SELECTING A CAMP
You will play a very important role in the success of your child's camping experience from the moment you think about camp, to making the camp selection, preparing for camp, the experience itself, and the post-camp incorporation of the experience into your family's home and social life.
In selecting a camp, there are four main factors to be considered: knowledge of the camp selected, the expectations you and your child have for camp, the camper, and an awareness that the people who direct the camp are far more important than the equipment, buildings, and facilities advertised.
WHAT CAMPS DO
All camps provide opportunities for individuals or groups (children, adults, families) to experience community living in an outdoor setting. This entails getting along with others, accepting responsibility, developing friendships, developing strength of character, and for first-time campers, adjusting to camp life and being away from home. And camps are fun!
ABOUT THE CAMP
There are more good camps today than ever before. But fitting a child to a camp, and vice versa are two different things.
Camp selection is not easy. Your child may need special considerations because of physical or other conditions. A child's needs might better be met in a special camp than in a general camp. Whatever the need, considerable time and effort should be devoted to the selection of the suitable camp.
One must consider the expectations of the parent and the child regarding the camp experience, special considerations for the child and the features of the particular camp selected.
CAMP ACTIVITIES
Most camps offer a combination of the following activities, but not necessarily all of them. Consult the individual camp.
- archery; arts and crafts; beachcombing; bible study; board sailing; boating; campfires; camp-crafts; canoeing;
- challenge course; discussions; drama; fire building; fishing; games; hiking; horseback riding; kayaking; music; nature appreciation; orienteering; out-trips; outdoor cooking;
- overnights; river rafting; rock climbing; sailing; singsongs; shelter building; skits; special events; sports; survival skills.
-Bc Camping Association
