Challenge By Choice
Everyone has had a bittersweet recollection of their adolescence. It could be a memory of piano lessons, birthday presents, orange Creamsicles, or double plays on first base; whatever it is, it carries a holistic feeling of accomplishment, joy, and belonging that grows rarer every day.
Safe Spaces
When it comes to summer camps, the experience is largely defined by what happens on-site—the range of activities, the friendships, the independence. But at camps designed for LGBTQ+ youth, the impacts last long after campers return home.
Something A Little Extra
Summer camps often include special events on the calendar to create excitement beyond the routine activities. Yet often these events are one-dimensional as the programming may only feature costume dress-up or a themed show.
Embrace Hands-On Learning
The big hall was bustling with people setting up tables, looking for the rare electrical outlet, and rushing to be ready before the doors opened. It was my first time at a camp fair.
On The Waterfront
The waterfront can be the most fun—yet dangerous—part of a summer camp. Whatever water elements camps have (i.e., pools, ponds, or lakes), water safety remains one of the biggest concerns for most directors.
Evaluating Water Activities
Water is a staple of many camps. Yes, of course, camps provide and encourage drinking water throughout the heat of summer, but water also hosts a number of activities that allow campers to cool off, squeal with delight while playing with friends, and beam with pride while learning a new skill (or even brush up on an old one).
COVID-19 Testing
Running a summer camp is very rewarding. That said, it’s also a worry-inducing, energy-draining, survive-each-day grind of ensuring each child is happy and healthy from the moment of arrival until the last high-five of the season.
Creating An A-Team
Some of a camper’s fondest memories might be at the art shack with friends, playing a game of Four Square with pals, or being immersed in nature while looking for salamanders in the creek. Another memory may be of a favorite summer staffer.
First-Year Camp Staff Survival
Being a camp staff member is rewarding, but it’s also tough; there are early mornings, late nights, extreme weather, camper crises, and daily challenges that will test staff members to their limits. From socks to soap, from songs to sleep, here are 25 tips drawn from years of camp staff and youth program experience to keep first-time staffers going strong this summer and beyond.
Be A Good Neighbor
Imagine the sounds of a peaceful lake in the mountains on a summer morning--the birds chirping, fish jumping out of the water for a bite to eat and splashing back in, and the spinning of a reel as
A Unique Setting
Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park isn’t the only national park to host residential camps and programs for children, but it is one of the first, says Stacey Heffernan, director of the Cuyahoga Valle
Camp--The Final Frontier
I slept well last night as the rain fell against the composite shingles of the roof, down the aluminum gutters, and out through the storm drain.
Open Or Close?
2020 was a summer of difficult decisions. For some, it was a last-minute decision, hoping that something would change, the regulations would ease, or the pandemic would calm to a dull roar. In light of COVID-19, some camps
The Psychology Of Programming
Every person on the planet usually knows what he or she does. This seems to be the easy part; it’s in the manual.
Remaining Relevant
Young adults born between 1984 and 2002—known as Generation Y or the Millennial generation—are the most educated in American history and—like the generation of baby boomers—one of the largest.
Camping's Uncertain Future
In southeast Missouri, there is a little town with a quaint ice cream shop, one gas station--and a host of antique and flea shops. Will old-fashioned summer camps go the way of the small-town ice crea
Parents: You May Never "Get It"
Parents may think they know what their children are getting out of their summer camp experience. Mom and Dad may never really understand all those summer camp inside jokes and special memories.After
School Could Learn Lessons From Camp
Summer's over, and the kids are back in school. But a lot of kids aren't happy about that. No child should feel lonely at school.What if schools were more like camp? In this essay by Sunshine
Goodbye, Camp!
As summer draws to its inevitable close, campers, counselors and staff all over the world are saying their goodbyes.Here are the hugs, smiles, and tears as the campers board the buses to go home from
Camp Send Home A "New" Kid?
Parents, are you looking at your just-returned-from-camp child and wondering, "Who is this kid, and what happened to mine?" After a summer of doing things for herself at camp, your child will