Summer camp has long been something of a rite of passage for many youngsters and teens. Once school lets out in early summer and kids are anxious for adventure, summer camps are often embraced enthusiastically. Activities that involve swimming, canoeing, hiking, campfires, team sports, or just hanging out in the great outdoors can be a refreshing change from the classroom.

Let’s take a look at some of the incredible benefits of summer camps for kids!

Camps Help Kids Build a Unique Interest

There aren’t a lot of schools that provide classes in game design, or archery, or entrepreneurship. However, there are a lot of camps that specialize in these sort of specific activities. In fact, there are somewhere around 14,000 estimated camps in the US alone.

If your child has an interest in a subject that is outside the mainstream school subjects, where can they go to gain experience in their interest? There may be a handful of after-school programs, but even in those cases, you’re adding to a student’s already overflowing plate of commitments.

Camp is one excellent, distraction-free option, and gives kids the chance to try out a new interest in a safe environment. From there, who knows where that interest may take them!

Camps Reinvent & Eliminate Categories

According to Parent Guide News:

“Students often attend school year after year with the same peers, which can lead to labeling and being ‘stuck’ with a particular perception. A child may become known as studious, quiet, etc., when, really, he can be boisterous in another setting. Children who go to day or sleepaway camps meet a whole other group of people in a different environment. Often times, a child will break out of his supposed categorization if given the chance.”

It’s true! Summer camp really can change lives. Everyone is shaped by their environment in one way or another. But when that shape forms into something that is ill-fitting, it can be hard to “break out” without actually “getting out.”

Camp helps kids with the “getting out” part. And into an environment filled with peers who have no preconceived notions.

Camps Provide a Chance for a Deep Dive into New Skills

Even if your child does go to a school that offers activities they’re interested in, summer camps allow for an even deeper dive into that subject.

Consider how much of a leap forward they’ll make with a week or more of being immersed in coding, their sport of choice, or music! These kinds of opportunities exist at a camp and can be hard to find anywhere else.

Camps Reinforce Independence & Empowerment

Even if you consider your children to be independent, nothing quite brings out – and tests – that independence more than allowing them to have time away from you, on their own.

Without their parents around, who will make their decisions? Who will tell them to wash their face? Ake the bed? Manage their time? At camp, they have to do it themselves!

Camp gives your kids an opportunity to really understand the thought that goes into making good decisions, and kids can learn more about themselves through the process. Not to mention how much kids can learn from their peers!

Camp Grows Confidence Through Success

Some of the inevitable things that go along with activity and growth are success and failure. It doesn’t matter if it’s music, sports, or 3D modeling, every activity comes with its own set of mini-milestones and tests. Some camp activities will likely be new to your child, while others could be things they’re already interested in.

Maybe they’ve never played baseball before, or perhaps they have but want to try a new position. By getting out on the field and learning to play, or learning to pitch when they’re usually outfield, will result in an increase in their confidence. From there, they may leave camp with an internal support system strong enough to compel them to try out for the school baseball team. And then who knows!

Virtual Camps

But, for many families, the most difficult aspect of summer break is that, at some point, it gets a bit less exciting. The novelty and fun starts to wear off, often just as the temperature is rising. The usual activities can get boring, and kids (and parents) start to count down the days until school starts.

You can’t change the school calendar, and most don’t have the luxury of dropping everything for a spontaneous trip – and with an ongoing pandemic going on, a trip right now isn’t exactly wise anyway. What you can do is find an online, virtual camp to keep your students entertained!

What are Virtual Camps?

As the name suggests, virtual, or “online,” camps, give students the opportunity to learn, meet, and interact with their peers – from the comfort of their own home. Usually, the only requirement for these digital camps is a computer with internet and video and audio requirements.

Virtual camps are interactive, usually lower in price (sometimes free!), and typically have smaller instructor-to-student ratios. This helps campers and counselors enjoy more virtual one-on-one time, and often allows counselors to continue mentoring students long after the camp ends.

Why Kids Love Them

Kids love virtual camps because they get to sleep in and take their time since the commute time to and from the camp is next to nothing. They can even attend camp in their PJs if they want to!

What’s more, kids – as well as their parents – love the fact that virtual camps offer a wide variety of super-specialized topics. There may not be a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp nearby, but thanks to the internet, odds are there’s a perfect online camp available.

Are your kids interested in music and looking for a virtual summer camp to explore that interest? The Music Studio is offering both virtual and in-person summer camps in 2021! Check out our camps and sign up while there’s still space!