Let’s be honest, summer camps and school can be a place of nervousness for parents as their children are gone for a long period of time throughout the day. But as a children’s organization that has been around for more than 30 years, we have found that there are a bunch of reasons why parents do send their kids to summer camp:
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Summer Camps Develop Independence
Campers learn very quickly how to trust themselves and to not fully rely on mom and dad to take care of them. Campers have the flexibility to make decisions for themselves in a safe space with adult supervision that is not their direct family but still cares immensely about the campers well being. Most summer camps have various times where the campers get to decide what activity or program they want to participate in which allows them to make decisions for themselves based on what they believe they want or need.
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Summer Camps Allow Exposure to Diversity
At any summer camp, the campers are exposed to a lot of different cultures and diversity in interests especially in states like Maryland. This gives children a better perspective of the world around them and allows them to understand and develop compassion for other cultures while still at a very young age. At a summer camp with positive core values, the counselors and leaders also bring a strong influence of optimism and have a huge impression on the campers as an older brother or sister figure.
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Summer Camps Care About The Entire Family
Most summer camps hold multiple year-round events that are catered toward the entire family. A lot of summer camps go above and beyond to create a welcoming atmosphere for the entire family to allow numerous families to enjoy their time together in a fun and safe camp environment. For example, at Camp Sonshine, we host multiple family events during the summer to allow the entire family to come and connect to us and each other through fun camp games and a welcoming environment! This allows campers to see their parents and siblings in a place they really enjoy and trust. This is especially great for families that don’t necessarily have time to go on vacations or spend a lot of quality time because of work.
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Summer Camps Help Develop New Friendships
At Camp Sonshine, we have seen thousands of campers come back to camp every year for the relationships they form with each other and the staff. Yes, the hundreds of activities and amazing field trips the campers get to go on create amazing memories, but we have found that relationships are one of the top reasons why campers come back every year! This is a great opportunity for children to make new friends that they otherwise would have never had. This opportunity connects children to new friends that may not go to their direct school or extracurricular activities. Also, at Camp Sonshine, we create multiple avenues for children to develop friendships year round through our year round events!
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Summer Camps Help Kids Unplug
As technology becomes more and more involved in our everyday lives, it is good to take time to unplug and enjoy face to face contact and get outside. This allows kids to just be kids without the pressure of needing to be online. This allows children to be creative in a new way and get in touch with themselves and create their own sense of interests and voice without the influence of everything on our phones.
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Summer Camps Create Fun Memories That Last a Lifetime
At Camp Sonshine, we hear countless stories from parents that they once went to summer camp and are now so excited to send their kids! Summer camp gives your children experiences they will never get anywhere else. That special difference is what kids hold onto all year long waiting to go to camp again the next summer. As a parent, you get to give your children that experience every summer and we see countless families come closer together over the impact summer camps can make in the lives of thousands of children every summer!