https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/growth-through-play

About a year and a half ago, as I was nearing the completion of my college degree, I faced the reality of beginning my true adult life and was largely overwhelmed by the idea of it all. I surfed...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/innovation-work-2024-eleanor-p-eells-award-winners

Each year, ACA’s Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence honors camps that embody the spirit of the award’s namesake through their efforts to provide exceptional programming that effectively...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/inflection-points-why-character-counts

Inflection points refer to everything from mathematical equations to management advice. But, equally, if not more, compelling is an application of the concept to the growth trajectory of youth....

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/imagine-child-tree-fertilize-unstructured-outdoor-play-character-development

Ask anyone who has attended a camp as a child or youth about his or her experiences and you will receive many different responses. Camp has many meanings because of the personal nature of the...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/continuous-improvement-program-quality-lessons-learned-part-two

As established in the first “Lessons Learned” article (...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/continuous-improvement-program-quality-lessons-learned

Program quality (PQ) is essential to youth programs, and research shows that high-quality programs are directly linked to more positive outcomes. PQ refers to the environment that is created at...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/let-me-know-if-you-have-any-questions-change-management-through-equity-lens

How many times have you sat in a large group meeting — at camp, in a conference room, at another place of employment — and the entire leadership team walks in with solemn expressions, causing you to...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/safe-space-trauma-informed-trauma-infused-what-know-how-help

Across the land, schools and summer camps have embraced a movement to better understand trauma and how it affects a child’s ability to learn and self-regulate their behavior. As that knowledge...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/evaluating-bereavement-camps

Spending time in nature is often therapeutic and provides many benefits, such as improving cognitive functioning (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008) and improving memory (Berto, 2005). Spending...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/sorry-not-sorry

We've all been there. We're trying to help or referee some situation with kids, we're told a few things or parts of the story, and we think we know what happened, so we turn to the kid who we think...