After Camp: Keeping the Camp Momentum Going

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Sure the kids are home from camp and are settling back into their school routines.  Maybe they’re still a little bit camp sick, but it’s possible to keep the camp momentum going throughout the year.  Here are a few suggestions we thought we’d pass along.

  • Talk about camp with them.  Not only do children love talking about their camp experiences, but doing so helps them process the events of the summer.  In sharing their experiences, they’re able to gain perspective about camp.   If they haven’t already told you by now (and they probably have a hundred times over), ask them to tell you about their camp friends, their favorite activities and favorite events.
  • Encourage them to keep in touch with their camp friends throughout the year.  Of course, summer camp draws campers from all over the globe, so play dates and get-togethers might not be realistic for everyone.  But in the age of email, Skype, and Facebook (for some older campers), maintaining contact is easier than ever.
  • Encourage children to read camp literature, such as newsletters, and to keep up with the blog on your camp’s website.  Parents should regularly read camp literature and blogs as well.  Not only will they be informed, but they can pass along useful or exciting information, such as news about new camp activities or facilities, to their children.
  • If your children just can’t stop singing those camp songs, encourage them to teach you one or two.  Then you can sing along with them…It’s fun.  Trust us.
  • Encourage your children to share anything exciting that happens to them throughout the year with the camp.  Summer camps love to know what their campers are up to over the winter and are thrilled to share in something special whether it be winning a spot on a traveling sports team, landing a role in the school play, or earning a place on the honor roll.  Many are also happy to pass this information onto other campers and their parents via a special section in their camp newsletter.
  • Make a big deal over any projects they brought home.  Whether it’s a scented candle, a leather purse, a clay vase, or a wooden birdhouse, chances are they put plenty of time and energy into creating something special to bring home to you.  So display it somewhere prominent, even if it does have to be “archived” each year to make room for the next summer’s treasures.
  • Show them that you got their camp letters.  Point out your favorite parts.  Tell them which were your favorites, maybe even keep the letters in an album from year to year.  Children are much more excited about writing home from camp when they really feel that their letters are being read.  Someday, a scrapbook of camp letters might even make a neat gift to give back to them.

With a little bit of help from you, your children can keep the camp momentum going all year long!

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Making Global Connections

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One thing that isn’t entirely evident to people who’ve only recently begun to familiarize themselves with the world of summer camp is the level of connection that it provides, not just to a regional network of people, but to those from different states and even countries.  The campers and staff members that make up America’s Finest Summer Camps come from all parts of the globe to bring together a multitude of cultures.  According to Fransec Pedro, analyst for the Center for Research and Information with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, global awareness and effective communication across cultures are essential in today’s international economy.  Exposure to many different cultures provides campers and staff members with experiences throughout the summer that ultimately help them learn and integrate these skills into their lives.

The challenges that are sometimes involved in effective communication across cultures help campers at America’s Finest Summer Camps learn how to express themselves efficiently.  When exposed to multiple cultures, it’s not only important to use language resourcefully in order to express oneself but to be a good listener.  Understanding that people have various ways of thinking, express themselves differently, and that those differences sometimes affect our world view is no longer a novel skill but a requirement for success in today’s world. “Students need to graduate from high school not only workforce-ready and college-ready, but they also need to be globally competent,” says Alexis Menten, Assistant Director of the Asia Society.

Inevitably, there are sometimes mis-communications but such stumbles are part of a learning process that, like other skills, requires practice.  Connecting with people from all over the globe helps children understand that the world reaches beyond their immediate surroundings.  In the process, they learn to think internationally when building their social networks.  This often leads to opportunities that they may not have otherwise have had.  For many a summer camp staff member or camper, the process of learning how to connect begins and grows during their at camp.

Demographics are not the sole aspect of summer camp that makes it the ideal setting for “becoming global”, however.  The very structure of camp is surprisingly global.  As in the real world, the camp world expands outward from the individual.  Campers and counselors must learn to function as a bunk or cabin.  Then, as a bunk or cabin, they must figure out how to be part of a larger group of other bunks or cabins of campers the same age.  From there, they must all learn how to work with other campers of various ages to become what makes “camp” a unit, rather than hundreds of individuals.  Being part of the camp unit is what campers and staff members alike report as the most meaningful part of summer camp.

