• Imagination
• Cognitive skills
• Creative abilities
• Problem solving
• Fine motor skills
• Language
• Social skills
• Sense of time and place
• Focusing
• Listening
• Risk taking
• Tolerance
• Uniqueness

Art education can play a major role in a child’s academic and social development.

Children who regularly participate in a comprehensive arts program are four-times more likely to be elected to class office; four-times more likely to be in a math or science fair, and four-times more likely to win an award for writing, according to research published by Americans for the Arts.

Myth #1 – “For children prone to homesickness, a shorter camp session is best”

Fact: In reality, a longer camp stay allows a child to get over any homesickness, make new friends and enjoy the complete camp experience. Once they have done this they feel a real sense of accomplishment.

Myth #2 – “If another child liked this camp then it must be a good one for my child.”

Fact: Program offerings and philosophies vary from camp to camp. Some are more sports oriented, some more artistic, and some more competitive. Just as no two children are alike, a camp that is a great fit for one child may be a poor choice for another child.

Myth #3- “The proximity of the camp to my home is what’s most important.”

Fact: That’s OK if the best camp for the child happens to be close by, but that’s often not the case. It’s better to select the right camp, regardless of location, than a wrong one that’s nearby. In the event of an emergency, parents can’t be at the camp immediately regardless of where the camp is. One can generally fly to camps that may be further away, often arriving there sooner than driving to one that may be closer to home.

Myth #4- “Specialty Camp vs. General camp: My child loves baseball so I’ll send him to a baseball camp for a couple of weeks.”

Fact: This may be OK if the child has already attended a general camp, is a little older and ready to handle the intensity of a one activity camp. We recommend a general camp for a child’s first experience. General camps are more nurturing and spend time helping children to adjust to being away from home. They also offer children exposure to a variety of activities, which often generates new interests for a child.

Myth #5-”The best camps are the most expensive ones.”

Fact: While it’s true that you generally get what you pay for, there is a wide range of camp tuitions available; from about $400 to $1200 per week. Some very good programs are available at the lower end of the spectrum. Look at all the factors, not just at price.

Myth #6- “My child must go with a friend to camp.”

Fact: This may aid in the process of getting the child to go to camp but once there it typically does more harm than good. Friends that go together to camp often stick together alienating themselves from the group and preventing a very important aspect of camp from taking place; making new friends. Occasionally, the more independent child will begin making friends leaving the other child feeling abandoned and betrayed. The result of which can be a strained camp experience and two former friends.

Myth #7-”My child is too young or not ready for camp.”

Fact: Frequently the parent is really expressing that they as a parent are not ready for the child to leave the nest and go to camp!

Historically families who send younger children to camp (ages 6-10) report a much easier adjustment and better overall experience. Older children have a more developed sense of fear which can hinder the adjustment process, teens can often be rebellious and fight the notion of going to camp, and for older children they may be the newcomer in a camp with children that have been attending for years.

Myth #8- “I need to visit the camp before I make my selection.”

Fact: Some families are early planners and do visit camps the summer before they send their kids to camp. This is really the only useful time to pre-visit, when the camp is in session. To visit during the off-season, when camp is closed is to see nothing more than a closed down facility- dull and uninformative at best. Most families, (over 90%,) choose the camps for their children without first pre-visiting. Today, most camps have videotapes and websites which are a great way to see a camp in action. It’s also wise to request and speak with references (parents of children that have attended the camp).

Myth #9- “I’ll start my planning in the spring.”

Fact: Not a wise idea! The past 2 years a record number of children, over 6 million each summer, have attended camp. Demand has outgrown supply. Many families have ended up on waiting lists that never opened up. The slowing economy is not expected to have much of an effect on the growing demand for summer camp. Families should begin their camp selection process as early as possible. The peak months for camp enrollment are December through March. Some great camps are still available in the spring but it’s a risky game of hit and miss.

Myth #10 – “Not every child is cut out for camp, so maybe camp is not for us.”

Fact: While it is true that not every camp is right for every child, there is a camp out there where each child can thrive. Regardless of a child’s personality or nature camp can afford them the chance to have fun, make new friends, develop skills and cultivate new interests. What’s important is to understand the child’s style and interests and find a camp that meshes with those. For example, sending a child whose passion is performing arts to a competitive, sports oriented camp will probably be a disappointment to all. Camps may sometimes try to be all things to all children but take the time to really explore what each camp offers in the areas that interest your child. And keep in mind, siblings can be very different, so a camp that has been a success for one child may or may not be the perfect place for the child that follows.

