What Does Summer Camp Teach Children?

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What does Summer Camp Teach Kids?
Summer Camp is an American Tradition. Raise your had if you went off to Summer Camp as a kid. Some go to a day camp, but many go to overnight or residential camp.
I have fond memories of day camp at the Rec Center.  I  got to make arts and crafts, and spend time with neighbors and friends.  Day Camp was only 9-12 for one week but how we loved it. I went off to CIT training one year and got to be a CIT at our local Girl Scout Day Camp. I remember that summer like it was yesterday.   My brothers and husband all worked at our local Scout Camp.
There are many types of summer camps. Some camps specialize in a sport or an academic endeavor, others are a smorgasbord of activities. But all camps teach much more. The teach your child values that they won’t learn any where else.
What do Kids Learn at Camp?

• Some campers may find themselves in leadership positions for the first time. Many camps give kids the opportunity to be in charge of a group or tent
• Kids learn to hone their communication skill. Away from home on  their own, kids have to learn to communicate what they want to to others.
• Kids at camp learn much about themselves and what they are capable of doing.
• Responsibility  - Many campers find themselves responsible for their own care for the first
• Summer camp encourages learning and discipline.  Summer camp is typically follow a structured schedule. Kids learn to to follow a routine.
• Team Work – many camps break kids up into tents or cabin groups, and campers will compete in a variety of ways from cleanest campsite to tug of war games.
• Summer camp widens your child’s perspective. They get to meet people and kids they would not normally meet. People from different backgrounds, and cultures.
• Summer camp fosters independence. At camp kids have to figure out things for themselves. They can’t go ask Mom or Dad for immediate help.
• Summer camp develops confidence. Kids who go to camp often find they have a new found confidence. In finding themselves in new situations, with kids of different ages they learn to take on new roles. Each time they learn a new skill they grow in confidence a little bit more.
• Kids who go away to camp in the great outdoors, develop a relationship with nature.

When kids go to camp they often grow in leaps and bounds, it is not just in stature and skills, they grow in character. Going off to summer camp away from home children grow up just a little bit.

Did you go to summer camp as a kid? Did you or are you sending your kids to camp? What do you hope they learn?

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