Camp Sick

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The summer of 2011 is over, a new school year has started, everyone has finally unpacked their camp bags, and now the wait for the summer of 2012 begins.  Ten months isn’t really that long.  Every year we manage to wait it out.  But when it’s September and the fun times we had this past summer are still fresh in our minds, it seems like an eternity; and, inevitably, we all feel a little bit (or a lot!) camp sick.  We all know the feeling.  Some of us find ourselves singing camp songs or have the urge to tie-dye something…maybe even set our ring tones to Reveille or the camp bell, or just sit around with camp friends re-living all of the memories from the summer.  Saying goodbye to another summer in our own way is a rite that we go through every fall.  We not only say goodbye to our camp friends, but our counselors, and upper campers.  But on the upside of goodbye is hello.  Hello to all of our new friends who will join us for the first time next summer.  Hello to the challenge and excitement of planning a new summer that’s even better than last.  Hello to good times that turn into new memories.  Hello to a new group of campers.  Hello to the new counselors and staff members who choose to make camp their summer home next year.  Hello, everyone. We can’t wait to see you in the summer of 2012!

Community Service

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This summer, Camp Starlight, one of America’s Finest Summer Camps, implemented a new community service program.  For this week’s guest blog, we thought we’d share this one from Camp Starlight regarding the success of the new program:

“This summer the upper camp girls participated in a new option period, community service.  The girls who had chosen community service were able to work with Allison Miller in creating a way to give back.  Following visiting day, the campers are allowed to have their candy for 48 hours.  Allison and the girls came up with an idea called Operation Canteen to collect the candy after the deadline.   After distributing fifty four Starlight tin boxes to the boy and girl HC’s the campers were told to gather their left over visiting day candy and place it in the boxes.   Once the committee collected all the boxes, Allison will send them to the troops fighting for us in the Middle East.  We are all very excited to know that we are going to give back to the people who really deserve it!

-Girls of the Operation Canteen Committee

The community service program is now working on an art project for fundraising for the residents of Joplin.”

*This blog was originally posted to the Camp Starlight website on July, 29, 2011.

What I Learned at Camp

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Another camp season has ended, but we know our campers are already thinking about next June.  This week’s guest blog comes from Camp Laurel because it expresses the enthusiasm (re: sentiments) of ALL campers–no matter which camp they call home–so well…

“Summer is winding down. Wait – we just got here!

That’s how fast camp goes. One day a kid boards the bus with nervous anticipation. The next, he heads home on the same bus with a smile and a lifetime of memories.

They don’t even realize that – in addition to having tons of fun – they’ve grown a lot.

The other day, we asked a few of our campers what they learned this summer. Here’s what they shouted – er, said:

  • Counselors are cool. We talked about everything.
  • Before I went to camp, people said the food stinks. It didn’t.
  • I learned I could swim a lot farther than I thought. But the waterfront guys told me I could do it all along.
  • It’s impossible for my counselor to pack everything back up the way my mom did before camp.
  • It’s okay to wake up early if you don’t know what time it is.
  • I’m not sure, but I may ask my parents if I can do yoga when I get home.
  • Sometimes when people say “hurry up, you’ll be late,” they really mean it. Sometimes they don’t.
  • I always thought I liked lacrosse better than soccer. Now I’m not sure.
  • I saw my sister less this summer than I do at home. But it was still nice having her here.
  • No one will clean up your cabin for you, except you.
  • It’s really nice if your parents write a lot, even if they don’t say much in their letters.
  • It’s hard to canoe when your paddle falls in the water.
  • I have eight new best friends.
  • When they tell you to bring a sweatshirt and a blanket, they know what they are talking about.
  • I was positive I couldn’t live without my cell phone. Now I forget where I put it in my room before I left.
  • How come no one ever told me that waterskiing was so much fun?
  • It’s good to go on trips away from camp. And it’s good to come back.
  • I like my new nickname a lot.
  • When I came to camp I missed my dog. When I go home I’m going to miss my horse.
  • Maine is an awesome state!
  • It feels like I grew five inches, but the nurse says only one.
  • I still can’t sing, but our play was amazing anyway.
  • My goal in life is to come back as a counselor.”

A Look Behind the Scenes

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Every day, we rely on a several teams of individuals to make camp happen.  Everyone knows about camp counselors, the people on the front lines, but not everyone is aware of the people who work behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly.  Running a summer camp really is more than showing up in June ready to welcome campers and have fun.  There are a myriad of staff members who perform the often thankless job of working “behind the scenes” at camp.  They are a very diverse group of individuals.  Some of them answer the phone when you call the camp.   Others schedule daily activities, arrange transportation, or cook the food.   Still, others take care of your children when they’re not feeling well, or look into your concerns about their daily lives at camp.

The fact of the matter is that summer camps require individuals of many interests and talents to operate successfully, and the measure of a good summer relies on the abilities and passions of these individuals.  They often work long hours, from sunrise until the wee hours of the morning simply because they love camp.  If you ask any one of them, they’ll tell you that they do what they do because, in the end, it contributes to a successful summer for campers and their parents.  They also might be a little coy in admitting that it’s just plain fun for them.

