Camp Benefits
If you are considering camp for your child, you may be wondering if it is the right fit for your child’s personality. Perhaps your child has never spent much time away from you besides going to school, or maybe your child has special interests, and you are worried they will feel out of place at camp.
Although each child is a unique individual, we believe camping is beneficial for all kids. No matter what your child’s interests are, camp helps children develop important social, emotional and cognitive skills. Best of all, children create memories that last a lifetime at camp.
To help you decide if our camp is right for your child, we’ll explain the benefits you can expect your child to gain as a result of camping, and why a camp with Life Skills & Adventures matters.
1. Kids gain independence
Traditional overnight camps create a “third space” for kids to learn valuable life skills in different ways than they do at home or school. Going to camp offers kids needed time away from family and regular friend groups. These experiences give them the space to gain independence.
Qualities to seek in a camp include high expectations and opportunities for campers to be responsible and accountable for individual and group tasks. These opportunities can be as simple as pitching in on kitchen duties or as involved as leading the planning of the camp-wide talent show. A quality camp experience is one in which kids gain the confidence that they can take care of themselves and also contribute to something bigger.
2. Kids develop essential relationship skills
A great camp experience involves making new friends, offering kids opportunities to practice the skills needed to build and maintain relationships. For most campers, this social function of camp is central to their experiences, unlike school where academic outcomes drive most of their daily activities. Adults who went to camp often report that camp was critical to developing their ability to be open with others and create friendships over a short period.
The social environment at an overnight camp can be intense, as kids can’t escape the daily drama by going home at night. This means that camp counselors encourage kids to deal with conflict rather than avoid it. Great camps have well-trained, caring adults able to guide kids through conflict, providing opportunities to practice communication, empathy and compassion – key components of maintaining positive relationships.
3. Kids learn to appreciate differences
As adults, building and maintaining relationships requires the ability to understand and appreciate differences among people. Great camps provide a space where kids can interact with people from different backgrounds and worldviews. At some camps, this might be interacting with kids of different cultural, religious or racial backgrounds. At others, it might mean making friends with campers and counselors from different parts of the world or being with kids from different economic or family conditions.
Building awareness of our differences, and learning to be empathetic to challenges that some people with different life experiences face, takes practice. Camps, especially those unaffiliated with a school or specific neighborhood, can bring together all kinds of kids and caring adults, providing an excellent opportunity for young people to see the world differently than how they might at home.
4. Kids connect with nature
Kids camps have connected kids to nature for about as long as kids have been going to camp. Around the turn of the 20th century, many camps focused on being a place for kids from the city to experience the wonders of the natural world. Fortunately, great camps continue to connect kids to nature through nature-based programming and simply being outside.
Time use trends show us that kids (and adults) are spending more time indoors leading to what Richard Louv has called a “nature deficit disorder.” Great camps can provide a safe space for kids to be outside and explore the natural world. Former campers often report that camp was the place that helped them develop an affinity for nature and outdoor activities more than any other place during their childhood.
5. Kids get to be kids
In a highly connected and stressful world, there has been an increased interest in being more authentically engaged with others and our world. If you are a parent looking to help your kid put down their phone, reduce their screen time, worry less about “likes” on social media and just be a kid, then the old idea of camp seems like a custom-built solution.
Great camps allow kids to play in non-virtual worlds and interact with friends face to face rather than through a device. And most importantly, at camp kids get to be kids – and that might be the most compelling reason why camp still matters.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
~ Albert Einstein
I ❤️ LSA
Why You Will Love Us
we believe in providing fun experiences that support and encourage each individual to learn life skills, build relationships, build confidence and allow opportunities to celebrate each individual’s unique skills and qualities.
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SCENIC ACTIVITIES
Winter Feeling
There’s nothing quite like watching flames dance and coals shimmer under a star-lit sky, with only a breath of cool breeze whisking embers high into the night air. The perfect way to relax after a ‘hard day camping’… We even provide the marshmallows!
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Learn More About
Camp Manyung
Located along the beautiful Port Phillip Bay, just 60 minutes from the City, Camp Manyung has long been one of Australia’s premier Youth Camp Retreat and personal development venues.
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