With the weather finally getting warmer outside, it’s probably time for most parents to start thinking about getting their children ready for summer camp! Summer camps are a great place to meet new friends, learn new skills, have fun, and make sure those months off from school aren’t wasted. There are as many different kinds of summer camp programs as there are stars in the night sky, offering a plethora of activities, environments, and benefits. But we’re The Music Studio, so we’re going to focus our attention on musical summer camps, and specifically, 7 benefits they can provide your little ones with.

Continue working on their performance skills

Summers are usually marked by a certain amount of backslide in a number of subjects, and music is no exception. Regardless of whether your child is learning math, English, or music, any gap in learning will result in a loss of that knowledge. Summer music camp can help bridge the gap between school years, and help stave off that backslide through performance and practice. Some studies even suggest that maintaining musical training during the summer can help guard against extreme backsliding in other subjects as well, specifically math.

Expand their view of their participation in music

As your child’s daily lives become routine, it can be pretty easy for them to take their participation in music for granted. They see and play music with the same people every day, and even if they perform in a competition or festival, that experience will offer very little interaction with their musical peers from other schools. A musical summer camp can help broaden your child’s view of their participation in music by introducing them to a potentially larger group of their peers, many of whom may be from other schools or relatively distant regions.

Build independence

Summer camp can help children build a sense of independence and self reliance in a number of ways. Many activities are built around this specific premise, allowing campers a safe place to take on new personal challenges, as well as the opportunity to tackle new musical challenges with new friends. Students that may be traveling to attend a summer camp have an even greater opportunity to learn independence and self reliance as an individual, as a performer, and as a member of a group.

New experiences

New and exciting experiences have a tendency to imprint themselves in our memories quite easily, influencing the way we think about them, remember them, and even how we may act in the future. The best summer music camps are places for your child to make new friends, play new music, and can help inspire your child to continue playing well after the camp as come to an end. The memories they will make and the friendships they will develop at summer camp can last their entire life, and can inspire further social and musical development later.

Build confidence

All summer camps advertise that they help children build their ever precious confidence. And they are all telling the truth. There’s no big secret to helping children with their self-esteem over the summer. Add children their own age, an activity everyone can excel at, add a dash of fun, and shake vigorously. Building self-esteem through sports comes from both individual skill as well as working with your team towards the same goal (pun intended), to win the game. Science or academic camps try to build self-esteem through knowledge and discovery. Music combines all of these aspects into one magical activity. Children work hard to learn their part, so they can be part of the whole, while also learning the foundations creating music, and discovering passion within themselves. It does all this through self-expression, something other summer camps don’t always focus on. As we all know, music can be a powerful force of expression, allowing us to get our emotions out when words just wont do.

Improve their social skills

As it turns out, that whole collaboration thing is pretty important later in life. Most summer camps have the opportunity to make new friends, to be part of a team, and to accomplish things together, but making music as a group is truly something special. Music hones teamwork skills and mental discipline. If the band is going to sound good, everyone must work together harmoniously towards a single goal: the performance. Everyone music come together make a promise to one another to learn the music, practice, and have the best performance they can. They learn to accept constructive criticism from the band leader, as well as each other, without taking it personally.

As an interesting cherry on top of the basic social skills that are learned through playing and learning as a group, music tends to have an unexpected effect on some grander social issues, specifically, how children perceive and talk about other cultures. Music gives a unique glimpse into all kinds of cultures different than our own, and children who study music early are introduced to these cultures in an exciting and engaging way. These kids learn to empathize with other cultures, fostering the development of compassion and empathy, rather than greed and a “me first” attitude. Classroom studies suggest music’s introduction to other cultures helps children bridge cultural gaps with ease, leading to respect for all peoples at an early age.

Deepen their understanding of their instrument

A regular music class, especially one through you child’s school, will have a single instructor teaching an entire band, made up of many different instruments. While the instructors of these classes do a phenomenal job giving each student and every instrument individual time to learn, the fact is there simply isn’t enough time to give each instrument the focus it deserves. Summer music camps can change that. Many camps offer “masterclasses” presented by an expert or instructor for a single kind of instrument. This offers a great place for in-depth discussion and skill development for a particular instrument that your student may not fully get in their school’s music program.

And speaking of music summer camps, The Music Studio will be hosting 3 one week camps this July! At the Creative Arts Camp children 4-6 will explore their creativity though arts and crafts, dance, outdoor activities, and of course, music! The Musical Theatre Camp is open to children ages 8 to 16, and features singing, dancing, acting, scene study, and a performance on the final day! Lastly, Rock Band Camp is exactly what it sounds like, featuring songs like “Rolling in the Deep” and “Wish You Were Here.” for more information, visit TheMusicStudio.ca.