Displaying items by tag: Nature camp

Summer camp is all about making relationships and connections while many of the other gifts given these days isolate children from each other. instead this year give the gift that will reconnect them.

Consider giving your children the gift of CAMP! Camp doesn't need wrapping and its batteries won't wear out. And, unlike this year's hot, new toy, it is a gift your kids will remember well into adulthood ... we promise!

And camp will bring them other wonderful gifts, such as confidence, independence and self-discovery. Not to mention the gift of summer friendships.

It's true that we all have our moments in which we just want to chill out in front of a lit-up screen. But summer is an ideal time for your child to take an extended break from all the electronics and become immersed in the real world, in realtime with real experiences and real opportunities for genuine growth. It is the ultimate 24/7 playdate -- and it is the ultimate gift you can give your child.

Yes, gift certificates are available please give us an email or call so we can get it to you in time for the Holidays.

Summer camp is all about making relationships and connections while many of the other gifts given these days isolate children from each other. instead this year give the gift that will reconnect them.

Consider giving your children the gift of CAMP! Camp doesn't need wrapping and its batteries won't wear out. And, unlike this year's hot, new toy, it is a gift your kids will remember well into adulthood ... we promise!

And camp will bring them other wonderful gifts, such as confidence, independence and self-discovery. Not to mention the gift of summer friendships.

It's true that we all have our moments in which we just want to chill out in front of a lit-up screen. But summer is an ideal time for your child to take an extended break from all the electronics and become immersed in the real world, in realtime with real experiences and real opportunities for genuine growth. It is the ultimate 24/7 playdate -- and it is the ultimate gift you can give your child.

Yes, gift certificates are available please give us an email or call so we can get it to you in time for the Holidays.

State and national parks, it seems, are good places for old folks to go, but the consensus among the younger set is that hiking boots aren't cool. Besides, images of nature can be downloaded these days.

It isn't just national forests and wilderness areas that young people are avoiding, according to the experts. Kids these days aren't digging holes, building tree houses, catching frogs or lizards, frolicking by the creek or even throwing dirt clods.

"Nature is increasingly an abstraction you watch on a nature channel," said Richard Louv, the author of the book "Last Child in the Woods," an account of how children are slowly disconnecting from the natural world. "That abstract relationship with nature is replacing the kinship with nature that America grew up with."

A lot of it has to do with where people live - 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, where the opportunities for outdoor activity apart from supervised playgrounds and playing fields are limited.

But Louv said the problem runs deeper. Wealthy suburban white youngsters are also succumbing to what he calls "nature deficit disorder."

"Anywhere, even in Colorado, the standard answer you get when you ask a kid the last time he was in the mountains is 'I've never been to the mountains,' " Louv said. "And this is in a place where they can see the mountains outside their windows."

The nature gap is just as big a problem in California, where there are more state and national parks than anywhere else in the country. A recent poll of 333 parents by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 30 percent of teenagers did not participate in any outdoor nature activity at all this past summer. Another 17 percent engaged only once in an outdoor activity like camping, hiking or backpacking.

The numbers coincide with national polls indicating that children and teenagers play outdoors less than young people did in the past. Between 1997 and 2003, the proportion of children ages 9 to 12 who spent time hiking, walking, fishing, playing on the beach or gardening declined 50 percent, according to a University of Maryland study.

Kim Strub, a 46-year-old Mill Valley mother of 13- and 16-year-old girls, said kids these days just don't have the time to get out in nature with all the pressure to get good grades and be accepted into a prestigious college.

"There is probably five times as much homework than there used to be when I was a kid," she said.

"I used to be a member of Campfire Girls, and we would go out camping, sleep under the stars, go hiking, grind acorns, real outdoor stuff," Strub said. "My two daughters have been in Girl Scouts, and when they meet it is primarily indoors. Going outdoors is just not a priority anymore."

The lack of outdoor activity is more pronounced in California's minority and lower-income communities. Latino parents, for example, were twice as likely as white parents to say their child never participated in an outdoor nature activity and three times more likely to say their child did not go to a park, playground or beach this past summer, according to the Public Policy Institute poll.

Several African American, Asian and Latino students from various San Francisco high schools admitted they rarely, if ever, go to the neighborhood park, let alone visit a national or state park.

"We are city kids, so we don't get to experience the outdoors," said Ronnisha Johnson, a 17-year-old senior at Philip Burton High School. "I don't like bugs, and most of my friends don't like wild animals. And they don't teach you about the wilderness in school. Kids don't think of it as a park. They just think of it as a big open space where there is nothing to do."

Video games, television and electronic entertainment are undoubtedly part of the problem. Nguyen, a sophomore at San Francisco's Washington High School, is part of a generation of teenage technophiles who always have a cell phone or iPod in their ear.

Nguyen said he plays video games two hours a day on average, but has been known to spend the whole day in front of a new game. He doesn't know anybody who camps, backpacks or who has ever built a tree fort.

Children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend an average of 61/2 hours a day with electronic media, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The trend starts early. A 2002 study found that 8-year-olds could identify 25 percent more Pokémon characters than wildlife species.

"Everybody is glued to the computer, on Facebook or MySpace, and they're texting all the time," said Brendan Lin, 15, of San Francisco, who wants to be a computer technician when he grows up.

"These kids are becoming so acculturated to very fancy devices that do 50 things at one time that they can't grasp how going out into nature and just looking or relaxing can be rewarding," said Kevin Truitt, the principal of San Francisco's Mission High School. "To go on a hike, to participate in nature, to just look at the beauty is foreign to them."

