Summer camp

This article is about the children's summertime program. For the music festival, see Summer Camp Music Festival. For the band, see Summercamp.

Attendees of summer camps often enjoy outdoor activities in lakes.

Summer camp is a supervised program for children and/or teenagers conducted (usually) during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers.

The traditional view of a summer camp as a woody place with hiking, canoeing, and campfires is evolving, with greater acceptance of newer summer camps that offer a wide variety of specialized activities. For example, there are camps for the performing arts, music, magic, computers, language learning, mathematics, children with special needs, and weight loss. In 2006, the American Camp Association reported that 75 percent of camps added new programs. This is largely to counter a trend in decreasing enrollment in summer camps, brought about by smaller family sizes, the growth in supplemental educational programs and the popularity of electronic media, all of which have made keeping children inside and occupied much easier than in previous generations. Camps can be for all ages.

There are also religiously-affiliated summer camps, such as those run by Evangelical Christian groups.

The primary purpose of many camps is educational or cultural development. A summer camp environment may allow children to take healthy risks in a safe and nurturing environment.

Organization

Summer Camp in the Philippines.

In most camps, the adult supervisors are called counselors, but another name may be "cabin leader". In many camps, counselors are assigned to smaller groups of campers, called "bunks", "huts", "cabins", or "units", who participate in activities as a group. Counselors often share living accommodations with their bunk or other counselors. Most counselors are in their late teens or early twenties, as high school or college students on their summer break are frequently recruited.

At some camps, all campers stay overnight, and at some camps, so called day camps, the campers go home each night. Some other camps allow both day and overnight campers. In the USA, residential camps that have overnight facilities are sometimes called "sleepaway camps". Summer camp is often the first time that children spend an extended period of time away from home.

The practice of running residential holidays for children away from their own home seems to have originated in Appenzell in the Alps in 1876, when Pastor Bion set up holiday camps in which children made tree-houses, sang songs, did drama, made kites and had adventure games.

Post-war France used Pastor Bion’s model to take children who had grown up during the war years, away from cities, and their scheme ‘colonies de vacances’ became state controlled, part of their state education system for all children.

The American camps seem to have developed from a very different cultural root.

Summer camp around the world

United States

Children swimming at an Indiana Church Camp.

The American Camp Association (ACA) reports that 10 million children attend camp annually, and there are approximately 12,000 camps nationwide.

Camps include both religious, for-profit, nonprofit, and government camps. In the United States, youth organizations, like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, the JCC, the YMCA, Camp Fire USA, and several religiously-affiliated groups are known for having many camps and integrating them with their own local organizations.

Canada

In Canada, summer camps are very popular. About 70% of Canadian camps tend to be affiliated with organizations, while the rest are private.

The Canadian Camping Association (CCA/ACC) represents over 700 camps across Canada.[1]

There are also many summer camps for ESL students.

Summer camp fairs are held throughout Canada, usually during the winter months. Parents and children can meet camp directors and collect information about summer camps. Admission to these fairs is typically free, and the camps on display vary in their cost from completely subsidized fees to quite expensive.

Russia

In the USSR, the first summer camps were created shortly after its establishment and were called Young Pioneer camps during the Soviet Union's existence. Their number grew throughout the history of the Soviet Union and they numbered more than forty thousand in 1973, with 9,300,000 children attending them during their vacation every year. After the breakup of the USSR, the number of Young Pioneer camps greatly declined. However, many of the major camps still exist. There are 2,726 Residential camps (with 2,000,000 children), and more 40,000 Day camps (3,500,0000 children) in Russia (2006). Most of them was united by All-Russian Camp Association "Deti Plus" (Children Plus) in 1994. There is also a forum leaders Summer children's health camps - planerochka and also holds Encyclopedia of mastery children's camp leader - summercamp.

France

In France they are called colonie de vacances or more recently centre de vacances. According to the French administration, more than 25% of French children attend this kind of "collective holiday" each year.

China

Most of the summer camps are sponsored by the educational bureau. However, nowadays, there are more privately-held camp programs. The traditional camps are only open to the selected students within individual school district. In the recent years, programs have started that are open to kids from different background and different regions. There are also programs tailored for international students who are interested in learning Chinese language and culture.

