Benefits of Summer Camp for Kids

Christine HatcherEmily Keller

Taylor WilhelmHeath Harris

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, former chair of America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth, had his own perspective on the value of a summer camp experience for children: “It gets them away from a neighborhood or situation that may exist in their neighborhoods that isn't healthy . . . It teaches them how to get along with other people - both other young people as well as adults. To give our children a safe place to learn and grow–camp does that.” (American Camping Association 2014)

Benefits of Summer Camps for Kids

The American Camping Association has cited the following Benefits and Anticipated Outcomes of the Camp Experience:

Social Skills Development Leadership Communication Participation

Self-respect and Character BuildingResponsibilityResourcefulnessResilience

Community Living/Service SkillsCaringFairnessCitizenshipTrustworthiness

Social Intelligence: There are TWO parts.

Social Awareness is the ability to monitor our inner world Social awareness refers to our thoughts and feelings Such as empathy, attunement to others and social cognition. Social Facility is how we use our social awareness to interact with individuals and groups successfully, such as self-presentation, influence and concern for others.

Camp is a key opportunity for kids to develop both sides of their social intelligence by offering them a way to practice socialization skills by offering them access to many new people and environments.

Social Benefits

Camps provide a safe place for kids to make decisions for themselves without the guidance of a parent or teacher. It can provide them with freedom to explore new directions or activities or even a future career path. The building blocks of self-esteem are belonging, learning, and contributing. Camps offer unique opportunities for children to succeed in these three vital areas and even beyond home and school."

Build a Sense of Independence

School is out and kids are sitting in front of the TV or on the computer, and not actively engaging in cognitive development.

More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.

A Summer Without Learning

According to research by the American Camp Association (ACA), 63% of children who learn new activities at camp will sustain an interest in those activities after camp is over.

Exploring New Heights

Not every kids wants to go away to soccer camp during the summer. Summer camp can open the doors for kids to unconventional activities such as rock climbing, swimming, arts and crafts, hiking, archery, challenge courses, and more. Children lose more than academic knowledge over the summer. Most children—particularly children at high risk of obesity—gain weight more rapidly when they are out of school during summer break.

Camp Gets Kids Moving

So the kids are out of school. What do you do with them while you’re at work? Childcare is expensive. Do you hire a baby sitter? Don’t have money to do something with the kids everyday?

New studies are finding that intensive parenting — defined as “being involved in every aspect of a child’s life” and always putting your child's needs before your own — can be detrimental to the mental health of parents, specifically mothers. But when children are at camp, knowing they’re in a developmentally appropriate setting and thriving all on their own alleviates the pressure many parents may feel to be overly involved.

Camp is Great for Parents Too!

NDD is a lack of routine contact with nature that may result in stunted academic and developmental growth. The term was coined by author Richard Louv in his book

Last Child in the Woods in an attempt to explain how our societal disconnect with nature is affecting today's children.

Louv says we have entered a new era of suburban sprawl that restricts outdoor play, in conjunction with a plugged-in culture that draws kids indoors.

Some children adapt. Those who don’t develop the symptoms of NDD, which include attention problems, obesity, anxiety, and depression.

Nature Deficit Disorder

Kids who live in urban areas are less likely to spend time outside in nature than those in rural areas.

Camp offers kids an opportunity to experience outdoor activities that they may not have access to in their home environment.

“The majority of camp directors believed that fostering children's connection to nature requires purposeful programming, that opportunities to connect with the natural environment at camp are important for children, and that camp plays a more important role today in fostering children's connection to nature than in the past.”

(American Camping Association 2008)

Camp and NDD

47% of camps offer specialized programs for individuals with disabilities (American Camping Association, 2011)

There are more than 200 camps offered for kids with special needs.

The camp experience is even more important for children with special needs, because they gain self-confidence as they try and master new activities, and increased independence.

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. -Aldous Huxley

Camp and Special Needs

Camp and Special Needs cont.

By sending their kids to camp, parents can help their children create a healthy lifestyle. There are many camps for children with disabilities that focus on activities that help children achieve feelings of:

belonging/acceptance success accomplishment growth competence belonging/acceptance success accomplishment growth competence

making new friends developing specific

motor skills learn independence participating individually

(recreationally or competitively)

participating on a team (recreationally or competitively)

increasing aerobic or anaerobic activity

interacting with peers who may or may not have a disability

The National Camp Evaluation Project (NCEP) was a three-year study (from 1993 to 1996) that measured the social, emotional, and outdoor recreational skills of 2,184 campers with special needs who attended fifteen nonexclusive, residential summer camps in fourteen states. Parents completed the Affective Behavior Scale for the Disabled (ABSD), and camp counselors used the Outdoor Skills Inventory (OSI) to evaluate children at the beginning and end of camp.

Campers experienced significant growth in social skills, communication, domestic responsibility, independence, and self-esteem as measured by the ABSD. Significant growth in the personal and social skills and in the self-help subscales of the OSI was also noted (Steve Brannan, Joel Arick, and Ann Fullerton, “The National Camp Evaluation Project: A National Study of the Effects of Specialized Camps,” Camping Magazine 70 (1997): 28–31.)

Camps and Special Needs cont.

The National Inclusive Camp Practices (NICP) project assessed outcomes for 373 campers with and 370 campers without special needs from fourteen inclusive camps. Before the camp sessions, parents completed the Individual Characteristics Survey (ICS) to measure their children's socio-emotional characteristics.

The Survey was completed again at the end of the camp. All youth experienced significant growth in their outdoor skills and personal development (e.g. self-reliance, communication, social interactions, and self-esteem.) In addition, campers with special needs significantly increased the amount of time they spent engaging in activities and

social interactions (Steve Brannan, Joel Arick, Ann Fullerton, and Joyce Harris, “Inclusive Outdoor Programs Benefit Youth: Recent Research on Practices and Effects,” Camping Magazine 73 (2000): 26–29.)

Camps and Special Needs cont.