WHY SLEEPAWAY CAMPS BENEFIT CHILDREN… AND THEIR PARENTS!

Sending your child to sleepaway camp can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime! And not just for them, but for you as well.

For your kids, the benefits of camp are plentiful - the growth in confidence, the responsibility and resilience of mastering new skills, learning how to tidy up their cabins and, occasionally, failing at an activity but realizing that they can try again until they succeed.

The Canadian Summer Camp Research Project (a 2010 study out of the University of Waterloo), found that kids who attend overnight camp experience positive development in self-confidence, social integration, nature appreciation and emotional intelligence skills such as empathy and generosity.

What’s more, they develop healthier attitudes toward physical activity - we all know that swimming, sailing, canoeing and kayaking are more fun than running laps!

The main advantages that come with attending an overnight camp are:

Boosting confidence

Building resilience & tenacity

Making friends and increasing social skills

Spending time in nature / going unplugged

Learning to be independent

Developing new skills

Respecting and appreciating others’ differences

Learning about responsibility at camp

And for the parents, the time spent away from their kids is beneficial as well.

Psychologist Michael Thompson wrote an entire book about the importance of a little child-parent separation. “Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow” urges helicopter parents to let go and set their kids free for the summer.

Thompson emphasized on the “magic of camp” – because after all, that’s where most kids first battle homesickness only to emerge triumphantly independent.

We all know that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Each family member appreciates the value of their family when arriving home from summer camp. A month or two of being away from home teaches both children and parents the vital aspects of life that they often take for granted.

Sometimes the best kind of love for growing kids is “tough love”- one that lets the child stick it out to let them develop tenacity, endurance and resilience on what life throws at them - and this can all be achieved by having a wonderful summer camp experience.