Parents should be prepared to discuss any of these or other concerns they have with the directors of the camps they are considering. When you feel that you have found one on the same wavelength, you can be comfortable and confident in making your camp decision.

Every child should have the chance to grow emotionally, gaining self confidence and independence. These are the benefits of the camp experience and every child should be given the opportunity to experience summer camp!

The courses offered in these summer camps usually explore the fundamentals of acting, improvisation, mime, clown, mask work, character development, script analysis, audition techniques, creative movement, and voice for the actor.

The camps have been designed to give a strong technical foundation while providing a positive environment for personal growth and artistic expression.

Summer camp is also about making new friends, working as a team, improving self-confidence and having lots of fun! All students will take on roles behind the scenes, as well as put their skills to practice acting on-stage, during a final public performance.
In these summer camps, the students usually are taught by talented and expert instructors who had many years of experience in this industry and worked hard on their good reputation.

These summer camps provide kids an opportunity to learn from and interact with some bright and creative acting coaches. The programs are balance between being fun and educational for its students.
Some of the features of theater summer camp include:

1. Your children meet a variety of people. Summer acting classes bring your child in contact with kids from different schools, communities and cultures.

2. A wide variety of experience levels for children of all ages. Different programs are offered depending upon the previous amount of acting experience to ensure that the campers are receiving proper instructions while surrounded by peers with similar ability levels.

3. Advanced acting possibilities. For above-average students, acting summer camps offer the opportunity for a temporary move to Los Angeles, where campers are able to live in the heart of the entertainment industry. They go to school, attend auditions and receive additional acting instruction.

Since each and every child is unique, it is important to identify the needs of each individual. By selecting a summer acting camp or program that meets your child’s needs and interest, he or she will enjoy the camp even more. By participating in fun and enjoyable activities, your children will develop new and improved acting skills, new relationships and a lifetime of summer acting camp memories to enjoy.

Check out these places for affordable and fun summer activity options.

1. Your child’s daycare has summer fun in the works.
Most daycare facilities undergo an exciting transformation in the summer months from their established program. Many facilities have kid-crazed warm-weather activities to keep children enrolled in their program, and by the numbers of happy kids participating in summer fun, it works! Daycares typically package weekly sessions involving field trips; swimming, water parks or splash days; art and music enrichment offerings; sports outings; and more activities that just shout summer fun. And, transportation to these activities is generally provided as part of the summer fun weekly fee.

2. Check out your area community center for summer fun.
Many communities have taken advantage of recreation centers and parks to offer reasonable child care during the summer and weeks when children are out of school. Sometimes a city promotes summer fun child-care camps as a community service for its residents and charges only enough to cover expenses and salary. A possible advantage to using recreation center care is if a parent only needs a few weeks covered and wants certain summer fun days or activities for kids. Many centers structure the fees on a week-by-week option, which allows for summer fun planning flexibility. Parents shouldn’t delay, however, in signing up. Since spaces are limited, slots often fill up.

3. Consider utilizing college students on break for some summer fun for your kids.
Students home for the summer from college are often hungry for a job and at the same time are optimum resources for summer fun for your kids. Sometimes, parents already know the individual from previous years, and perhaps he or she has babysat for you previously. For parents seeking summer fun times or select times only solution, this arrangement works much like babysitting, although parents will typically set a daily fee. With some planning and structure, this set-up can serve as a mini-summer fun camp for your kids.

4. Explore your child’s school.
Confused? Don’t be. Some school districts are now starting to take advantage of their facilities that have not been used traditionally in summer months and offer summer fun camps of their own. The advantages are that the tuition fees often provide much-needed revenue for the school district and the staff is typically comprised of teachers and assistants already employed by the school. In fact, the summer camp leader could very well be your child’s own teacher.

5. Start a neighborhood co-op.
Round up parents of similar-aged children in your neighborhood and start a summer fun program for your kids. Parents could alternate care and plan and carry out a fun outing for all participants for assigned days. There typically is no money that changes hands; the pay-off is that everyone equally takes turns and plans an enjoyable and safe day. Meeting and agreeing to a calendar of activities and events is advised.

But if you didn’t go to camp as a child, you may not realize just how good the experience is for children. You may not know why so many parents are committed to sending their kids to camp. So while we have talked about most of these before, here is a list of the most important reasons to send your kids to camp.