Finland

Many Finnish non-governmental organizations arrange summer camps for children in a wide variety of age brackets. Major organizers of summer camps are the scouts, sport teams and the orthodox and evangelic-Lutheran churches. The concept of summer camps arose with the rapid post-WWII urbanization and industrialization Finland experienced. The reason behind this was that Finnish pedagogues of that period, influenced by the values of the largely agrarian pre-WWII society, were convinced that an urban lifestyle was harmful for the development of children. The idea behind summer camps was to ensure that children had experiences of the countryside, experiences that would aid in development into a decent citizen.

One Finnish tradition also arose soon after WWII, was confirmation camps. Confirmations camps, religious camps for 13–16 years old youths organized by the local churches, aimed to combine the traditional concept of confirmation school and the newer concept of summer camps in order to battle secularization of the society. The concept was successful enough to such an extent that today, 90% of all youths participate in confirmation camps. The camps require their participants to learn certain religious texts, such as the catechism, and the Lord's prayer.

There are a number of non-religious alternatives for confirmation camps, such as the Prometheus Camp, which aim to generate a positive intellectual and social atmosphere for the participants of the camp without religious tuition.

Israel

The majority of summer camps in Israel are day camps. There are some overnight camps where campers stay for two weeks. The affiliation of the overnight summer camps is Jewish so they celebrate Shabbat and other Jewish holidays. The summer camps are international and are meant for Jewish kids and teens from Israel and countries around the world.

Some of the summer camps in Israel have a specific focus, for example, eCamp that focuses on high-tech in Israel.

Sweden

The church of Sweden provides confirmation camps, usually combined with outdoor life.

United Kingdom

Summer camps are not a regular part of childhood in the United Kingdom, as they are in the United States. The term "summer camp" itself is not considered to be British English (the industry body is called the British Activity Holiday Association). Camps in the UK are also generally less specialised than that within the United States and most offer a fairly broad Multi-Activity programme of adventure activities alongside some fun social elements. This is partly because summer camps in the UK grew as an off-shoot of the activity holiday industry and therefore was very influenced by their adventure-only outdoor programme. The UK has for the past few decades had a number of organisations that have established themselves more along the traditional American Camp model with a very wide range of holiday options as well as themed camps and major event days. Some religious groups, such as the Christadelphians, also run well publicised and attended camps throughout the country.

A very successful attempt to introduce residential summer camps to the UK was made by an organisation known as "The Council of Colony Holidays for Schoolchildren" which ran summer camps called "Colonies" from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s. Colonies were not based on outdoor pursuits or the "action-adventure" model, but were multi-activity holidays designed to appeal to a very wide range of children. This organisation was based on the French model, and was unique in the UK in that the young people who worked directly with the children (known as "Monitors") were unpaid volunteers, and also were rigorously prepared for their work in training courses designed and run by the organisation itself. CCHS had considerable support from the educational establishment and both the residential holidays and the training courses were highly regarded.

A successor body to CCHS, know as "The Active Training and Education Trust" was formed in 1996. This organisation runs residential summer camps known as "Superweeks" using the same structure, ethos and training courses that were developed by CCHS. [2]

Popular Camps in the UK include Sunshine Studios Hip Hop Summer School and MJA Language language course, which also offers lots of other activities.

Any summer or holiday camps in the UK that look after children under 8 must be registered with OFSTED (http://www.ofsted.gov.uk), who will inspect the provider under certain conditions of their registration and make sure the camp is safe and that the children are being looked after properly. Even camps with older children can be registered with OFSTED and this is a sign of quality control.

Camp Beaumont is organised by Education Travel and sited at Kingswood Centres around the UK. Activities are taught to students who might not have a chance to learn such skills in standard school settings. Camp Beaumont at Kingswood Centre, Bembridge, Isle of Wight has proved to be popular, as it is right next to the sea and plenty of space for the activities to take place.

In recent years sports specific coaching camps have become increasingly popular with a move away from the traditional tents to bricks and mortar with en-suite facilities - examples include Exsportise, XUK and Futures Sports.

Australia

Summer camps are largely non-existent in Australia, largely due to the short window of time during the Southern Hemisphere summer that is available. Most children participate in School-camps, Girl Guide/scout camps, or school holiday camps with some religious groups (Such as the Salvation Army and Seventh-Day Adventists) holding week-long Summer Camps. Girl Guides and Scouts offer 'jamborees' which are camps over 1 to 2 weeks. Multiple-week camps are next to unheard of, due to the fact that the Australian summer break (known as the Christmas holidays) only lasts between six to eight weeks, and occurs over Christmas and the New Year.

