Why Summer Day Camp is So Beneficial for Your Child
Are you considering day camp for your child? Sending your child to day camp has so many benefits that go beyond just childcare and your child being outdoors over the summer. From independence to building confidence, a summer spent at day camp will help your child gain important life skills. Here are just a few of the many reasons camp is so beneficial for your child.
Focus on Social-Emotional Development
As a former high school teacher, Jared Gelb, Director of Ramaquois Day Camp in Rockland County, NY feels that schools are extremely focused on academics and that social-emotional development is often secondary. “Camp reverses that. We are hyper-focused on the social-emotional growth of a child and less on intellectual growth. Day camp is where we concentrate on the effort, not the result. Camp gives children the unique opportunity to build self-esteem and confidence in a far less competitive environment than school.”
A Safe Environment to Make Mistakes
Day camps are built specifically for children and are a great learning environment for them. “Camp is a place for children to feel comfortable in their environment, be themselves and find out new things about themselves,” explains Jason Samuel, Director of The Nature Place Day Camp in Rockland County, NY. “It’s also a wonderful place to make mistakes and learn that it’s ok to make mistakes because you are in a caring and nurturing environment. Whether you strike out at making a friend or on the baseball diamond, there are people to support you and get you back into the game or chatting with a new potential friend.”
Resilience & Independence
Children build important skills while participating in camp activities like swimming, ninja courses and arts & crafts. “Children gain self-confidence by trying new activities. We set them up to achieve but they do have failures in a safe environment which is part of life,” explains Tom Coffey, Director of Southampton Camp & Club. “We are a nurturing environment; however, we also want campers to learn how to do things on their own without the help of mom or a nanny. Campers are learning to use a spoon and fork at lunch, to clean up after themselves at meals and to walk from A to B to get to their activities.”
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Build Confidence While Trying New Activities
Samuel says that kids are exposed to a variety of new activities at day camp. “Your child may come to camp with no interest in archery, cooking or rock climbing and suddenly, a passion is ignited in them that they never knew about. And when a child learns a new skill without their parent around, they are building both independence and confidence because they did it on their own.” Gelb adds that day camp offers children the opportunity to have a well-rounded experience which can be hard to do during the school year. “Even if your child is athletic and focused on sports at home, camp gives you the opportunity to learn new passions like creative arts or the ropes course or maybe something like music or dance that you may not necessarily turn to because most kids don’t have the time. Camp does this inherently because these activities are part of the program.”
Learn to Be Part of a Group
Being part of a team or a group is an important skill that children will need as they get older, whether in high school, college or in the workplace. “Day camp offers an incredible and unique opportunity to be part of a group and for children to feel like they are a part of something special,” says Gelb. “Kids learn how to interact with others who they may not otherwise interact with. This allows kids to develop a sense of camaraderie and interpersonal skills which can sometimes get lost in school when kids are being taught to just sit and listen. All day, campers are together in a group, talking at lunch or around the arts & crafts table, developing social skills.”
Day camp is a place where children’s social education takes place and where kids can explore new interests in a safe and warm environment. After just one summer at day camp, you will be amazed at the personal growth your child has gained!