Furthermore, these people are so good at their jobs that we don’t even adequately know how to thank them.  They work with passion and without regard to anything but making sure our campers and their parents have the best possible experience at our camps.  It truly is a thankless job , in many ways, to work behind the scenes at an American summer camp.  But we are thankful!

Another Summer is Coming to a Close…

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Here we are in August.  The end of camp is near and we can’t believe how fast another summer has flown by.  It truly is a privilege for us to be able to host so many campers each summer.  We’re sad that the Summer of 2011 is already drawing to a close, but excited to begin planning for the Summer of 2012.  For us, our greatest challenge is to make each summer better than the previous.  That’s a hard thing to live up to when the current summer has been so amazing!  Collectively, we really couldn’t have asked for a better group of parents, campers, or staff members.  We know that all of you are what makes America’s Finest Summer Camps truly America’s finest summer camps!  We can’t wait to meet those who will be joining us for the first time in 2012 and to welcome back all of our friends!  To everyone, here’s to living 10 for 2…until our next 2!

The Importance of Being Creative

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Arts and Crafts at summer camp is more than just stringing together a few beads to make a bracelet or gluing some spray painted macaroni to a cardboard picture frame.  It’s a program that gives campers the opportunity to explore their creative interests in several different types of art by offering a diverse array of age appropriate projects.  Of course there are the traditional projects that are just plain fun, like paper mache and tie-dying.  However, many summer camps also offer campers the opportunity to try things that are not only artistic but could be useful skills or even careers, such as metal work, jewelry making, calligraphy, cartooning, or soap and candle making.  Just like sports programs at camp, many campers have discovered a passion in their summer camp’s Arts and Crafts programs that they later pursued further.

Another way in which summer camp Arts & Crafts programs benefit campers is by providing a creative outlet for children who are being given fewer chances to explore the arts in their school programs.  Ashfaq Ishaq, PhD, argues that without being given the appropriate opportunity to explore their creative sides, children will not learn how to combine creativity with acquired knowledge to reach their full potential.   Art encourages spontaneity and exploration, two things that allow us, as people, to be innovative and prolific in our thinking.  Creativity also refines problem solving skills by helping us understand how to think “outside the box” when traditional solutions aren’t practical.  All three qualities are considered crucial to success in a child’s education as well as their adulthood careers.  Summer camp Arts & Crafts programs also give campers the opportunity to try some projects that might not be available in traditional school art programs, such as throwing clay on a pottery wheel.

For many campers, summer camp has become a way of maintaining tradition in environments that are ever changing.  Faced with a fast paced, changing world in the winter, children can still depend on summer as a way to fall back on activities and hobbies that may not be greatly valued in conventional schools anymore but are useful and bring satisfaction.  Arts and Crafts may be a dying art within American school systems.  But it’s thriving within American summer camps.

Taking One for the Team

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They’re a staple of summer camp lore…Color Wars, although some camps prefer less confrontational terms, such as “Olympics”, “College Days” “Tribal”, or “Challenge”.   They’re steeped in tradition and every American summer camp has one, a competition usually held toward the end of the summer that, over multiple days, splits the camp into two teams and pits them against each other.  How can something like this be valuable when summer camp emphasizes family, togetherness, and spirit?  In short, these special season-ending programs give campers (and staff) the opportunity to demonstrate what they’ve learned over the summer.  In order to succeed in the various challenges that comprise these competitions, campers must draw on the experiences they’ve had and lessons they’ve learned over the summer.  They’re challenged in everything from sports to trivia.  But perhaps what’s most amazing about these events is that, in the end, it’s not about which team wins or loses.  It’s about being part of something bigger than the individual…a team, a mindset, a family, and a community.

Come Rain or Come Shine…

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Do you ever wonder what happens at camp when it rains?  We assure you, it’s nothing like those scenes in movies that depict bummed out campers forced to spend entire days in their cabins or bunks .  Typically, it doesn’t rain all that often in the northeast during the summer and, whenever possible, activities proceed as planned.  We never let a few sprinkles get in the way of our regular activities.  But on those rare days when there is just no way around it, we’re ready!

When we wake up to a morning that makes outdoor activities unrealistic, we swing into action by implementing alternative programs.  Camp is just as fun and active when it’s a little bit wet outside as it is when the sun is shining.  By utilizing our indoor facilities, we’re able to keep the action going by combining our regular programs that are already completely or partially indoors, like gymnastics and arts and crafts, with special activities, like games, trivia contests, or sing-a-longs.  Sometimes, we simply move some of the things we normally do outside to an indoor location.  Ga-ga, basketball, and soccer, for instance, all adapt well to indoor locations.  By making just a few minor adjustments, we’re able to make sure that everyday at camp is full of good times and memories for our campers, not just those days when the sun shines.