Hey, Camp Parents!

New places, new people, new fears. All these phrases can be used to describe the first day of college. The feeling of moving on and forward can be exciting but can also be nerve wracking and in some cases downright terrifying. Wouldn’t it be great if instead of experiencing nervousness on the first day of college, you could be confident and excited because you’ve already experienced it before? At Everything Summer Camp, we believe that by attending summer camp as a child, your child actually develops life skills they can use later on when preparing for college.

Children learn to work together at camp and become part of a team and a community. They are exposed to other children from different backgrounds and experiences and learn how to share space and ideas respectfully. They learn teamwork and how to peacefully work through conflict if it arises. By attending camp as children, college students can learn to better coexist with a roommate and become a part of the community at their college or university. Camp puts children in environments to try new things and put themselves out there. This kind of setting typically translates to open-mindedness when they get to college. They are more willing to put themselves out there to making new friends and trying new activities. Camp gently edges children out of their comfort zones from an earlier age.

Homesickness is something that is common in both camp and college but by attending camp, children learn how to overcome homesickness from a younger age. The sooner young adults at college can adjust to being away from home, the sooner they can adjust to the college setting and start to have a great experience. Camp teaches children responsibility and independence as well, something that college students need in spades. For many students, college is the first time away from their families and they are in full control of their decisions for the first time as well. Camp can instill the independence that college students need early on but can also encourage them to make good decisions over bad ones. Camp fosters confidence and new perspectives in young children that blossom even further when they attend college. Finally, there will be several trials and tribulations that your child will most likely face when they attend college for the first time. Whether it’s their first all-nighter studying for an exam, trying out for a new team or club, or dealing with roommate issues, there will be some bumps along the road for your child.

By attending summer camp, children learn how to persevere through problems. They learn how to make mistakes and how to come back from those mistakes on the other side stronger and better for it. By powering through their mistakes at camp, children learn how to pull through in difficult situations later on while attending college. At Everything Summer Camp, we have everything your child could ever need to have an incredible time at camp. We hope that those memorable experiences stay with your child far into the future and that those memories help your child through their college experiences and beyond.

As always, thanks for reading, Camp Parents!

- John

Hey, Camp Parents!

Deciding on the best summer camp program for your child is a difficult one. You want to choose a program that is of the highest quality, well-maintained and provides a safe and healthy environment. One of the best ways to do that is to choose a summer camp that is an ACA-Accredited Camp.

What does that mean? It means the camp has completed a review of more than 300 standards, including staff qualifications, training and emergency management. American Camp Association Accreditation also goes beyond state licensing requirements. Each state will ultimately have different licensing requirements for camps. However, with ACA-Accreditation, the standards are uniform and they are recognized as the standards that all camp communities should meet.

Some of those standards include:

• Having an appropriate staff-to-camper ratio. This number will differ according to age groups with younger ones having more staff available.
• Providing goals for camp activities that are developmentally based. The expectations for campers shouldn’t be age or gender based.
• Having emergency transportation available 24/7. You don’t want your child at a sleep away camp where access to the nearest medical facility is hours away.
• Having a top notch first-aid facility along with a staff that is trained in life-saving techniques such as CPR.
• Implementing a staff-screening process.

If you want to find out if the summer camp that you have in mind for your child is ACA-accredited, then you should visit the ACA’s website. You can also find out by telephoning 1-800-428-CAMP. If the camp that you have in mind is not accredited, then you may want to find out why they decided not to go through the accreditation process.

Another important point to keep in mind is that the American Camp Association works in conjunction with the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Red Cross and other youth-service organizations to keep the ACA-Accreditation standards up to date. Their primary goal is to ensure that ACA-Accredited camps:

• Provide healthy, developmentally appropriate activities and educational experiences
• Employ a competent, caring and educated staff
• Allow for learning through discovery

As with anything regarding your child, information is vital. So make sure to research your child’s camp before signing on. Word of mouth and recommendations are always helpful, but it’s also important to take the research further and explore accreditation. And, as always, thanks for reading, Parents.

- John

Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

Of course we love singing our own praises here at Everything Summer Camp (we do it all the time!). But we also like to share the spotlight with other organizations too. Whether they’re the hip brand names whose cool products are available on our website or the summer camps themselves, we love giving them a little time to shine on our Blog. Today we’re swinging our spotlight to the east coast on Wyonegonic Camps for girls.

