Going to a summer camp for many is a long standing tradition, and every year over 11 million children take part in them. There is something to suit every child’s interest from camps with a focus on Baseball to camp where the focus is on Geology to another camp with a focus on Chess. The list is endless and it makes sense to let your child help choose what kids summer camp they attend.

If you have younger children you may opt to send them to a summer day camp, this is particularly ideal for children who are not ready to stay out over night. During summer day camps the children will take part in a fantastic array of activities before returning back home, successfully stimulated. These camps generally aim to instil the confidence and skills required for overnight camps. Trust me that once your children take part in these they will want to spend the next year away from home.

If you are ready to send your child away from home then I suggest opting for a traditional overnight camp. During these camps, often lasting a number of weeks your children will take part in a wide amount of activities including hiking, swimming and rock climbing. Check with the company first however to find out what activities are available.

Kids Summer Camps aren’t just for getting your children out and about ever. When your child returns whether they have come from a day or overnight camp they will be incredibly happy. Their confidence would have been boosted and they would have made a ton of new friends. Kids summer camps are an essential part of your child’s development.

You may even be able to send your child overseas to a summer camp; the cost is a bit more expensive however they will be taken on experiences that they would never have had a chance to take part in otherwise. You will be able to find kids summer camps in most countries around the world, some favourites include European Kids Summer Camps.

If your child has a disability such as asbergers or down syndrome there are also special kids summer camps that will be able to cater for their special needs.

If you want to provide the best experience for your child this summer then send them to a kids summer camp, let them assist you in the decision making process and they will have the best time of their life. They will be out there making new friends, learning something, getting fit and above all having fun.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7003156

June 10

Chicken Potstickers
Mandarin Oranges, Edamame, Fortune Cookie

Bagel Lunch
Light Cream Cheese, Baby Carrots, Ranch, Cottage Cheese, Applesauce

June 11

Grilled Hamburger
Whole Wheat Bun Lettuce, Watermelon Baked Potato Chips

Cobb Salad
Egg, Grilled Chicken Cheese, Turkey Bacon Tomato, Cucumber Ranch, Banana Bread

June 12

Sausage & Cheese Calzone
Marinara Sauce, Garden Salad, Italian, Orange Quarters

Chipolte Chicken Wrap
Lettuce, Tomato, Cheese, Orange Quarters, Chips, Salsa

June 13

Baked Chicken Tenders
BBQ Sauce, Corn on the Cob, Watermelon

Homemade Banana Bread Lunch
Cottage Cheese, Fresh Fruit Salad, Carrots, Ranch

June 14

Cheese Ravioli
Marinara Sauce, Garden Salad, Italian Dressing, Garlic Bread

Turkey, Cheese & Cracker Lunch
Cheddar Cheese, Turkey, Whole Wheat Crackers Yogurt, Fresh Fruit Salad

June 17

Pepperoni Pizza Muffins
Marinara Sauce, String Cheese, Garden Salad, Ranch, Orange Quarters

Cold Chicken Skewer
Cheddar Cheese, Watermelon Wedge, Biscuit

June 18

Macaroni & Cheese
Garden Salad, Ranch, Grapes

Beef Salami Sandwich
Provolone, Italian Bread, Grapes, Pasta Salad

June 19

Turkey Sloppy Joe
Whole Wheat Bun, Buttered Corn, Orange Quarters

Soft Pretzel Lunch
Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Whole Banana, Garden Salad, Ranch Dressing

June 20

Cheese Quesadillas
Mild Salsa, Pinto Beans, Watermelon Wedge

Smoked Turkey Sandwich

Coleslaw, Baked Potato Chips Orange Quarters

June 21

Chicken Nuggets
BBQ Sauce, Tater Tots, Ketchup, Celery Sticks, Ranch

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lunch
Applesauce, Orange Quarters, String Cheese

June 24

Spaghetti & Homemade Meat Sauce
Garlic Bread, Garden Salad, Italian Dressing

Chicken Salad Pita
Baked Potato Chips, Cantaloupe Wedge

June 25

Baked Chicken Tender Sandwich
Lettuce, Fresh Fruit Salad, Yogurt

Homemade Cinnamon Roll Lunch
Yogurt, Applesauce String Cheese

June 26

Homemade Tomato Soup
Grilled Cheese, Orange Quarters, Goldfish

Italian Sub Sandwich
Ham, Turkey, Provolone Lettuce, Tomato, Bell Peppers, Baked Potato Chips Whole Apple

June 27

Pancakes
Canadian Bacon, Banana, Syrup, Butter

Turkey Wrap
w/Spinach & Cheese, Low Fat Ranch, Applesauce, Pretzels

June 28

Cheese Nachos
Refried Beans, Salsa, Celery Sticks, Ranch, Orange Quarters

Homemade Zucchini Bread Lunch
Yogurt, String Cheese,Whole Apple

Order a lunch now

The world needs the next generation to be more tolerant of each other’s views, ideology, and beliefs. Summer camp is an opportunity for children to be exposed to the best of human character. Carefully selected role models are dedicated to showing your child how to have fun, learn from others, and make friends in person rather than online. Camp allows kids to meet people from all over the world, every race, culture, and socioeconomic level. I still remember one of my counselors, Danny, from England, explaining to me, “The world is full of excuses. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what has happened to you. At the end of the day you choose how you treat others.”

