Parenting Daily

If you or your teen are looking for some different type of camp programs for this summer, I’ve got some suggestions for you. Since it would be impossible and impractical for me to give suggestions based on every region where you, the readers, live, I didn’t take location too much into consideration. If you see something that interests you and the location is just not going to work, for whatever reason, I would recommend that you do a google search using some keywords of interest, including the general location(s) you’re looking for.

The first suggestion I have is for Omega Teen Camp, located in
New York. With a focus on mind, body, and spirit, teens will be challenged to tap into their inner strength, as well as pushing their physical strength. There is a Ropes Course, a Sweat Lodge, fire-walking, as well as massage and yoga activities.

Another suggestion is the North Cascade Wilderness School  in Washington state. What I like about this camp, aside from the cute turtle logo (I have a thing for turtles, just ask my parents!), is that there’s a good deal of primitive living skills, such as identifying animal tracks, building fires, basic shelter, and finding drinkable water. It’s not that I expect your child will someday be lost in the wilderness and need these survival skills, but I think it’s a good way to shake teens up by taking them out of their environments. I’ve worked in a wilderness program before and when you take away teens’ gadgets and all the media influences, they discover things about themselves that I’m convinced they never would have otherwise. And the confidence that a teen can gain from learning survival skills and experiencing “primitive” life can carry over into any new life experiences they encounter—first job, going away to college, etc.

My final suggestion for this post is Outward Bound Wilderness. When you visit their home page, you’ll see on the right hand side that you can search for camps by activity, location, and length of stay (Two days on up through 40+ days!). Outward Bound is one of the most well-known adventure camps, with a history going back over 60 years. Their camps are built on their six core values: Adventure and Challenge, Learning by Doing, Compassion and Service, Social and Environmental Responsibility, Character Development, and Inclusion and Diversity. Who wouldn’t want their teen to be able to talk about those values in job and college interviews? Though I wish I had gotten to experience Outward Bound as a teen, I am thrilled to learn that they also have programs for families, women only, and educators. Sign me up!

Do any of you have a personal experience with an adventure camp to share? Or have you sent your kids to an adventure camp? What did you or they think of the experience?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS