1. Home
2. View
3. why-send-your-kid-to-camp

Why Send Your Kid to Camp

Camp is one of the greatest experiences a child can have. There are many reasons why the camp experience can benefit both children and parents and we’d like take some time to highlight a few of them for you.

• Camp will expose your children to DIVERSITY. Kids from all over Canada go to camp every year, many of them will even travel outside of their city- or even their province- to do so. Canada’s camps are filled with amazing and diverse groups of children who may have never otherwise been given the opportunity to meet each other. Camps allow a wonderful opportunity for the integration of children from many different locations, cultures, religions, and more to come together and find common ground in the activities and experiences they enjoy together.
• MAKING FRIENDS is probably one of the most common results of any child’s time away at camp. The easy social setting of a camp environment allows kids to connect with each other in a way that can last a lifetime. Whether it’s day camp, or your child is staying the week- they are bound to bond with their fellow campers.
• Time at camp can provide a BOOST IN SELF-ESTEEM. Taking a child away from the stresses and pressures of their everyday lives gives them the opportunity to blossom and become the best version of themselves. Your child will be able to truly come out of their shell and be completely accepted by their camping peers, which can provide them with an incredible feeling that will last beyond their time at camp.
• The camp experience, especially with overnight camps, can really help your child DEVELOP INDEPENDENCE, especially if it’s their first time away from home. Camp allows your child the space to discover their independence in a safe and caring environment.
• Developing LEADERSHIP SKILLS can be the result of a camp experience especially for older children or teens. Many camps provide the opportunity for children to take on a leadership role in certain aspects of their programming or even with their fellow campers in a social setting.
• Many camps take place outdoors so they can help your child GET IN TOUCH WITH THE NATURAL WORLD around them. Canada is a beautiful country, and the opportunity to leave urban centres and explore the natural world has always been a great part of going to camp. Even if you already live in a rural setting, camp can provide the opportunity to become educated about the natural space that surrounds us everyday. Most camps encourage a healthy respect for the natural world that can be carried over into our everyday lives.
• Camp gets kids ACTIVE! With an amazing range of programming including sports, arts, skills based programming, and water activities, there is plenty to get your kids up and active. Even if the camp you’re choosing is education based- there is still an amazing benefit to keeping kids engaged and their minds active during those slow summer months.
• Due to the range of programming most camps offer it can be an excellent opportunity for kids to DEVELOP AND DISCOVER NEW INTERESTS. Camp could be the key to unlocking a new hobby or skill that your child may have otherwise never had the opportunity to experience. Whether it’s learning something new, or even taking a camp program geared towards an existing interest and working to develop it, camp can provide the opportunity to build your child’s personal interests in a skilled and positive way.
• Camp staff can be amazing ROLE MODELS. Whether they go by nicknames or their given name, your child will come home with a list of names of the people who helped them feel like the most important person in the world while they were at camp. It takes a special breed of human to become a camp councillor, and we’re very lucky to have an awful lot of these wonderful individuals helping out across the country.
• One of the often under-appreciated benefits to camp is that it gives your kids A BREAK FROM TECH. Technology is a wonderful tool that helps enable fantastic opportunities for anyone who has access- but it can also be a distraction from many of the often overlooked opportunities that aren’t behind a screen. Putting the gadgets away in favour of sports, friends, art, and natural education can round out your child’s perspective on the world around them (and even help them to better appreciate their tech toys once they are back in contact with the digital world).
• Camp allows children to FACE CHALLENGES and OVERCOME OBSTACLES. Whether those obstacles are integrated into the camp’s program, or personal- the staff and their fellow campers can help children work towards overcoming those obstacles and show them a level of personal success that they may not have been previously able to access within themselves. Character building is a very important advantage for children who attend camp. Many Children leave camp as more confident versions of themselves and a lot of that can be credited to the amazing programming and overall camp experience which provided them with the tools to overcome the challenges that they encountered while at camp.

All of these benefits can be found by you and your child at any one of the amazing camps that are located across Canada. The wonderful memories your child creates at camp will last the rest of their lives, and that’s a benefit that goes without saying. With so many advantages to sending your child to camp the only real question becomes; which camp to send them to!

Featured Camps

---

Camp Arowhon

Everyone knows the value of getting away from routines and technology to spend time in nature. Around the world, kids feel a different kind of energy take hold as their camp busses roll off highways through camp gates each summer.

Camp Bil-O-Wood

Beginning in 1946, Camp Bil-O-Wood Has been run by the Ludwig Family for generations.

Keats Camp

Keats Camps has been serving youth and families for over 85 years as a part of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada. Thriving during the summer months, our property comes alive with over a thousand campers & staff and all of their visiting parents & friends.

Manitoba Pioneer Camp

Founded in 1940, Manitoba Pioneer Camp has been operating ever since as a life-changing summer camp for children and youth. It is part of a network of nine Inter-Varsity Camps across Canada.