Summer camp is filled with moments big and small that can completely shape a camper’s summer, year, and the rest of their life. From late-night talks in bunkhouses to getting mobbed by teammates after scoring the winning goal. All of these moments add up and play a large part in the rest of a person’s life. Not just creating cherished summer camp memories, but shaping them into well-rounded people.
Here are just a few ways the little moments that happen at summer camp could make a life-changing impact on your child.
Courage to Approach New People
For a new camper that first day at summer camp can be as scary as the first day at a new school. They look around, seeing summer camp friends meet back up to talk about their excitement for the summer. They wonder how they’ll fit in, or whether they’ll make any friends. Until they build up the courage to introduce themselves to a fellow camper.
Every new camper has this experience, and it seems so minor in retrospect but, it’s these moments that can reverberate as life goes on, building lifelong friendships, as well as networking skills that are essential in personal, and professional, life.
Moments like these help children develop their social-emotional learning skills like self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness. All skills that experts agree are crucial to success in school, and professional life beyond.
Build a Unique Interest
During the school year, kids have to stick to the curriculum their teachers have created for them. While there are opportunities to explore interests in after school activities, those activities may lack variety, and usually are only delved into a few hours a week. Summer camp gives kids the opportunity to explore a variety of activities in a day. Allowing kids to discover what interests them, and then explore those interests.
Maybe a group of campers uses one of Virginia’s summer nights to study the stars through a telescope. The immense vastness and mystery of space sparks their imagination and curiosity, leading to a lifelong love of astronomy. Campers bring those experiences back home, and back into the classroom, with them, where they further explore the makeup of the universe and the science behind it.
Reinforcing Confidence
By exploring new interests, and developing the skills that come with them, kids are given the freedom to fail and learn from those failures, so that they have a better chance to succeed on their next attempt.
The accomplishment and confidence that a child feels watching the rocket they’ve been building and testing for days at AstroCamp, successfully launching, creates a memory that will last a lifetime and can make them ready to take on any challenge that comes their way. Whether it’s a math test at school or needing to drive in the winning run during a baseball game.
This growth, and learning from failure, make their successes all the more empowering. Building up their confidence in coding, archery, robotics, the list goes on. And who knows where those interests might take them, or what opportunities they might present your kids in the future!
Every choice, even the seemingly small ones, can drastically alter the course of a person’s life. Closing some doors while opening others. Summer camp offers kids the opportunity to open as many doors as they want and gives them an almost infinite number of possibilities for where they can go.
At AstroCamp we encourage our campers to get out of their comfort zones by exploring new activities, like geocaching, blacksmithing, rocketry and so much more! Reach out to our team today to learn more about our one and two-week summer programs, and the opportunities they offer your child.