There is something magical about a summer camp experience. Each and every camp in the world is different. Not merely because of geography or location, but because of the traditions and people who have touched the camp. Every camp has hidden treasures of history and traditions that give it character and identity. Even with agency camps like the YMCA where there is a common mission, every camp is unique in its style, program, games, geography, traditions, and experience.

Every staff member, alumni camper, and volunteer has memories associated with their time at their camp — memories that stay with them for their lifetime. Most people remember with fondness the counselors, cabins, camp food, camp outs, and special happenings of their time.

Camp is an independent experience that shapes one’s character and life — a controlled, safe environment where children and youth are able to make their own decisions about simple things (what activity they want to do, how many s’mores they want to make, or what clothes they are going to wear) and about important things (who they will hang out with . . . who will be their friends).

Camp is a place where kids interact with people face-to-face and, at the same time, learn about themselves and others around a camp fire, under the stars, or sitting around a dining hall table. Camp allows the idea of boarding the train to Hogwarts to go from fantasy to reality — children find a world filled with possibilities unavailable to them in everyday life.

Camps give kids a chance to practice being the best they can be. They experience a place designed to create happy memories and encourage self-expression. They have the opportunity to climb towers, ride horses, shoot an arrow, and even experience the success of winning the big game! It stays with them forever. Kids will learn from a full range of emotions and human experiences including homesickness, friendship, disagreements, teamwork, frustrations, jubilant success, and more.

As parents, our hopes and jobs are to ready our kids to be productive, independent, and capable people — to prepare them to thrive without us. Camp offers a way for kids to start developing those skills in the best possible environment. It makes me a bit sad every time my son runs off to join his cabin group without even a look back . . . and at the same time, I burst with pride watching him growing into a happy, independent, tolerant, open, confident, and capable person. I know that we will have plenty to talk about when he gets home from camp. I also know he will remember the trust and gift of his time at camp, and it will add to him for the rest of his life.

There is so much competition for our children’s time in the summer — sports practices, summer school, well-deserved vacations. But let’s not forget the value of a camp experience — camp is a gift we can give our children that they will benefit from and remember forever. If ever there was a time when the world needed a generation of future leaders who understood the intricacies of living in a community, having tolerance, and being open — that time is now.

Jeff Merhige is the executive director of YMCA Camp Kern, a branch of the Greater Dayton YMCA. He has been professionally involved with camping for over twenty years. He and his wife, Amy, met at camp, and have two children, Sydney and Luke. http://www.acacamps.org/blog/parents-place/why-the-world-needs-camp

If you’ve got a multiple-kid household, you have a lot of choices when it comes to summer plans — including camp!

First, assess each individual child’s readiness for camp. Consider each child’s age, past experiences away from home, and expectations about camp. Read specific tips at The Right Time — Gauging Your Child’s Readiness for Camp. Make sure to talk through any decisions with your children as a family.

Camping Together?

If you do decide more than one of your children is ready for camp, consider whether they would thrive at the same camp or separate camps. Siblings who are close in age and interests and consistently get along with each other may find camp even more enjoyable if given the opportunity to experience it together. And when the camp experience is over, the siblings can reminisce and engage jointly in any new hobbies they picked up over the summer.

Keep in mind, however, that camp also helps attendees develop better social skills and encourages independence and healthy risk-taking. If your children are too focused on each other, they could miss the opportunity to make new friends and spread their wings.Also, if your children don’t get along, you might want to consider sending them to different camp — you don’t want unhealthy competition to color what ought to be a fun-filled experience.

You may also choose a compromise. You can always send your children to the same camp so they know someone is there if needed, but request that they be placed in separate cabins and activity groups. That way, they can compare notes when they are back home, but each will have had their own unique and rewarding experience.

Is an older sibling going off to camp this summer and leaving a younger sibling at home? Learnwhat you can do to help a child that is really going to miss his or her older sibling!

http://www.acacamps.org/blog/parents-place/family-matters-sending-siblings-camp

Currently, the majority of children enter the world of television and computer technology long before they actually go to school. As per a recent survey, as much as two-thirds of all infants and toddlers watch TV or videos on average of two hours each day. Children four to seven years of age, spend thirty-two hours a week in front of a TV, watching television, DVD’s, DVR, videos or using a game console. Finally, kids between the ages of eight and 18 spend as much as four hours daily watching TV, and two-plus hours in front of a computer screen. It has been found that excessive TV viewing can contribute to poor grades, behavior problems, sleep deprivation and obesity. Medical experts confirm that spending extended hours watching TV is not only detrimental to the mental health of kids, but also to their physical heath and development.

