Summer Camp Benefits
Summer Time! What a great time of year to be a kid. We all remember being kids and what that last day of school represented….FREEDOM! The freedom to do most anything we wanted without worrying about school, homework, and all that structure. It was usually all fun and games for the first few weeks and then boredom would set in. I know many parents are reading this thinking about their children and hearing the dreaded “I’m Bored”. Worse yet, when many of us were young we would be sent out to play with friends and explore. The reality for kids today can be a bit more challenging. Boredom often turns to spending hours, days, weeks in front of a screen.
My wife Sara and I have worked with children in both a formal education setting and in our Martial Arts school for over 20 years and have seen what that type of downtime can do to a child’s motivation, attitude, fitness level, and confidence. These types of habits tend to have long term consequences in the home and when they go back to school.
Getting your child involved in activities and camps during the summer is one of the best ways to make sure they avoid the “summer slide”. Many camps, offer a wide variety of activities that will allow your child the opportunity to explore their individual passions and meet friends that share those passions. Camps offer a looser structure for kids to play and learn at the same time. There is usually more downtime than in a normal school setting, this allows kids to really get a chance to make friends and develop social skills.
The physical activity many summer camps provide is something many children don’t get throughout the school year. Teaching children at a young age to be active and physically fit can be one of the best things we as parents can do to help them grow up healthy and happy. Activities like martial arts, and many other sports can help them learn to be fit while having FUN. The benefits to your child associating fitness and fun can be lifelong! Most camps have counselors and instructors who are great at teaching kids how to do the activity correctly, while pacing the classes so the kids get to play and enjoy the learning process.
Keeping your child engaged physically, mentally, and emotionally all summer can be exhausting for any parent. Getting them involved in a camp or even just a summer sport or activity can help us as parents as well. Even an hour or two away can help give parents a chance to recharge and in many cases spend more QUALITY time with our kids. In fact, why not have them teach something they learned that day, it’s a great bonding experience and when they teach you they will have learned it twice.
Interested in Karate Camp? Get additional information at https://tinyurl.com/KarateSummerCamp22
