LaToyia Dennis, author of Hatch, Leap, Soar, shares the benefits of summer camp for kids on her blog for motivated moms!

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There are more than 12,000 summer camps in the United States that cater to a wide variety of interests, age ranges, and activities. Every year more than 11 million people attend summer camps,  That’s about 3% of the population of the US. While they’re at camp kids learn important life skills that will stick with them their entire lives,,.  They’ll make new friends, and get experiences they never would otherwise. There have been many studies done around the importance of summer camp their benefits for kids.

THE BENEFITS OF SUMMER CAMP

Increased Confidence

Summer camps give kids the opportunity to think and do things for themselves. They take up leadership positions in their activities more often. They also learn to do things they’ve never done before, giving them the confidence to explore more in their day to day lives. This gives them confidence that stays with them for a lifetime.

Unplugging from Technology

It can be incredibly difficult to get your kids to unplug from technology, especially during the summer. Especially when they’re at home all the time around their favorite gaming devices. Most summer camps don’t offer access to technology and instead, kids take part in group activities that are physically active. which has the benefit of adding improved health to the list of benefits camp has for kids. 

Growing Independence

It can be quite common for kids to simply rely on their parents to make decisions for them or even to expect that their parents will be there to help them every time they need it. But there are no parents at camp. Kids have to learn to ask others, who they don’t know for help or to do tasks themselves. Independence and self-reliance may very well be the most important thing that kids who attend summer camp learn. It’s something that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Getting in Touch with Nature

So many kids these days don’t know the pleasure of playing in nature. I’m not just talking about going to a public park, I mean getting muddy, climbing trees, and swimming in lakes. Summer camps provide kids with that opportunity to get in touch with nature. Some camps will even have campers sleeping out under the stars. Being in touch with nature has shown to have massive lifelong health benefits. It’s amazing for a person’s mental health, no matter what their age is.

Develop Friendship Building Skills

Making friends is incredibly difficult.  It gets easier once you get past that “you’re my friend because we both like the color pink” stage of making friends. This can especially be true for people who have had the same friends their entire lives. At summer camp kids learn how to make friends with all new people every year. Yes, there will always be those who go back year after year, but there will also be newcomers each summer too. While they’re at camp they’ll also be making friends that they will keep in touch with for the rest of their lives. 

When considering summer camp, please keep these benefits in mind.  Children lose 60% of what they’ve learned over the summer, let’s keep them on track with summer camp.  Do you put your kids in summer camp?  If so, what are your thoughts?

© LaToyia Dennis ~ Motivated Mom

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