Begin with the End in Mind

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey describes Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind,” as a valuable approach to just about anything in life. For example, if you want to do a great job on a school project, first decide what the great finished project will look like. Then you can create the action plan for the steps you need to take to reach the project outcome you’ve envisioned.

Why Making Friends Is One of the Most Important Things That Happens at Summer Camp

Summer camp helps kids to improve their social skills, build friendships, practice cooperation, and feel as though they belong.

Why Summer Camp May Be the Secret to a Longer Life

The benefits of summer camp may lead campers to live longer, happier, stress-free lives.

What's the Best Age for Camp?

You probably want a number here.  If you’re only going to read these first two sentences, then I’ll pick the age of nine.

Parenting Trends and Challenges Facing Youth: What Camp Professionals Need to Know

In the middle of last summer, we received an update from our camp insurance agent about one of the biggest challenges facing camps in 2018 — camper and staff mental health issues. At that point in the season, we already had four teenage campers who had discussed suicidal thoughts with their counselors. We'd been conferring with parents, therapists, and social workers at the local hospital to ensure the campers' safety, and ultimately, we were able to navigate each situation successfully. These incidents, however, highlight an alarming and uncomfortable trend.

Too Much Screen Time? Four Ways Summer Camp Can Help

Children between eight and ten years old currently spend nearly eight hours a day on media. Adolescents average nearly eleven hours per day, seven days a week, on screens. The negative impact of this digital lifestyle is evident in kids’ expanding waistlines as well as their growing lack of interest in being outdoors. Now there’s an additional worry about the impact of our kids’ excessive screen use: anxiety.

Want an Independent, Confident, Resilient Kid? Camp Can Help!

While it’s easy to think of ways to teach our kids to do laundry or solve math problems, finding a way to instill important character traits isn’t as simple.

5 Tips for Surviving Your Child’s First Overnight Camp Experience

Your child’s at summer camp?

That’s so exciting!

And hard.

For some of you, an internal “WA HOO!” went off as the bus filled with excited campers and their duffle bags pulled away. But for others, this whole experience of your child not being home is really hard and causes some emotional distress.

5 Reasons Not to Worry While Your Kids Are at Camp

Worrying when our kids are away from us is normal for parents. Every time I’ve ever dropped my kids off for a new adventure without me, I’m excited for them. But I’m also concerned about their safety, secretly wishing they would just stay home, then counting the days until they return. I know it’s not rational (few things about parenting are), but I believe my kids are always safest when they’re home with me.

Teaching Your Campers the Art of Friendship

Fostering friendships among campers is one of the most important goals of any summer camp program. As counselors, you will play a pivotal role in modeling and teaching your campers the skills they need to make friends, be a good friend to others, and maintain strong friendships.

The importance of your coaching young people in the areas of social and emotional skills has been highlighted in several studies, including the famous 80-year Harvard Study of Adult Development, which found that:

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