Throughout the 20th century, traditional summer camps have boasted an unplugged and otherwise vintage experience, allowing children to partake in activities their grandparents would have indulged in as kids, like exploring the great outdoors without time constraints and playing kick the can with a gaggle of other children. These experiences are still in the majority, but specialized camps are a growing trend, offering fully structured opportunities for campers to explore everything from computer coding to stand-up comedy. In fact, some camps boast that their specialized training provides a competitive edge for kids when they go back to school, making the camp experience sound more like a summer school than the lazy, hazy days you might have loved as a kid yourself. Not surprisingly, there has been push back from this trend, and traditional camp experiences are on the rise. Andy Pritikin, founder of Liberty Lake Day Camp in New Jersey, notes that the pendulum has swung back in an old-school camp experience’s favor.
“It’s gone from a competitive disadvantage to a total competitive advantage,” Pritikin says in the New York Post article “What Your Kid Needs to Learn at Summer Camp.” “The ‘traditional’ camp has become the new ‘specialized’ camp. It’s what the new wave of parents want.”
Tip: Use KC Parent's Summer Camp Guide to find the best camp for your child!
Just what is so special about a classic summer camp experience?
- It gives a kid a chance to just be a kid. Children these days are often shuttled to extracurriculars at an unprecedented rate. From long days at school to soccer practice and piano lessons, finding a way off the carousel of frenetic activity often requires a leave of absence. Camp provides just that: a chance to breathe without fear of what might be missed. Family therapist Michael Unger notes that time to unwind is largely undervalued as a necessity to a child’s development. “I see parents these days misunderstanding the purpose of childhood experiences,” he says. “There has become this insane rush to teach children [career-path] skills all the time, when what they need more of is general resilience.” Playing outdoors while trying new (and sometimes scary) things can be just the ticket to not only getting in tune with nature but also recalibrating from an otherwise anxiety-producing pace of life.
- It gives a kid a chance to establish a new identity. Oftentimes, when kids are together throughout the school year, cliques form and categorizing takes place. There’s the smart one, the quiet one, the athletic one and the like. Summer camp shakes everything upside down, giving kids an opportunity to meet with a completely new group of future friends from different schools, communities and, in some cases, even nations. Barriers are dropped, and identities have a chance to be reshaped. These communal experiences not only help in shaping a child’s identity, but also foster close relationships that, more often than not, last long after camp is over.
- It gives a kid time to unplug and get outside. Camp is the perfect excuse to cut screen time cold turkey, reminding kids there is so much to do that doesn’t require the internet or batteries. Unplugged time outside cures the modern “nature deficit disorder” that plagues so many youth of today. And with all this newfound time, kids are typically increasingly physically active and creative.
- It reinforces independence. All that you teach your kids is put to the test when you’re not there to mediate every choice. It’s on them to navigate sticky situations with fellow campers, brush their teeth without reminder and tidy up their bunk.
Lauren Greenlee was a big-time summer camp enthusiast growing up. She writes and raises three boisterous boys from her Olathe home.