Other than the Seventh-Day Adventist Summer Camps, most holiday camps are referred to as "Adventure Camps", due to the fact that they largely do not occur over summer.

Many groups hold holiday day-camps for Primary aged children, and often run week-long adventure camps during the Spring, Autumn and Winter breaks.

Korea

Summer camps in Korea are English Immersion camps where the emphasis is on learning through structured lessons, and especially tailored activities to ensure students use the language as much as possible. Korea is quite unique with its over emphasis on acquiring English speaking skills, and teachers for these 2 to 4 week camps come from all over the English speaking world. Some of the teachers are on vacation from their regular work in Korea. Others come from their home countries or other countries where they might be working, and are on special visas just for the camps.

Some employ as many Korean staff as there are native English teachers to ensure the cultural and communication gaps are narrowed. A good camp should provide equipment and well researched texts for the different levels of students. To maximize the learning time spent there should be no more than 11 students per class. At some of the camps students sleep at dormitory accommodations, which are monitored all through the night by Korean staff. Other camps are day camps where the majority of students are bused to and from the camp.

Teachers spend most of their time with their students. They eat together, play sports together, and supervise them when there are special group activities.

Similar camps are also offered in the winter vacation. They are certainly no less popular than the summer camps

India

There are very few summer camps in India. Kids and Teen Summer camps are popular in the northern parts of India whereas in the southern parts the trend only started about two years ago. There is a summer camp at Ooty Tamil Nadu (five hours drive from Bangalore) for kids from seven to 16 years old. Each camp is seven days long. Activities include jungle safaris, trekking, bird watching, fishing, wildlife tracking, horse riding, airplane modelling, astronomy and personality development. Personality development includes six sessions on various topics such as time management, healthy eating habits, memory power and concentration, obedience and honesty, leadership skills and development, and goal setting and achievement.

There are some other camps conducting activities such as drawing, dancing, yoga, vocal music, various crafts, rock climbing, mountain hiking, magic, doll making, rowing, cricket and tennis coaching.

In Rajasthan, Summer Camps are quite popular. Mostly run by the Mountaineering & Adventure association of Rajasthan or Patrika in Education in various fields.

inme Outdoor Learning Programs offer summer as well as school programs in the outdoors acorss their 4 campus's in India. Do have a look at their website www.inme.in

Ireland

Summer camps in Ireland are usually in the form of Irish colleges, they are residential Irish language summer courses that give students the opportunity to be totally immersed in the Irish language, usually for periods of three weeks over the summer months. During these courses students attend classes and participate in a variety of different activities games, music, art and sport. These courses not only provide students with the ability to improve their language skills but also have proved to be a vehicle for introducing traditional cultural activities (céilís, Irish traditional music, etc.) to a new generation.

Malaysia

Summer camps in Malaysia are not so popular as in other country. Children & teenager have fun together by themselves. But now, summer camp is slowly getting attention. The biggest summer camps available are usually for children below 7 years old

Educational camps

Young girls learning how to make a bed at a "vacation school" in the late 1890's. Educational goals were somewhat more pedestrian in the past.

In the United States there are numerous models of camp with an educational focus that cater to students with differing ages and academic interest.

College credit courses

Some camps offer students the opportunity to explore a pre-college experience. Typically, students entering grades 10 through 12 stay in the college dormitories and attend summer classes run by college faculty. At the successful completion of a summer program, course credits are awarded, which in turn are accepted by most tertiary institutions. Typically, colleges in the United States and Canada offer these programs as it serves as an introduction to students to entice them to attend the college as a full time student based upon a memorable summer experience. One example is Camp CAEN, a computer camp offered by the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It is focused on educating high school aged students on subjects related to computer science and computer engineering, as well as exposing them to elements of college life.

A camper launches a model rocket at Starbase Kelly at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Aug. 10, 2007. Starbase Kelly, sponsored by the 433red Airlift Wing of the U.S. Air Force, is a five-day camp focused on providing fourth, fifth and sixth-graders with education on math, science and technology during the summer.

