The benefits of summer camp

By Jeannine Tidwell
Reader Contributor

There are universal hopes and aspirations for parents in their children learning and growing with health and happiness. We wish for them to love themselves, enjoy the lives they live and feel connected with their world.

With summer coming soon, there are summer camps offered that can greatly benefit children of all ages and is an answer to these hopes and aspirations. It’s a great way to ease kids into the summer or break boredom at the mid-way point giving them something refreshing to experience. Here are some of the other benefits gained from the timeless experience of a summer camp: 

Social Skills 

The power of meeting and making new friends can’t be underestimated. This is a chance for kids to nurture social skills through discovering new things about themselves alongside meeting new people and getting some distance and perspective from their everyday life, habits and routines whether it be at home or at school, no matter what kind of schooling it is. Novelty, fun and adventures are framed in the timeless season of summer and is a stimulating invitation for gaining social skills with other kids of all ages. Belonging is one of the major building blocks of building self-esteem.

Sense of Self Confidence and Assurance

In summer camp settings kids learn to straddle cooperation and self-expression while being in a group setting. All this through stretching oneself and gaining confidence in a new environment with other people who are doing the same. What all this really translates to is a bigger personal self-worth and the knowing that they are a part of something bigger than themselves yet they’re a valuable part of the whole. Group settings offer kids the chance of gaining self-confidence; a vital part of the learning journey which keeps our brain cells active and gives us a greater sense of connection with ourselves and our world.

Nature Connection 

As a culture, we’re disconnected from nature. It’s all too easy for kids to be doing something else that takes them out of the beauty and discovery of nature at the height of a season that is ready and available for exploration. The natural world is the essential setting for self-discovery, encounters with awe-inspiring places and a shared experience with others.

Learning New Skills 

We inherently grow as human beings. That’s just part of our natural blueprint. As part of this process, learning new and diverse skills encourages personal growth and gives kids a chance to make connections in new ways and between different skill areas. It’s a way of developing their own knowledge base and breathes life into the way they do things day to day. Learning new skills can often reignite existing passions in new ways. New skills take us out of the familiar, stimulating our brain cells and overall improves our sense of well-being.

Summer camps are a unique way of making summer memorable. By supporting your child you really are influencing this young human being’s life in such a positive way. It’s an opportunity to care for them by gifting them with a chance to experience themselves and others in ways that will serve them for a lifetime.