There are numerous indoor and outdoor games that can help kids spend the maximum amount of their time playing in a healthy manner. Indoor activities should involve mental stimulation as well as social interactions by way of age appropriate games, such as, playing cards, dominoes, or memory tasking, also, include board games such as checkers, scrabble and monopoly. Outdoor games and activities can be as trouble free as riding a bicycle, walking the dog, hopscotch or throwing a Frisbee. More organized team sports such as kickball, basketball, touch football, street hockey and soccer are great ways to teach children the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. Most important is keeping children active whether indoors or out, but not in front of the TV or computer.

The long, hot summer months often leads to a substantial amount of unnecessary time spent indoors. It’s time to change that cycle! Get outside and play with your children, or sign them up for a physically active summer day camp. By engaging children in a summer camp atmosphere, studies have found enormous benefits not only socially but physically as well. Kids will learn a variety of new skills, increasing social interaction, respect for authority figures, time management, better self awareness and how to remain engaged in tasks while having fun all day long! Check the local papers in Hillsborough and Pinellas county for summer day camps or other ways to keep your kids active while out of school this summer. Limit their time in front of a TV or computer, and get out and play for your child’s benefit as well as your own.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6196465

Day Camping helps our child to grow independence, while giving your child a feel for learning and practicing intra-personal skills. A Day Camp can improve the children social skills and very often also gives resources they have not experienced before. Learning to get along with other kids and different types of people are only part benefits of a summer camp.

Outdoors Activities

Obesity has become a huge problem for our country. Summer camps will help your child become more active and experience outdoor activities that will help them to perform activities outside of their normal indoor sedentary lifestyle and will also help them foster a relationship with nature since a young age. This foundation will help them be more active as grownups.

Day Camp helps impact their success in their future
The summer camps go back to early 1900s American culture. Statistically 5 million children go to camp every summer in the United States. The number of day camps in the U.S. has grown by nearly 90% in the past 20 years, totaling 5,000 today.

A summer camp can help your children grow in many ways. Here’s a list of the most important aspects.

• Camps help children get in touch with themselves.
• Camps help children to be more self-confidence.
• Camps help children build intra-personal skills.
• Camps help children grow self-reliance.
• Camps help children grow leadership skills.

To raise a child it takes a whole community. A summer day camp can have a positive role in your children’s lives. Children need to learn from a multitude of exposures and a camp can be an adventure. A positive day camp experience can make a difference in the future of a child for the better and help them develop a good foundation for their future.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6968081

Children are very playful by nature and are interested in knowing new things. During the time of their school vacation in summer, they want to have full enjoyment. But sadly not all of them can afford the week long stay at a camp. A summer day camp can therefore be considered a best alternative for them as they can commute daily.

If you make a comparison with week long stays at summer camps, a summer day camp can be more convenient for many reasons. For instance, the campers can return their home at the end of the day because many children are not in habit of staying away from their parents. This day camp provides such an environment where the children become quite energetic to enjoy the activities and programs conducted under a supervised coaching.

A summer day camp focuses on offering the children the best sort of learning experiences in the environment of enjoyment. The project-based classes and outdoor activities like swimming activity, archery, high ropes, boating, fishing, crafts, arts etc. motivate campers to develop their potentiality, to build competence and confidence in them. Those children are fortunate who attend such a summer camp!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1377281

Kids love to swim. Swimming has been a summer pastime for years. Many summer camps offer swimming as an activity that kids can participate in, and most kids jump at the chance to do so. They love the ability to stay cool, get a tan, and just enjoy time with friends. This is a great way to get fit during the summer as well. Swimming can be a full body workout, which means that having your kids participate in swimming as one of their summer activities, and as an activity offered at any camp you send them to. If you aren’t sending your kid to summer camp, and there is a pool nearby, then get them a swim pass to the poor for the summer so that they have something to do during the summer.

Another great summer activity for kids is a team sport. There are all kinds of soccer leagues, baseball, t-ball, football, touch football, softball, coach pitch, tennis, and other things. So, ask your kid which summer activity they are interested in, and then sign them up. They can either be part of a team that they practice with and play games on weekends or a specific night of the week. Or, they might want to go to a summer camp that is a sports camp and focused on a specific sport, so they learn different skills, drills, techniques, and the like. Sports help kids learn to get along with others, work with people, helps them stay active, and can be a lot of fun. These are all good reasons for sports and sport camps to be part of your kid’s summer activities.

Another great summer activity is having your kid take a class or visit a day camp or summer camp of some kind. Usually it is something like space camp, or a class on photography or something else that interests them, but is still fun for summer, and is not really serious like a literature class or math class. Options could include things like pottery, art, music, dance, karate, etc. Find an activity your child has always wanted to be apart of or try, and then sign them up for a camp or a class so that they can experience. It will fill their day with fun activities, and give them a chance to see if they are as interested in it as they thought they would be.

If you are running low on activities for your kid, ask them what they are interested in. Most recreation centers, colleges, and the like offer plenty of summer activities to keep your kids busy and learning, while having fun.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5009648