Are you ready for summer camp? Are you ready for a completely awesome summer camp? Over the last ten years, the counselors and staff at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta have watched a legion of kids explore a little independence and have a whole lot of fun at our Adventure Camp.
So much of what preschoolers do is built around their growing sense of identity and their cautious steps toward independence. They love to explore, and at our Adventure Camp, which is designed for campers aged four to six, they get some of their first opportunities to take a little control over their surroundings without the comfort of their caregivers. We love seeing them decorate their camp T-shirts, explore each of the Museum’s learning zones in detail and enjoy the calming effects of yoga and the invigorating effects of playing in our “front yard”, Centennial Olympic Park.
April Fresh has been a participating parent for several years. Her older children, Kalea, 8, and Didier, 6, are seasoned veterans of summers with us. Their younger sister Farren, 4, is coming to Adventure Camp for the first time this summer and can’t wait to experience all the fun that her siblings have shared. “Every day, they wanted to go back,” April says. “They want to stay in aftercare when camp had finished for the day. They’re having so much fun that they don’t want to come home!”
Mrs. Fresh was very pleased by the camp’s guest visitors. Last year, the children got to meet some snakes and lizards and were so excited. Getting to see the reptiles up close even minimized some of Kalea’s fear of snakes. They loved coming home every day with something new to talk about with their families and Mrs. Fresh was happy to report that her children pick our camps over any of the others in town.
So, why is traditional day camp important? Let campers be the ones to tell you.
- 96% of campers say that “camp helped me make new friends.”
- 92% say, “Camp helped me feel good about myself.”
- 70% of camp parents say, “My child gained self-confidence at camp”
The American Camp Association additionally believes that among the many benefits of the camp experience, day camp uniquely:
- Provides the camp experience for campers that are too young, anxious about being away from home, or just not ready for residential camp.
- Can create the foundation needed for successful longer-term experiences away from home.
- Allows for a greater partnership between the camp and the camper’s parents surrounding the growth and skill building that takes place at summer camp.
Morris Cohen, author over at DNAinfo.com, recently wrote about the long-term benefits of summer camp. In the article, he discusses psychologist Daniel Goleman’s findings about social intelligence and how summer camp can enhance social intelligence in children.
Camp is a key opportunity for kids to develop both sides of their social intelligence by offering them a way to practice becoming adept at socializing by offering them access to many new people and environments.
The more children can practice their social intelligence, the more smoothly they can incorporate the skills for the rest of their lives.
With children being in school for the first 18-or-so years of their lives, allowing them to branch out in experiences during summer camp certainly will help them become the best versions of themselves.
Growing Into the World 