Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean the skills that campers learned during the summer need to be shelved for another year. Camp skills are life skills. The skills kids gain while at overnight summer camp can ease their back-to-school transition and prepare them for success inside—and outside—the classroom.
This year, we hope your camper takes camp back to school with her. Here are five ways her camp experiences have helped her prepare for the best school year yet.
- She’s learned how to succeed.
You may be thinking “You have to learn how to succeed?” You bet. Succeeding is all about overcoming challenges, and overnight camp teaches kids how to face—and conquer—their fears. Every day, campers are trying new things, whether it’s their first time riding a horse, performing on stage for the first time, or their first time rafting Class 3 rapids. Those new things can be scary, but with the support of their counselors and their friends, campers learn to surmount their fears. She’ll take that newfound confidence to the classroom, where she might be facing long division or tackling a college essay. With her camp successes grounding her, she’ll be able to face whatever the school might throw at her.
- And—she’s learned how to fail.
Not everything she tries at camp is going to work out. Whether it’s a losing a game of volleyball or finishing at the back of the pack in the camp swim meet, sometimes your camper is going to fail. And that’s okay. In fact, learning how to fail gracefully might be an even more important life lesson that learning how to succeed. Campers have to navigate the very human emotions of disappointment, sadness, and self-doubt. And back at school, your daughter is going to be faced with all kinds of things that she might not get right the first time. She might not get that coveted part in the play, get the grade she wanted, or make the team sport she had her hopes set on. But because of her camp experience, she knows to keep trying—or to try something new. We call that a recipe for success.
- She’s learned how to be responsible.
At overnight camp, girls become the masters of their own schedules. They have to keep track of their own belongings. They need to work in teams to keep their cabins clean, and to tidy up after meals. In short, they learn to be responsible and reliable. They’ll need these skills in school so they can keep track of their class assignments and extracurricular schedules—and to become the sort of classmate people want on their group projects.
- She’s learned how to unplug.
Kids’ worlds are full of screens and, while technology has its place, there are downsides to staying constantly connected. Kids (and adults too!) lose the ability to be creative, to engage in deep conversations, to be still and silent, and to stay on task. At an unplugged camp, though, campers have a tech-free summer where they get to unplug and enjoy imaginary play, one-on-one talks, and time in nature. Once kids see how great it can be to go without their devices, they’ll be better able to responsibly manage their screen time … and maybe even unplug completely from time to time.
- She’s learned how to be a good friend.
What’s the best part of summer camp? Many would quickly answer that it’s the lifelong friendships that are made. In a small overnight camp, campers may be housed by grade level, but they are in activities, meals and camp programs with camper of all ages and backgrounds. That enables them to meet and make friends with a variety of people. They learn how to start conversations, how to draw in someone who might be a little shy, how to support each other, and how to maintain connections even when they are far apart. They can take these skills to school, knowing how far a kind or encouraging word can go to support classmates in good times and bad.
So as your child gets ready to go back to school, don’t think that the lessons of summer camp will be left behind. Camp skills are life skills, and those skills know no season.
