Reasons to Have Your Children Attend Summer Camp

By: Mollie Shauger | Friday, January 1, 2021 | Summer Camp

A group of six girls wearing YMCA camp shirts.

Summer camp is an American tradition, and millions of children attend some form of camp each year. Camp gives children a chance to grow in a multitude of ways, and is a great chance for children to develop life skills that they can practice long after the camp concludes.

Skill Development

Camp offers children a chance to immerse themselves in new activities and learn new skills. As children exit their comfort zone, they’re free to learn new things without judgment, and in an environment where everyone is learning new skills everyday. This immersive experience encourages children to try new things and be more flexible in their skillset.

Promoting Independence

Summer camp gives children and teens a chance to improve their independent thought process. Children must take extra time to consider making good decisions on their own volition. Camp gives children a chance to follow camp rules all without parents telling them to do so. All of this independent decision-making helps kids become more confident in themselves, and helps them become more capable independent decision makers.

Learning Team Work

Summer camp brings children together in an environment that encourages a greater sense of community and appreciation for individual differences, whereas school focuses mainly on academic achievement. This unique environment encourages teamwork, collaboration, and better communication. Often times, camp activities focus on using teamwork to achieve a group goal. As children grow older, they can use their teamwork skills they obtained at camp to perform better in groups, or as a member of a larger team.

Improve Creativity

Summer camp is much more than a place to get outside and run around with friends, in fact, the summer camps offered by the YMCA give children a chance to engage their creative mind in skills courses and intellectual activities. Campers learn how to paint, build, craft, create and invent while away at camp, and this sort of intellectual stimulation challenges children to grow into creative problem solvers.

Meet New Friends

Did you know that summer camp is an awesome way for children to gain valuable social skills and learn how to make new friends? One study found that 96% of children say their favorite thing about summer camp is making new friends. Camp friends are also different than friends made at school, which is a purely academic environment. Camp is an environment where children from around the area, and multiple schools come together and are surrounded by like-minded individuals that are focused on similar goals. A lot of children make life-long friends and look forward to revisiting them year after year.

Connect with Nature

Camping is a restorative experience that takes place in the unspoiled beauty of nature. When a child is outdoors, they get to see, touch, hear, smell and sometimes even taste nature. Outdoor sensory development makes life richer, fuller, and all-around more pleasurable. On the contrary, too much time indoors can deprive children of the simple pleasures in life. Furthermore, camping encourages children to move, which is vital for healthy mental and physical development. Summer camp allows kids to jump, skip, run, swim, and just play outside without much else to worry about.

Day Camp Is Fun, Too

Summer day camps at our branches in East Orange, Hardyston, Livingston, Maplewood, Newton, New Milford, and Wayne also offer children great benefits that they can use for the rest of their lives. Our Blue Mountain Day Camp has been serving Sussex County, NJ, since 1979, and has given children a place to go to day camp in an abundance of unspoiled woodlands. With facilities normally seen only in overnight camps, BMDC offers an exciting, creative summer day camp experience for children. 

Welcome to the Best Summer Ever

YMCA summer camps offer children a variety of camping options. Our experienced, well-trained staff provide opportunities for campers to develop skills and explore new interests in a safe, supportive environment. All activities are designed to be fun and stimulating to help encourage learning during the summertime.

Contact us today to get more information about our summer camps, and learn how summer camp can improve your child’s summer.