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If you’ve been wondering whether to sign your child up for summer camp, there has never been a better reason to do so. If you’ve been a summer camp attender yourself when you were younger, you will have fond memories of the summers you spent there and the friends you made. Summer camp has many great benefits for your children. Here are just five reasons why should book them on a summer camp this summer.
Physical Activity
This is a great way to promote plenty of physical activity, as there is usually sports or events taking place every day. Physical activity is very important for children to get rid of all their energy and not get bored over summer, especially if your area doesn’t have a lot going on. Summer camps mean action, whether this is running, swimming, or climbing, so your child will be getting plenty of exercise each day. This is also great to instill in them from an early age to reduce the risk of obesity later in life. With childhood obesity becoming a problem in many countries, we need to promote physical activity in our children to stop this from being a problem for them. If you work a lot or do not have a lot of outdoor activities for children near you, it can be hard to promote physical activity. Camp means kids can do this in a fun environment with their peers. It pushes them to go outside and get fresh air and enjoy nature, not what is on the TV.
Getting Away from Technology
Technology is taking over all our lives and no more so than our children’s. If you are worried your child is going to spend a lot of the summer indoors on their tablet or games console, summer camp ensures this does not happen and gives them that well-needed break from technology. Children should be outdoors enjoying themselves, not cooped up behind a computer screen, and reducing this activity is important to promote good social skills in your children and to tackle obesity. Summer camp will have plenty for the children to do in real life, including engaging with real people, and it is a way for them to disconnect from a virtual world. Technology can be a problem with young children as it surrounds them and is what they have been brought up around. Try to reduce your technology habits and only use your phone for important calls and texts or photos, as the more they see you using technology, the more they will believe this is the norm. This can be a good time for you to reduce your time spent online too.
Independence
This can be a great one, not only for the children but for parents too. Your child may have never have gone away overnight before without you, and this can be a hard transition for both parents and children. Ensuring that they can do this will promote independence in the safe and fun environment of a summer camp. This encourages children to make their own decisions without a parent or teacher guiding them and can stop them from being so clingy if you are having issues with this. If you work over summer and you are going to be out of the house a lot, this can ensure that your child is somewhere having fun each day and learning new skills with new friends. They can come back and tell you what fun they had and they will thank you for giving them the opportunity to do something for themselves. Promoting independence to play by themselves or with friends in a safe environment from a young age ensures that they can be independent of you and can reduce the risk of attachment issues and separation anxiety for both you and your child. It can be hard being away from your child, especially for the first time, but know they are having the time of their life and you can go to work and earn for your family, without having to worry about them being stuck at home with a babysitter.
Making New Friends
This is one of the biggest parts of summer camp and it promotes children to be more social with those they may not have thought to talk to before. Country Montessori School offers a great summer camp where children may make friends out of their group or make friends that they will be studying with next year. Either way, promoting children to make new friends increases their social skills and helps them in later life. It also promotes confidence and they may make a friend for life. Spending time with new people every day is sure fire way to make a best friend they can count on.
Experience New Things
Camp can help children experience a great variety of new things they may have never done before. Summer camps do a lot of outdoor activities and take away the competitive barrier that is often found in schools. They encourage children to have fun and try something different, meaning your child may find a new hobby or sport they enjoy doing whilst at summer camp. It is also a great time to face any fears as there are plenty of opportunities for more adventurous sports such as kayaking or climbing. Having the encouragement of other children around them and seeing all the other kids have fun can help them overcome their fears of water or heights.
Experiencing new things helps shape us and helps us to have a better understanding of ourselves and our likes and dislikes. They may even experience new foods, as camp can have a great variety of foods to offer your children. Camps usually offer a range of activities that you can take part in, therefore, your child can choose what best suits them rather than being pushed into an activity they do not enjoy or do not have an interest in.
Summer camp is a great opportunity for your children, so get them involved in new activities in the great outdoors this summer.