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Feeling anxious about sending your child away to camp? Fret no more. This list of life skills will remind you of the reasons to send kids to camp in the first place.
Remember, being away from the com- forts of home offers your camper growth opportunities in a wide variety of competencies. Best of all, once kids are safely dropped off at camp, parents can sit back, relax and enjoy some much-needed down time, knowing the cherubs will return home transformed by their experiences.
Here are 30 skills to remind parents why camp is a good idea, as well as a panacea for favorite kid activities.
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PHYSICAL SKILLS
1. Fitness
If your child is passionate about virtual realities, camp is the perfect motivation to get off the couch and get moving. You will be pleased when your child returns home more fit and inspired to keep moving.
2. Proficiency
Does your child complain of boredom? Exposure to skill-building activities can convert pouting into pride. Aptitude, discipline, and confidence come from doing new things.
3. Safety awareness
Do you find yourself fretting about your child’s well being? At camp she can learn about first aid, water safety, and other safety protocols that go hand-and-hand with learning new things. When she gets home, she can teach you a thing or two about safety awareness.
4. Hand-eye coordination
At camp children can participate in activities that encourage process mastery like archery, karate, horseback riding, or rowing. Having to learn an ordered series helps kids focus and execute tasks.
5. Healthy risk-taking.
Is your child an adrenalin junkie? Do you worry that she will go too far testing the limits of what’s humanly possible? Counselors can help campers channel a zest for risks into safe outlets while honoring camp rules.
INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
6. Decision-making
Does your child waffle when making decisions, take polls of other people’s opinions or go along with the crowd too easily? Then camp is the perfect practice-ground to determine what he wants and needs on a regular basis. Choosing is a crucial ability for creating satisfaction in life.
7. Accountability
Do you wonder if you do too much for your child? At camp she needs to be prepared all by herself, whether she has to pack her own backpack for an overnight hiking trip or show up wearing activity-appropriate shoes. When it comes to accountability, daily practice is always on tap at camp.
8. Time management
If your child is often running late, camp is a great place to learn timeliness. Your child will swiftly master punctuality when engaged in activities she enjoys. And this proactive habit can carry over into everyday life during the rest of the year.
9. Open-mindedness
Kids sometimes live in homogeneous rather than diverse environments. If all the other kids are the same race, class, and social status where you live, how will your child learn to be open-minded? Camp is one place kids can experience more diversity and new friends.
10. Assertiveness
When kids’ lives are scheduled from morning to night year-round, they miss out on opportunities to speak up for what they think, need, and desire. Camp offers opportunities to practice healthy communication all day long because no one is smoothing the path before them.
EMOTIONAL SKILLS
11. Self-care
Going to camp puts kids’ self-care muscles to the test. Navigating a new environment with unfamiliar people helps kids learn to trust their intuition and honor their instincts.
12. Listening
Do you get weary of nagging and feel your child just doesn’t listen anymore? Kids can certainly develop listening fatigue with parents and authority figures. But after tuning in closely to some new-to-them camp leaders, they just might bring better listening abilities back home.
13. Playfulness
Got a perfectionist on your hands? Sometimes within the rush and rigors of daily life, families forget how to relax and enjoy life to the fullest. Camp is a great place to remember how to lighten up and enjoy the day.
14. Grit
This trendy term means the combination of courage and resolve. If your child does not bounce back quickly from disappointments, camp is a great place to learn tenacity, conflict resolution, and problem solving.
15. Self-appreciation.
Camp is a place where kids can discover new things to like about themselves. Increased self-reliance is often the first step toward building higher self-esteem.
SOCIAL SKILLS
16. Sociability
Do you have a shy or introverted child? If she lacks peers who are enthusiastic about her passions, an interest-based camp can help her meet more like-minded people. Socially awkward kids feel more accepted and appreciated every time they make a new friend.
17. Emotional intelligence
If you have siblings who bicker a lot, they may benefit from being around kids who are not kin. Camp counselors have a way of expecting thoughtfulness and encouraging kids to practice it.
18. Lasting connections
Remember pen pals? At camps, kids can make new friends and find ways to keep in touch until they meet again. This is a great way for kids to maintain long-distance friendships and build an extended social network.
19. Cohabitating
If you want your child to learn new things, put him in a tent with roommates and watch the lessons unfold. Sharing space and resources with others is a crash course in self-awareness and peacekeeping.
20. Self-expression
At camp kids find fresh audiences for the count- less ways to share who they are and what they think and feel. Increased self-expression leads to unfolding self-discovery.
OCCUPATIONAL SKILLS
21. Mentoring
Camp counselors provide excellent examples of what a constructive mentor-mentee relationship is like. Go ahead and encourage kids to become counselors in the future if they wish to experience both sides of this educational relationship.
22. Collaboration
Perhaps during the school year, teamwork is limited to sports and cooperation is confined to the classroom. At camp, every endeavor from cleaning a cabin to climbing a rock face becomes a new way to understand the importance of working together.
23. Negotiating
Your kids benefit from learning how to sort things out between themselves at camp. Discussing, bargaining, and coming to agreements that make sense for everyone involved is tool for creating a richer life.
24. Leadership
Camp provides opportunities for kids to discover and nurture the leader inside. Every child is a boss at something. You may not think of a prolific reader as a leader, but what a terrific example she can set at camp for those who avoid books altogether.
25. Diplomacy
With bullying at an all-time high, diplomacy is needed more than ever. Camp offers ample chances to find common ground, share mutual respect and practice win-win-win relating.
ENVIRONMENTAL SKILLS
26. Unplugging
Virtual realities are great when balanced with the real world. If you can’t make a dent in your child’s obsession with technology, why not let the trained staff at camp try.
27. Earth stewardship
One of the best ways to teach kids about personal responsibility is to teach them about wilderness conservation. Learning about flora and fauna can spark kids’ innate respect for the natural world.
28. Navigation
You won’t likely be able to convince kids that they need to learn old-school map techniques while they have a GPS in their pocket. But put them in the middle of the woods with no Internet connection and they just might feel differently.
29. Survival
Would your child know how to build a shelter, purify water, start a fire, and find food if lost in the wilderness? Learning naturalism empowers kids to feel competent and confident in every area of life.
30. Groundedness
The first step to recovering from too much anxiety is a sense of earthiness that comes from being in touch with the natural world. Kids benefit in numerous ways from slowing down to the speed of life and keeping their feet firmly on the ground.
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