overnight camp.
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