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Five (MORE) Reasons Great Parents Send Their Kids to Camp

There are so many reasons great parents choose to send their kids to summer camp. Two years ago, I shared five of them on the most popular post I’ve ever published. But now I have more to share. Consider this the second installment in a series with others to follow, because the list of ways…

10 Surprising Things Kids Learn at Camp

I would not be the person I am today without camp. -15-year-old camper My three decades of camp experience, coupled with my own and others’ research, have shaped my long-held opinion that camp experiences benefit children in profound ways. Yet even I was astounded by the revelations shared at our closing campfires last summer for…

10 Ways to Better Understand Your Camper’s Experience

Your camper’s home from camp, and they had a great time. But what exactly was this camp thing all about? If you want to better understand your camper’s experience and how it impacted them, try one or more of these camp practices. You’ll start to better understand your camper’s experience, and you may just make…

Secondary Homesickness: When Your Camper doesn’t want to go BACK to Camp

“I don’t want to go back!” Two or three times each year, I get a call from a returning camper’s parent who is baffled that their once-happy camper is now saying she doesn’t want to return to camp. From what the parent saw and heard last summer, camp was a great experience. So why is…

The Greatest Internship: 6 Critical Skills Counselors Develop at Camp

This week I’m featuring a guest post by Alison “Bean” Moeschberger, an experienced camp director whose passion is training and guiding counselors to be outstanding at camp and in life. I still cringe every time I hear a counselor tell me that they’re not returning to camp next summer because they have to get an internship to prepare…

Research finds Children Learn Social Skills at Camp

Last summer, I conducted research on the impact camp experiences have on children’s social skills and happiness. This research was through the California State University, Fresno for my master’s degree thesis entitled, “The Perceived Impact of Camp Experiences on Youth Social Skills and Subjective Well-Being.” Last week, I reported on the happiness (well-being) findings. This week, I’m…

Study Finds Campers Really are Happy

Update: Check out my book, HAPPY CAMPERS, for more about my research & findings! Camp is basically my happy place, and I love being here more than any other place in the world. -Camper, 2014 “Happy camper” is an expression used to describe anyone who’s feeling good about something in any circumstance. But just how…

Three Character Traits Kids Develop at Camp

While it’s easy to think of ways to teach our kids to do laundry or solve math problems, finding a way to instill important character traits isn’t so simple. The way we model traits we want our children to exhibit has a powerful influence on them, and some traits (kindness, gratitude, and generosity) they learn…

10 Social Skills Kids Learn at Camp

At one of my son’s soccer games this fall, a mom on our team offered her son $50 for each goal he scored. He had the highest scoring game of his life, and his mom had to fork over enough cash for a new iPhone. This anecdote illustrates something I have long felt to be…

Five Reasons Every Teen Should go to Summer Camp

Being at camp gives me this sense of belonging that I’ve never felt anywhere else. I know that I can be myself and that my cabin mates will love me for who I am, and I’ve brought that to my life outside of camp. -Hannah #1 Improve Interpersonal Skills & Form Close Friendships “In a…

3 Life Lessons Learned on a Tow Rope

The recreational sports we teach at camp include sailing, water skiing, rock climbing, and many more fun outdoor sports. But these are not the most important skills campers learn. We view the recreational skills we instruct as a means to a much loftier goal – teaching campers important life lessons like overcoming failure, keeping a…

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