What Camp Can Teach Your Child
At Camp Kupugani, whether at our girls-only camp or boys-only camp, we facilitate the empowerment and challenges that contribute to positive child development. Those who have experienced camp life at a good camp know how powerful the experience can be. For those who haven’t, they may ask: Do these values really make a difference in a child’s life? Can camp really impact a child during only a couple weeks being away from home? The answer is yes, they can learn many life lessons while being away at camp.
Writer Jennifer Geisman wrote a piece for care.com emphasizing 6 lessons camp can teach your child. Paraphrases are below, with the whole piece available at this link.
- Independence: This is one of the most important lessons that a child can learn at camp. They learn to be responsible for themselves. Children regularly experience homesickness while at camp; however, with the staff members’ help and guidance, they learn independence and thrive, and can recognize that they can enjoy being away from home in the short term.
- Appreciation: After having learned a sense of independence, your child might start to recognize all of the small stuff that you have done for them that they now do for themselves, i.e.making their own bed and making sure that they are cleaning up after themselves.
- Identity: Without outside distractions such as cell phones or video games, children can focus on who they really are and who they want to become. With amazing staff members, children can learn what its truly like to be their own individual selves and realize that it’s okay to be unique.
- New Skills: There are a certain set of skills special to particular camps that may not be available otherwise to children. Camps teach skills everyday that your child may not have thought they could learn.
- Courage: The experience helps children know that they can make mistakes, stand up for what they believe in, and believe in themselves and their great potential.
- Sense of Community: Being at camp teaches children what it’s like to belong. It teaches them the importance of getting along with others and how to build life-long friendships.