Coming Into Your Own

PLEASE NOTE:  The city’s biggest Camp Fairs are coming up on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, in Manhattan. For families with children ages 3 to teen, the Camp Fairs are free, child-friendly, and feature both Day Camps (in and around the city) and Sleepaway Camps (all over the Northeast).  CLICK HERE for details and to register.

There’s no doubt that camp is fun–it gives children the opportunity to swim, climb ropes courses, canoe across lakes, and learn new sports. But what many people don’t always consider when they think about camp is all the life skills that children will gain, which will help them grow to be successful adults in both their personal lives and in the workplace.

Independence: When children go to day or sleepaway camp, they are given the opportunity to grow more independent. Separation from parents gives a child the ability to think independently, building self-esteem and confidence.

Resilience: It’s important for children to develop resilience for coping with the obstacles and stresses that inevitably will happen in their lives. At camp, children are often problem-solving, adapting to change, and building confidence. These are all tools that help children cope with hurdles they may encounter, and therefore build resiliency.

“What’s most difficult about raising children is the feeling of powerlessness knowing they’ll get injured, disappointed, and heartbroken, sometimes all in the same day,” says Ben Esposito, director of Camp Alvernia, a co-ed day camp in Centerport, NY. “We can’t keep our children from experiencing challenges, but we can give them the tools they need to pick themselves back up when they fall down. At camp it’s okay to be a beginner, which means children can learn and build confidence in a new context. The best camps foster resiliency by giving children opportunities to fail in a supportive environment.”

Sense of community: Children become part of a community at camp. They learn to share in traditions, work together, support each other, eat together and—at sleepaway camp—live in bunks together. Campers and staff become like family. For the majority of campers, summer camp is the first time they have lived with or eaten every meal with a group of people other than their family. As a community that lives, eats, and participates in activities together, campers must learn to adapt, make decisions as a group, and respect other people’s needs.

Children can reinvent themselves at camp: At home, children go to school with the same children for years, and some children may be labeled as “shy” or “athletic.” At camp, children are surrounded by new people, and they can reinvent themselves. Camp is an accepting community where children can just be themselves.

Confidence: Camp provides children with many opportunities to build confidence. “Summer camp is a transformational environment,” explains Dan Weir, director of camping services at the Frost Valley YMCA. “Children spend all day with well-trained role models—camp counselors—learning confidence and leadership by example. Children leave camp each summer knowing that they can be themselves and, as a result, they walk a bit taller.” The American Camp Association (ACA) research has found that 92 percent of campers said that camp helped them feel good about themselves, and 70 percent of parents reported that their child gained self-confidence at camp. When a child makes it to the top of the climbing wall, or goes on the zip line after being apprehensive, he gains confidence by accomplishing something he didn’t think they could do.

Leadership: There are many ways children gain leadership skills at camp. From teaching a new camper the camp songs, to being a “big brother” or “big sister” to the youngest campers, to being a captain for color war, children learn to be leaders in their camp community, which is a skill that will help them in their personal and professional lives as they get older.

Break from technology: According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, today’s children spend over 7.5 hours a day engaged in media. Excessive media consumption prevents children from taking part in hands-on activities and socializing with other children. The majority of summer camps ban most technology, including TV, smart phones, iPads, and computers. Taking a break from technology over the summer allows children to focus on learning new skills and taking part in social interactions.

New experiences: Each day, children are trying something new at camp. Whether it’s planting a vegetable in the organic garden, learning how to do the front crawl, or mastering a tennis serve, children are learning new skills and experiencing something different. Research by the ACA shows that 63 percent of campers continue to participate in some of the new activities they learned at camp when they get home.

Communication skills: Children at camp are constantly communicating with each other. There are no iPads or iPhones for messaging, only one-on-one communication. Campers talk while in their bunk, at meals, on the sports fields, and while doing arts and crafts. Today’s children need the camp environment more than ever to have true face-to-face conversations unmediated by technology.

Friendships: Research by the ACA reports that 96 percent of campers say that camp helped them make new friends, and 93 percent of children say camp helped them get to know kids who were different from themselves. There are many reasons summer camp has traditionally been a place that helps foster long-lasting friendships. Camp is an accepting community where a child can be themselves. Children eat together, live together, and have fun at their activities together, which all leads to forming close friendships. Camp professionals are also trained in the management of group dynamics. They are trained to empower children to feel comfortable, and to encourage each child to contribute to the group. This helps children feel more secure, and makes it easier for them to form friendships.

“By sending your child to camp, you are providing him or her with more than just a summer of fun,” says Susie Lupert, executive director of the ACA, NY and NJ. “Camp is a unique environment where your child will gain experiences that can’t be learned in a traditional classroom. Your child will return from camp with a new sense of confidence and independence that can’t be learned in any other place.”