Parents' Corner

Summer Camp Creates Memories, Builds Friendships, and Shapes Self-Esteem

Posted by David Smith on Wed, Jun 23, 2021 @ 06:15 PM

Summer Camp FriendsChildren who attend summer camp can enjoy all kinds of benefits — which is why we love creating and offering this type of programming. This, of course, means that we can be pretty biased in favor of camp! So, rather than sharing all of the reasons why we think it’s amazing, we thought we’d take a look around the web to see and share what experts around the country are saying about the benefits of summer camp.

First, camp gives children the opportunity to create their own unique memories from what they experience. As psychologist and Temple University professor Frank Farley tells TODAY Moms, camping memories are “not common family memories, not common school memories” and, as children reflect back on them, they will likely be ones where they could express their own individuality.

Another key benefit: the friendships formed. The TODAY Moms article also quotes a 32-year-old woman who shares how she still maintains friendships with fellow campers from nearly twenty years ago. With one friend, she says, “we hit it off the first time we met when we were 11. And we never looked back . . . You are each other’s entertainment and you are each other’s drama and [you] form really close relationships. You have a new freedom and independence.”

All4Kids.org, meanwhile, points out how summer camp can facilitate memory-making by giving children a chance to get away from a reliance on technology to build friendships, learn life’s lessons, and build forever memories. When adults look back at their own experiences, the organization notes, they often share their “simple, unplugged, childhood memories” that were created at camp.

As kids socialize at summer camp and build treasured friendships, skill sets are naturally being built, including:

  • Sharing
  • Boundary setting
  • Problem-solving
  • Healthy interacting
  • Decision making

Then there’s the matter of self-esteem. All4Kids references studies that have shown how 70% of parents say their children gained self-confidence while attending camp.

Psychological Benefits of Summer Camp

In 2018, we published info on the psychological benefits of summer camp. In it, we quoted a Psychology Today article that describes how camp helps children to strengthen their coping strategies and also tackle these more complex challenges: “getting along with a new group of peers, learning how to ask for help from others, or taking manageable amounts of risks without a parent following after you.”

We also shared insights from PsychCentral.com. Summer camp makes room for and even rewards less common learning styles: “These are the kids who love to get messy, who prefer the language of movement and art to the language of words, kids who need to ‘take the time it takes’ to do something rather than fit the activity into someone else’s schedule. Camp makes room for their nonlinear approach to learning and life.”

We’ll wrap up our mini-tour around the web with thoughts from Washington Parent—that summer camp allows children to belong to a special community, enhancing what’s called a child’s social intelligence. This allows a child to develop feelings of empathy and become attuned to other people—and then successfully interact with people and groups

Horizon Education Centers’ Summer Camp

Our 2021 summer camp will be absolutely jam-packed with excitement and discovery—with each day bringing a promise of even more adventure. Camp will include:

  • Educational activities: art, science, math, and technology
  • Daily breakfast and lunch
  • Summer reading program
  • COVID-safe field trips
  • Weekly themed activities: Greek Greatness, Lizards of Oz, and more!

Learn more about how to request registration to Horizon Education Centers’ summer camp.

Topics: Summer Camp

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