Girls at Wyonegonic from ages 8 to 18 are treated to 700 acres of pine forest as well as two miles of shoreline where they can get a great sense of privacy and isolation. Wyonegonic is the oldest camp for girls in the country that has run without skipping a beat since 1902.

Three separate camps comprise Wyonegonic Camp and each one is designed for the individual needs and interest of the campers. Each of the camps form their own intimate community of a size that’s just right for creating meaningful friendships!

Wyonegonic is a camp where girls learn about themselves in a non-competitive atmosphere and enjoy the beauty of friendship in the simplicity of the outdoors.

They enjoy activities like Archery and Riflery, Basketball, Tennis, and Volleyball. There are Challenge Courses and Outdoor Skills, Wilderness Trips, Horseback Riding, and fun on the water, like Kayaking, Sailing, Swimming, Windsurfing, and more! Feed your creative soul at Wyonegonic too! From Paper Mache to Pottery as well as Music, Dance, Drama, and much more!

Cabin life is rustic and simple. The screen windows admit the breeze from the water inside for an incredibly pleasant living quarters (shutters close at night and in poor weather). With no electricity, campers and staff alike use flashlights and battery-powered lanterns after sundown. And, not far from the cabins, are camper shower facilities and a toilets.

If Wyonegonic sounds like a great fit for your daughter, give it a further look on their own website. You can check it out by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Soldiers!

Capture-the-Flag is all fun and games, but don’t you dare let me catch you in my territory! I kid, of course. But this is one game that can feel incredibly intense…almost as if it isn’t actually a game at all! How does a children’s game get to feel so real? Well, other games can feel just as intense (Monopoly’s a good example) and they likely have ties to the real world.

And what do you suppose the origin of Capture-the-Flag is?

An unlikely place to inspire a game, it’s actually the medieval battlefield that Capture-the-Flag is mimicking. The signal of a victor on the battlefield was signified with a captured flag of the opposing side.

So how do you play a game that’s based in medieval warfare? The playing ground is divided in half with both sides having a Flag (or an object that signifies one). Then, as the name would have you think, the objective is to capture the other team’s flag and bring it back to your own territory. It’s pretty much as simple as that.

Things can get complicated when a member of the enemy team tags you inside their territory. This means that you’ll be taken to an area that the opposing team has designated as their jail.

This is an extremely popular activity played at summer camp that, unlike other activities such as Archery or Horseback Riding, doesn’t necessarily have a laundry list of health benefits it delivers. But you can certainly pick up a thing or two on the battlefield—err…playing field.

If anything, I suppose you could credit Capture-the-Flag with a cardio workout. But this is a game that requires its players be patient, observant, sneaky, fast, and clever. But overall, Capture-the-Flag is FUN. It’s an incredibly engaging way to get a group of any size involved and creates an environment for friendships to flower!

If you played Capture-the-Flag this summer, I hope you enjoyed the intensity involved with this traditional camp activity. You can play this game with as few as two people; I have many fond memories of playing this game with my neighborhood friend growing up. If you love this game, find some other friends to play with and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that our fourth annual ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest is in full swing and the submissions period is open! Yes, indeed! In our fourth year now, we’re doing things a little differently, offering bigger prizes and more of them! And, as usual, we have a $15 gift certificate for Everything Summer Camp in exchange for your camp stories!

We want to hear all about those accomplishments and friends you made at camp. What fears you may have overcome and your favorite parts about camp are great things we want you to share as well! The month is wrapping up, so get your submissions into us as soon as you can—the cutoff date is less than ten days away on August 31!

If you have yours ready to go, take care of it now and click here.

We have ten random winners this year. Our first randomized winner will receive our top prize of a $250 gift card to use on our website! Two more winners will receive $100 gift cards for the site. Three random winners will get $50 gift cards. And four random winners will receive $25 gift cards.

In case you’re not quite sure what to write about, I offered some suggestions when I first announced the contest this year. You can check out that post by clicking here or get a quick refresher with the following ideas:

• What was the most fun you had?
• What kind of athletic, artistic, and thinking skills did you learn?
• What great friends you made!
• What being away from your parents felt like!
• What kind of beautiful things did you see during your stay?

Also, be sure to mention the name of the camp you attended and what you loved most about it! Include your first name and your last name initial and how long you’ve been going to camp. We loved hearing about your summer for the last few years and I can’t wait to receive a fresh new batch of camp stories from this year! So, get writin’ and send us your submissions, Camp Fans! And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John