Hey, Camp Fans!
I’ve made Tuesdays Tips and Advice Day throughout the month of May, specifically about the Five Goals of Summer Camp. Being the fourth Tuesday, today will disclose and discuss Goal #4 and next week Tuesday, we’ll extend this May series into June to reveal the fifth goal.
In the first week I went into Goal #1—Have Fun. The second week talked about Goal #2, Improve athleticism, intellectualism, and artistry. Last week covered Goal #3 which is to Gain Independence. And today, we’ll discuss Goal #4.
Goal #4: Make Friends and Develop Social Skills
At a setting like summer camp, this goal is inevitably reached—typically without the awareness of it even happening. For shy kids who maybe don’t have an abundance of friends back home and are afraid that they won’t have an easy time making friends at summer camp—there is no need for concern! Kids make friends with other kids easy as pie at camp. It just HAPPENS!
The experience of a kid’s summer camp stay and being away from home at this setting, is typically superior to any other previous experience in terms of personal growth and development of social skills. Something kids can rarely achieve in other settings, they do in beautiful, rural settings like summer camp.
At camp, kids learn to get along with one another; camp gives them a boost in confidence of their putting themselves out there in response to their personality and, so doing, helps them to make friends with ease. These sort of skills are essential to successfulness in life throughout adolescence and adulthood. You can’t accomplish much without getting along with others.
Rest assured, your summer camp stay is sure to bring lots of friends and a strong feeling of community. Many camps provide the proper environment that brings these skills out in all their campers. 
You can learn more information about the Goals of Summer Camp and MUCH more in Chris Thurber and Jon Malinowski’s helpful guidebook, ‘The Summer Camp Handbook.’
Tune in to the last post in this series next week to read about the last Goal of Summer Camp, Experience a New Natural Environment. And, as always, thanks for reading.
- John