Non-college credit courses

Some camps, such as CTY and Duke TIP, are focused primarily on education or on educational-related activities, such as debate, history, or journalism. These camps are often run by colleges or universities, and are usually for children in junior or senior high school. Educational summer camps are different than summer schools as the summer camps often are not offered for school credit, and often have a significant focus on non-academic activities. Students for these programs are often invited or recruited. Many of these camps, such as Canada/USA Mathcamp and SSP, focus on a specific subject, such as mathematics or astronomy. These camps tend to have selective application processes involving problem solving or an essay about the applicant's interest in the subject.

Academic adventure camps

These provide high school students with the opportunity to study an academic topics on a summer adventure travel program, typically in the wilderness or a foreign country. Many include community service as a component of the course. Others also offer college credit with the successful completion of the program.

SAT Preparation courses

Various camp programs offer preparation for the SAT Reasoning Test as part of a mixture of academic learning with summer fun. Often the SAT preparation is offered as a full morning immersion while the afternoons and evenings are geared towards homework and recreational activities. These camp programs often outsource their SAT component from test preparation companies like The Princeton Review or Kaplan who provide the teachers and resources.

Enrichment courses

These programs offer a wide range of classes that may have little or no scholastic overlap, but are taught with the purpose of broadening the student's conception and interest in many otherwise unknown areas of study. Students typically explore subjects like photography, community service, drama, magic, scuba diving, video production, comic book design, crime scene forensics, cooking, yoga, and similar areas.

Science & Nature

These hands-on learning programs revolve around science and nature themes. These programs take a unique approach to learning in a summer camp program.

Science & Nature Camps in Canada

Some well known summer camps focusing on science and nature in Canada include Deep River Science Academy, Shad Valley, numerous university sponsored and hosted day camps including the University of Toronto's Science Outreach, Space Camp Canada and the now defunct Algonquin Space Campus hosted at the Algonquin Radio Observatory.

Tech camps

Tech camps focus on technology education. These summer camps develop 21^st century skills in areas such as game design, 3D game creation, web design, graphic design, robot building, and programming languages. These summer camps are typically held on college campuses. Many universities now offer technology-focused camps in the summer as a way of reaching future students, generating revenue and providing community service outreach. Examples include the University of Michigan School of Art & Design and the DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media. In addition, there are several American-based companies that conduct tech camps at universities each summer throughout North America. The most prominent of these include Emagination Computer Camps, iD Tech Camps, Digital Media Academy,and Giant Campus.

Art and performing art camps

Other camps have become summer training grounds for a variety of arts. Many offer elective classes in a range of artistic and performing activities including visual art, music, theatre, speech, debate, dance, circus arts, rock and roll, magic and other specialties. Some of these programs have a narrow focus in one particular area, while others offer a wide rage of programs. Due to the popularity of these activities, many traditional camps have added some elements of the visual and performing arts into their programs as well.

Some camps offer very high level instruction and performance opportunities; this is such that campers with previous experience and skill may be able to perform a solo in front of a symphony orchestra or create an artistic piece on their own. Most art and performing art summer camps also cater to beginners, offering children the opportunity to try a new art or learn a new skill.

Performing art camps often run 3 or 4 week sessions that culminate in some sort of performance that parents and families attend.

Travel camps

Many camps also bring children of all ages around the world. Some camps are often called "Adventure Camps", often having a very specific theme. Many of these programs emphasize skill development and personal growth through the adventures offered. Adventure camps also include sail training programs on Tall Ships. One of these well renound ships is Kingston's St. Lawrence 2.

Sports camps

Summer camps can be found that offer intensive instruction in almost any sport imaginable, or that offer quality instruction and competition in a wide range of sports. Camps are split into groups of day camps and overnight camps.

In the United States overnight sports camps fall into three groups. The more traditional of these offer boys and girls the chance to learn and play many sports. Sessions are typically 3 to 8 weeks long, and some camps have multiple sessions. While many strong athletes attend these camps, a traditional sports camp program also serves the needs of less proficient athletes by having all campers compete on teams picked by ability, so all kids get a chance to contribute to their team's success in their daily competitions. Some of these camps have been operating for around 100 years. These camps generally focus, through the medium of team sports, on the development of the whole child; not just how they are as an athlete but also how they are as a person, a bunkmate, a teammate, and a friend. Many of these camps include a variety of non-sports programs as well for a more diverse experience.

