With children spending more time online than outside these days, it is vital to get them outside and moving while participating in hands-on activities. Summer camp can assist in a child’s adolescent development through organized outdoor activities. Camp teaches kids leadership skills and intellectual development. A week or two at summer camp can provide kids with socialization activities that allow them to make long-lasting friendships and improve their socialization skills.
Independence
Being away from home can be difficult, especially if it is the first time. Time away from parents can be healthy as kids learn how to become more independent. Being away from home allows for kids to grow in emotional and cognitive development as they learn how to be away from home for the first time.
Social Intelligence
Camp can assist in child development and help children grow in social intelligence. When put in new environment adolescents will be taught to grow in social awareness and facility. Social awareness is defined as the ability to keep one’s feelings intact and allows kids learn how to gain empathy.
Compassion
Summer camp brings together different people from all over. Instantly, camp allows for the development of a natural safe place environment. Counselors assist in creating an uplifting environment and encourage campers to respect others. As kids are removed from environments online that can be not as uplifting, they begin to learn a different way of behaving. The positivity at camp allows for kids to learn compassion, and how to be a good friend.
Life-Long Skills
While school is great for teaching kids how to learn to count, read, critically think, and more, there is more kids to learn than what can be taught to them in a classroom. Camp allows for kids to gain more knowledge of skills they might not have learned elsewhere. Since the itinerary at camp is filled with multiple activities, the creativity and productivity of events can allow for kids to learn something new.
Making New Friends
Some kids might not have many friends aside from those in their family, especially if they are homeschooled. After a year of online learning, kids also can be eager for new social interaction. At camp, kids stay with others they don’t know (yet) in a cabin and those meetings can turns into lifelong friends. Without having the comfort of someone they know by their side, kids are forced to branch out and meet people. If a child is hesitant about talking to new friends, summer staff can assist in ensuring the campers feel safe in the environment they are in. Adolescents who go to summer camp gain socialization skills at a quicker pace than those who do not go. These skills allow students to learn how to get along with more people at a faster pace.
Learning Manners
It is common for kids to get anxious when they are waiting to speak. More often than not, kids will interrupt people to say what they need to. However, this habit should not be carried throughout a child’s development years. At camp, when kids are interacting all day long and sharing their experiences, they will learn how to closely listen and patiently wait to speak until it is their turn.
Working As Team
Working as a team allows kids to develop efficient communication skills. When kids are at camp, they participate in team-building activities that focus on communication. Kids will learn how to work together which is a skill that will greatly benefit them now and later in life.
When looking for a summer camp for your child to attend this summer, check out Camp Live Oak in Florida. Camp Live Oak offers students a variety of opportunities to grow in their socialization skills. For more information, contact Camp Live Oak today.