Overnight Camps: Top 7 Reasons to Send Your Child
Being a first time camper at an overnight summer camp can sometimes be difficult, with parents oftening questioning themselves as to whether they made the right choice. Their children are away from home and their usual support networks, being taken care of by relative unknown people. It can be difficult for a non-camper family to understand the true benefits of an overnight camp, so we at Explorer Camps will try to make it clearer for you.
1: Challenging Beyond the Classroom
Overnight camps challenge children, without their normal support network available, to face problem solving 101 on their own. Believe it or not, a camper can grow and mature on their own, becoming more independent, while developing social and emotional intelligence!
2: Practical Skill Building
Developing real-life skills is at the core of camp as there are many skills that cannot be taught in a classroom, at a sleepover party, in a social skills group or in a textbook. Campers gain memories that last a lifetime and have life-long friendships but more importantly develop resilience, compassion, patience, self-awareness, and much, much more. Because of a great kids’ camp, children become much more independent and master new skills.
3: Learning to Fail is Learning To Succeed
Failure is an intregral part of summer camps such as Explorer Camps. In general, when we learn to lose, fail a task, try new skills, meet new people, hurt and then recover, we grow up. We become confident individuals. We become more socially and emotionally aware. Overnight camps are no different.
4: Connecting through Fun
Children are 24/7 away from home in an experience that serves as a different kind of classroom to what children are usually accustomed to. Camp provides inspiration and stimulation through daily challenges, games and activities that are simply needed in order to grow, mature and develop as an individual. Camp encourages learning through play, a very powerful and magical place to send a child.
5: Building Empathy and Compassion
Compassion and patience are long-lost values that are unfortunately seen less regularly in society. However, at overnight camps they’re highlighted and grown, whether it be dealing with so many new peers, different cultures, different languages and overall exposing a child to a large and diverse population.
6: Collaborating with Others
Teamwork becomes a buzzword on camp, with children continually working together to meet a common goal. This could be in activities such as team building, Escape Rooms, or even water games. Of even the simpliest of things such as keeping your room clean, or clearing up after an activity. Campers learn to listen and cooperate in a group setting and will become more self-reliant living on their own. Many children will become more self-aware of their actions, power of words and overall will learn to advocate for themselves up on stage or during an activity leading a group of peers through the challenge course. Real hands-on activities and challenges create true, real-life experiences and that is exactly what camp delivers.
7: Real-Life Lessons
Camp is a giant playground that allows children to learn through play. Summer camp encourages being active, staying healthy and overall provides opportunities for growth and development. Camp teaches social and emotional intelligence, a necessity that cannot necessarily be taught in a classroom. Camp does not judge on intellect. Nothing is based on a grade and often camps do not encourage competitiveness but togetherness. The value of children learning 21st Century Skills is immeasurable in modern times.
When you ask a camper about their most memorable experience in life and where they learned to do that, most of them will respond that it was at CAMP! The clear reality is that camp needs to be a part of every child’s life. It really does!
