Parents want their children to have fun and memorable experiences during summer break. One enduring tradition with benefits to last throughout the year would be summer camps. They provide kids with the fun they crave and enrichment activities they need. Here are 10 benefits or ways that summer camps positively impact your kids.

1. Explore Unique Interests

Summer camps provide kids with the time and space to explore interests outside school. For example, kids can learn more about coding or robotics in a week-long camp. They can investigate performing or visual arts. Two-week or more immersive camps allow kids to dive deeper into subjects they simply don’t have time for during the school year, such as game design and music production. Camp is a fun and safe way for kids to explore new activities, discover topics of interest and learn more about them.

2. Keep Brains Working

During the summer, when students do not have daily access to educational activities, they can fall behind. Sometimes this leads to a month or more of learning loss when the new school year begins. Research shows that summer camp can help to overcome learning loss, particularly by providing structure, routine, and blending hands-on activities with learning new skills.

3. Beats Boredom

Kids can easily become bored if they have nothing to do. While parents continue to work or manage other obligations, kids can go to summer camp to stay engaged.

4. Builds Strong Friendships

As any parent knows, kids who attend summer camp forge strong friendships with each other. This is especially true if summer camps are an annual tradition. Not only do campers develop lasting memories, they also bond over shared experiences. This improves communication and other social skills through games, sports and projects. 

5. Improved Self-Esteem

Social and team-building skills lead directly to higher self-esteem. As kids get older, new experiences helps them learn to take healthy risks and believe in themselves. Summer camps provide an excellent opportunity for kids to gain the confidence they need to tackle school and beyond. They learn to be more assertive and better able to handle conflict in a positive way.  

6. Encourages Good Physical Health

Summer camps provide sustained physical activity. Depending on their interests, kids can participate in a wide range of athletic activities building muscle and improving cardiovascular conditioning. This builds a foundation for healthy habits.

In many summer programs, campers improve upon skills for sports they play during the school year. They perfect techniques, practice drills, build endurance and hone the craft of specific sports that interest them. They also learn coordination, teamwork and discipline in group settings.

7. Broadens Their Horizons

Kids discover worlds that they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to – especially if they attend camps outside their usual sphere of interest. They discover new sports, indulge in more creativity, spend time in MakerSpace or explore coding languages. Aside from the skills they’ll learn from the formal curriculum, they develop and grow from fellow campers, including exposure to other ways of expression, jokes and songs.

8. Encourages Teamwork

At summer camps, kids work together on projects or shared goals. With sports, kids encourage and depend on one another. Both verbal and nonverbal skills are reinforced through games and tournaments. Arts camps provide plenty of opportunities for performers or artists to team up practicing lines, providing support or learning cues. STEM camps like Roblox allow groups to work toward solving problems, building machines or completing obstacle courses. Future music producers learn the art of collaboration when creating new tunes in a music production camp.

9. Fosters Personal Growth

Summer camps encourage personal growth through showcasing creativity, self-advocacy and personal responsibility. They learn to maneuver through and among group dynamics, appreciating the part they play in each encounter. Creative, STEM and sports camps allow kids to get to know themselves in a way that’s independent of their family. An example of this is an online summer camp about creative writing and starting a YouTube channel.

10. Appreciating Differences

Kids are exposed to all types of children at camp, especially kids from different demographics, cultures and schools.

In short, summer camps help kids develop into healthier adults – physically and socially. At KidztoPros, we offer a complete catalog of in-person and online summer camp options for kids from preschool to grade 12. We have new classes and locations launching each year. Join us!