Many sports camps are of the second type, which focuses almost exclusively on one particular sport. These camps generally focus on helping each camper acquire skills in a sport that help them gain confidence and improve their chances of making the team when they return to school. Indeed, some campers are helped to be nationally competitive by way of this kind of intensive summer training. These camps generally run week-long sessions, and some campers may attend more than one session even though the curriculum repeats each week. Some single-sport camps offer longer sessions. Many of the instructors at these camps are coaches of local teams, and thus many athletes get valuable extra time with the coach they play for during the school year (or the coach they hope to play for during the upcoming school year).

Both multi-sport and single-sport camps tend to be run by experienced teachers and coaches (who typically have summers off from their school responsibilities). Cabin staff, instructors, and counselors are typically college athletes. The best sports camps succeed at challenging aspiring athletes both mentally and physically. This is possible in part because many of the counselors attended as campers, and thus there is a vibrant "camp culture" that welcomes new campers into an extended camp family and establishes the high standards that incoming campers are encouraged to achieve.

A more recent third type of sports camp that has been gaining popularity involves bringing professional coaches and trainers to the athletes instead of the athletes traveling to overnight camps. These camps are more tailored to youth sports teams because they present an effective solution for school and club teams to receive excellent training on their own schedule at much less of a cost. There is no need to pay travel or room and board for any of the campers so the costs are often 1/4 to 1/3 of the price of an average overnight sports camp for a similar level of training. The campers stay at home and attend the camp training at their school or club. Live 2 Compete is one of the camps pioneering this type of camp experience by providing single-sport focused take home camp experiences for high school sports teams.

The best sports camps do much more than just improve a camper's soccer, tennis, lacrosse, or wrestling skills; they help each child become a more skillful athlete, a more gracious competitor, a more committed team player, and a more confident person.

Weight loss camps

Main article: Fat camp

Weight loss or "fat" camps are for overweight children and teens to learn about losing weight and keep it off while having a summer camp experience.

Jewish Camps

Jewish summer camps provide an environment for campers to live and experience religion in addition to traditional camp activities. Some camps are part of specific Jewish movements such as Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist, or Conservative, some are focused on Zionism and the role of Israel in Jewish life, while others focus on providing positive Jewish identity-building experiences through Jewish culture. Their wide scope cover all interests from specialty camps to general, all-inclusive activity camps and special needs programs/camps.

Many Jewish Summer camps provide experiences for American Jews to spend a summer with each other as well as Israeli staff. The main role of Jewish camps in the United States is to allow young Jewish children to find and identify with a community.

See also

• Camping (recreational activity)
• Outdoor education
• List of summer camps
• KidsCamps
• CampResource.com

External links

Associations

• The American Camp Association is an organization of camping professionals that provides accreditation standards for camps, and serves as a resource for camping research and professional development.
• The North Carolina Youth Camp Association is a member organization that represents the best North Carolina camps. On their site you can find out more about organized summer camps in North Carolina.
• The Canadian Diabetes Association operates camp programs in nine Canadian provinces for children with type-1 diabetes.
• The Sunshine Studios is an organization providing dance camps around UK.
• The Canadian Camping Association is an association of camps across Canada. Accreditation of camps in Canada happens at the provincial level.
• The Christian Camp and Conference Association connects Christian camping professionals and associations around the world.
• The Ontario Camping Association accredits camps in Ontario, Canada
• The Quebec Camping Association accredits camps in Quebec, Canada
• The International Camping Fellowship connects camping professionals and associations around the world.
• The Mennonite Camping Association Addresses concerns between mennonite camps and the mennonite church.
• The Association of Independent Camps, a member-driven kindred group of the ACA that is dedicated to people who own, direct, or work at independent camps.
• The Association of Alabama Camps Represents the interests of children and families who attend camp, as well as the camps themselves in Alabama, USA.
• The Foundation for Jewish Camp is the only public organization dedicated solely to nonprofit Jewish overnight camps in North America.
• TeenLife is a resource for teens, parents, and educators to find summer camp programs and other engaging learning activities for teens.

Publications

• InSite Magazine for professionals in the Christian camp industry
• CampSight Magazine for anyone interested in Christian camp ministry
• "The Camp Search": Article on how parents can help their kids have a meaningful camp experience