There are a thousands of summer camps in which to send your children. Just turn around and you’ll find one. But what should a good summer camp be like? Creative, fun, engaging, thought-provoking, original are some adjectives that fit the bill. Lonnie Lorenz Director of Swift Nature Camp a Wisconsin Overnight Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15, has a look.

Camps have Become More Professional

The New-Age Summer Camps

Today, the premium for summer camps is high. Parents need to understand why they are priced so high. These days, parents expect a lot from children. If they are paying a higher premium, they expect the child to learn more. They forget that it’s all about the experience. I often recommend that parents attend programs to understand how difficult it is for the child to produce sterling results. On the other hand, those who run summer camps must also focus on the overall experience they are exposing the children to. At the same time, camps should not hold back on providing quality services. With the coming of many international program-directors, many camps have woken up to the paradigm shift involved in the whole process. Today, there’s need for high professionalism by those running summer camps.

Camps are an Arduous Challenge

The traditional concept of a summer camp has been something that is fun and entertains your kids for a few hours during the day. But over the years, things have drastically changed. Camp organisers are increasingly looking at the learning objectives. A lot of thought and planning goes into running summer camps – define your target audience, what are you going to teach at the camp, how will it be different from what someone else is offering? No housewife can put up a board today saying ‘summer camp’. You need experts to deal with kids. Parents cross-question you about the benefits and the takeaways from the camp. They look for feedback about their children as well.

Never let Children Get Bored

It is difficult to keep children engaged. It’s not the parent who makes the choice today – it’s the child. If you don’t keep him interested, he will get bored within a couple of minutes. For people who conduct summer camps, this is actually becoming a challenge. The moment you think the child is losing interest, you have to quickly bring him back to the topic on hand. Single children need more attention and it’s a challenge to make them join the group.

Keep Technology at Bay

Children are exposed to technology so much on a daily basis that at least in a summer camp, they should stay away from modern gadgets. We use karaoke for performances, a computer to download data and use the Internet to show them exotic places. But I don’t think there should be overuse of technology because the aim is to get children away from it. Even otherwise, their lives are so well connected to the Internet. At least during a summer camp you have to pull them away from it. Technology should be used only to empower and facilitate the process and add quality to learning.

Kids Must Focus on Acquiring Life Skills

Learn in a Different Way

Summer camps should be a complete departure from academics. The camps that are really successful are the ones that are creative where there’s a lot of learning involved. They emphasise learning in a different way. Camp provides nature and getting outside doing nature walks, which kids would never get to do in a school. It is creative and more focused on the arts, and about environmental awareness. So the children come back the next day thrilled, and full of information. They are also eager to learn more and share.

Camps Must Focus on Holistic Learning

Traditional Summer camps have reinvent themselves focusing on teaching the things children don’t already learn from school. Camps are less academic and more about how to deal with life. They teach Life Skills. It should give them opportunities to act, or speak in front of an audience. Kids are yearning for an outlet for creativity, for they go through this nine-month tough curriculum and at home, they are exposed to TV, Internet and the onslaught of technology. Now camps focus a lot on adventure sports, which is beneficial. Children need holistic learning, that’s why we need these camps.

Give Parents Constructive Feedback

Parents are looking for constructive feedback from camp directors. The child should be exposed to something new. Parents want to know what the outcome of the camp is and what their child is getting out of it. If I am paying good money, there should be some kind of skill-acquirement at the end of it. It should equip them with life skills, and give them an outlet for creativity. Camps must acquaint children with arts, creative writing and so on.

Depart From Day-to-Day Environment

Kids Summer Camp take a departure from the everyday environment is so exciting that it would invoke learning and make the child more alert, aware and open. The worst thing any parent can do is to put the child into a camp in their school. The surroundings are so crucial that the familiar ones will have the child turning something off and not paying enough attention. Residential camps are the best, you eliminate the dependency factor.

Safety, a Big Concern for Parents

There is so much trepidation in parents when it comes to sending their child to overnight camps. Yet the facts are that camps are safer than schools. It could be the malady of the times we live in with the nuclear families, and the secured environment, but the reality we need camp to help kids feel more independent.

Author Bio: Swift Nature Camp is a Wisconsin Kids Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. Our focus is to blend traditional summer camp activities while increasing a child’s appreciation for nature at this Science Summer Camps

Category: Recreation
Keywords: parenting, family,advice,information,summer camp, family, vacation, travel, ,education, teens, kids