At camp, children:

1. Spend their day being physically active – As children spend so much time these days inside and mostly sitting down, camp provides a wonderful opportunity to move. Running, swimming, jumping, hiking, climbing! Camp is action!

2. Experience success and become more confident – Camp helps children build self-confidence and self-esteem by removing the kind of academic, athletic and social competition that shapes their lives at school. With its non-competitive activities and diverse opportunities to succeed, camp life is a real boost for young people. There’s accomplishment every day. Camp teaches kids that they CAN!

3. Gain resiliency – The kind of encouragement and nurture kids receive at camp makes it a great environment to endure setbacks, try new (and thereby maybe a little frightening) things, and see that improvement comes when you give something another try. Camp helps conquer fears.

4. Unplug from technology – When kids take a break from TV, cell phones, and the Internet, they rediscover their creative powers and engage the real world— real people, real activities, and real emotions. They realize, there’s always plenty to do. Camp is real!

5. Develop life-long skills – Camps provide the right instruction, equipment and facilities for kids to enhance their sports abilities, their artistic talents, and their adventure skills. The sheer variety of activities offered at camp, makes it easy for kids to discover and develop what they like to do. Camp expands every child’s abilities.

6. Grow more independent – Camp is the perfect place for kids to practice making decisions for themselves without parents and teachers guiding every move. Managing their daily choices in the safe, caring environment of camp, children welcome this as a freedom to blossom in new directions. Camp helps kids develop who they are.

7. Have free time for unstructured play – Free from the overly-structured, overly-scheduled routines of home and school, life at camp gives children much needed free time to just play. Camp is a slice of carefree living where kids can relax, laugh, and be silly all day long. At camp we play!

8. Learn social skills – Coming to camp means joining a close-knit community where everyone must agree to cooperate and respect each other. When they live in a cabin with others, kids share chores, resolve disagreements, and see firsthand the importance of sincere communication. Camp builds teamwork!

9. Reconnect with nature – Camp is a wonderful antidote to “nature deficit disorder,” to the narrow experience of modern indoor life. Outdoor experience enriches kid’s perception of the world and supports healthy child development. Camp gets kids back outside!

10. Make true friends – Camp is the place where kids make their very best friends. Free from the social expectations pressuring them at school, camp encourages kids to relax and make friends easily. All the fun at camp draws everyone together— singing, laughing, talking, playing, doing almost everything together. Every day, camp creates friendships.

As any summer camp guide will note, there are specialty summer camp programs that can be residential or they are day camps. They are generally focused on only one single activity; such as horse riding, tennis, soccer or swimming. Specialty camps are a great option for kids who enjoy a specific activity and want to sharpen the skills they have for that activity. Day camps are as the name implies; instruction during the day and then the child returns home in the evening.

Residential programs include staying overnight and can last, at a minimum, for five days. Typically, they run two or three weeks, but can go as long as eight or nine weeks.

Before you and your child choose a summer one, ask yourselves a few questions. How much are willing to pay for the summer camp experience? Day camps may cost you as little as $40 per day, whereas residential camps are at least double that amount. The more specialized the summer camp, the more expensive it will be, as the skills the summer staff possess will be at a much higher level than those of a regular teenager working as a counselor.

Next, decide how your child matches up with certain types of summer camps. Will he or she enjoy spending a week meeting new people? Do you want your child to have a lot of independence or do you prefer a schedule with more structure? As well, when choosing a summer one, make sure you confirm their standards for safety.

Summer one can be an exciting and enriching learning experience for your child. It is a good way to meet new friends, try new things, face new challenges, learn new skills and just simply have a great time. Every camp is unique in its own way, so by using this summer camp guide, hopefully you will be able to choose a program that can inspire your child to learn and grow in the activity of his or her interest. Summer one friendships and memories can last a lifetime.

The trick is finding a camp that revolves around something they love. If enrollment in summer camp is starting soon, sit down with your child and explore the option. Your only requirement should be that they enjoy their chosen camp and agree to get their money’s worth from the time they are there. If your child loves horses, consider sending them to horseback riding camp.

You may have a few additional expenses other than their enrollment such as a helmet cover or special clothing, but it will be worth the cost. Helmet covers allow your child to be safe while learning to ride and care for horses at camp.

Another option is art camp. Crafty kids will love time to focus on creating masterpieces and best of all, at a good art camp; they will have access to materials they would be able to work with at home. They may get a chance to use a pottery wheel, paint on a giant stretched canvas, or create stained glass art. These activities would be costly if practiced on their own, but at an art camp, kids get to experience a variety of art medium all during their time at camp.

Kids with a passion for space will love astronaut camp. This is one of the most popular camp options for kids and it exposes them to an astronaut’s responsibilities and privileges. Not all areas have a nearby astronaut or space camp, so there may be some travel expenses associated with your child’s enrollment. However, astronaut camp may be a once in a lifetime opportunity, so if your child expresses interest, give it serious consideration before making your decision.

If your child has a flair for the dramatic, consider enrolling them in theater or performance camp. These camps focus on all aspects of performance and you can find one that specializes in dance, dramatics, or singing. Some even combine the three so kids get exposure to all parts of performing. Most camps put on a performance at the end of the session, so parents have something to look forward to in addition to their child’s happiness.

A final camp to consider for your child is health or weight loss camp. While many of these camps come with a stigma of being camps for fat kids, the truth is these health camps are very beneficial to all kids these days. Camps are located across the country and teach kids how to have fun outdoors, how to make healthy food choices, and how to cook. Kids who attend these camps make special connections with other camps and return home ready to take care of their health.

Some reason for making summer camp a necessary part of every kids life are given below.

• Kids and teens get ample opportunities to indulge in a variety of games and activities, which they don’t find at their local sports centre or parks. Summer camps for kids enable your child to enjoy activities like archery, pottery, high ropes courses and quad biking, to name just a few.
• Children naturally feel bored, if they have to repeat their daily mundane tasks en during holidays. However, at summer camps for kids, kids and teens get to learn new skills while enjoying themselves.
• Summer camps offer great opportunities to meet and befriend kids and teens from other schools, cities, states and countries. Kids learn about the existence of bigger and diverse societies and their exciting customs and interesting people.
• Youngsters learn to be independent, self-reliant, confident and creative at summer camps for kids. Besides learning new games and skills, they also become more tolerant and cooperative.
• Summer camps for kids can improve your child’s health by exposing them to fresh air and exercise rather than sitting home for watching TV or playing video games The safe and friendly environment in summer camps for kids enables them to have a really good time.

The uniqueness of every child makes it imperative to recognize their specific needs according to their age, skills, hobbies and interests. The Camp Professor offers assistance in recognizing your child’s interests and chooses a camp or teen program that will be most beneficial for them. Their vast network of summer camps, facilities, and programs offer you a wider and better choice.

Summer camp! The defining growing-up experience. So much fun, but more than that … so much learned.
At first glance, camp is a place for kids to learn to swim, sing or speak Spanish. But look closer.

The seven-year-old day campers catching tadpoles by the creek are engaged in a first-hand biology lesson. A troupe of tweens, some too shy to raise a hand in school, bow to applause, having found confidence and their voice in a summer drama production.

The group of 14-year-olds calculating cargo weight and distribution and charting the course for a three-day canoe trip are putting math and physics classes into action. At each day’s end, they are reporters describing challenges met in stories and memories that fill personal journals. Teenagers gazing at constellations, shooting stars and dancing Northern Lights contemplate the wow and how of the universe and turn philosophical, considering their place in it.
Look closer still and you’ll see children learning through choices made, chores divvied up, friendships forged … learning self-sufficiency, self-confidence and leadership.

You want the best for your kids. If a good education is top of the list, think of school- plus-camp as the winning combination.

Camp Builds Skills for Life

- School, work and life skills problem solving, self-discipline, perseverance, goal setting and time management and team building
- Gaining confidence and self-esteem
- Leadership and personal growth – learning to inspire and to work as part of a team, achievements at camp build self-esteem and confidence
- Becoming more independent
- Igniting future career interests an actor, an astronaut, an athlete, an astronomer
- Internalizing morals and values
- Specialty training mastering sailing, horseback riding, hockey, swimming, computer skills or debate transfer back to classroom work
- Gaining better self-awareness
- Learning to try new things
- Becoming a good community member and good citizen
- Physical activity and increased strength
- Kids are up and active and using their bodies as well as their minds
- Taking responsibility for self and others

Kids discover and explore new sports, crafts and challenges like high ropes or an adventure trek Improving interpersonal and social skills. Learning through success and failure.

There are no grades at camp. Kids are encouraged in a supportive environment to test and master new skills and try again and again if they fail. And these are all very beneficial for their overall deveopment!