Louv does not believe technology is the only reason for the lack of exposure to the outdoors. He said sensationalistic reporting of rare occurrences is a big reason why parents are reluctant to let their children out of the house, let alone wander through the woods or down by the creek.

"Every time CNN or Fox makes a huge story about a lost Boy Scout or a bear attack, it feeds the growing fear that parents and kids have of strangers and of nature itself," Louv said. "The actual number of stranger abductions has actually been level or falling for 20 years, but you would never know it from the media. When they get done telling about the crime, they tell about the trial. And when it's a slow news day, they bring up JonBenet Ramsey again."

Entrance fees at state and national parks also serve as barriers, Louv said. In the inner city, lack of maintenance and violence in the parks deter visitation. In the suburbs, neighborhood regulations discourage young people from using open space, Louv said.

"Just try to put up a basketball court in one of these gated communities, let alone build a tree house," Louv said. "Covenants and restrictions in planned communities often give the impression that playing outdoors is illicit and possibly illegal."

The situation has caused great concern among parents, educators and physicians, many of whom believe the epidemic of childhood obesity in America is a direct result of the lack of outdoor activity.

Environmentalists are worried that the next generation won't give a hoot about the spotted owl or other species. Others foresee trouble if children continue to be deprived of the many physical and psychological benefits that studies have shown nature and the outdoors provide.

A nationwide movement has begun to try to reverse the trend and, in many ways, California is leading the way.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation in July recognizing a children's outdoor bill of rights, which lists 10 activities children should experience by the time they turn 14, including exploring nature and learning how to swim.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area engages 30,000 school-age children in outdoor and environmental programs in the park every year, many of them ethnic minorities from the inner city. Numerous outdoor education programs for inner-city youngsters have also been implemented at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which borders urban areas of Los Angeles.

The National Park Service and a variety of local environmental organizations, including the San Francisco-based Trust for Public Land, Save the Bay, and the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, have joined the effort.

Brendan Lin is an example of how such programs can work. He remembers fondly the one time he went camping on a school graduation trip five years ago or so.

"It was fun because it was quiet and there was no one to bug you. I like that," he said. "I saw deers, squirrels, and I did a rope course."

Louv said he is convinced American youth can once again learn the glory of mucking around in the natural world as opposed to the virtual one.

"We don't all get to go to Yosemite, nor do we have to," he said. "It can be the clump of trees at the end of the cul-de-sac or the ravine by the house. Those places may in terms of biodiversity not be that important, but to a child they can be a whole universe, where they can discover a sense of wonder. That is essential to our humanity, and we can't deny that to future generations."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/22/MN15SJ64U.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0RUds2DQ1

“Starting at the age of 5, I was involved in the Indian Princesses with the YMCA. I was in the tribe called the Snow Owls. For those that aren't familiar, the Indian Princesses are a group of fathers and daughters that camp, attend meetings, do arts and crafts, and get involved in various nature-related activities. We did horseback riding, canoeing, roasted marshmallows over the campfire, and other such activities. I absolutely loved it! My only horrible memory was one night when I ventured into the woods alone to find the outhouse...I wandered back to what I thought was our cabin, snuggled into what I thought was my sleeping bag, and was awakened with flashlights in my face from the Fox tribe girls. Yeah, I wasn't in the Owl tribe cabin, I was in their cabin, and in someone else's sleeping bag. Other than that slight moment of horror, camping was nothing but good memories.” - Terry Newood (DET)

“When I was 10, my parents decided they were tired of us sitting around and causing trouble during the summer, so my Dad had the brilliant idea to send my brother and I to 'computer camp' at a local university. We arrived at camp with a sour attitude- I mean really- how much more nerdy could your summer vacation get, right? But it turns out that going to computer camp was one of the best things that I ever did. We spent half the day taking computer classes (which strangely enough, have been helpful as we moved through college and into our careers-- maybe our parents were on to something?), and the other half doing sports, playing outside, and attending culture classes. The neat thing was that the counselors were from all over the world. A lot of people from Trinidad and other international students spending the summer in Pittsburgh. I continued to attend camp for another four years and then went on to work as a counselor for another six summers. I made some really close friends working at that camp and had so many wonderful experiences. I even visited a friend in Trinidad for Carnival. I keep in touch with lots of people even today. Going to camp definitely gave me more independence and the confidence to do things on my own. It also gave me a more multicultural outlook on life and the desire to learn as much as I can about other people/places in the world.” - Mala Mason (PIT)

“I grew up in the inner city and my father had to work two jobs so we only took some day trips as a family. My grandmother, who was widowed and had the patience of a saint would have 10-12 boys from her sons’ and daughters’ families stay on her farm for two weeks during July. It was like a Huck Finn novel. There was no TV, just a block farm house, 10 bunk beds, and outdoor facilities. We didn't wear much more than shorts everyday, played in the fields, made rafts to go down the creeks and swam in ponds. On July 4th the parents came up (or down) and we had the biggest fireworks display you could imagine. Except one summer when it was pouring and they greased up little piglets and we had contests in a muddy pen. If we still had the 8mm film it would be on America's funniest home videos.” -Anonymous

“My parents would send my sister and I to Hiram House Camp every summer growing up. Most kids would cry because they didn't want to leave their parents, my sister and I would cry because we didn't want to go home.” - Carol A. Higgins (CLE)

“My most memorable moment in summer camp would take me back to the year 1970. I was four years old. At that time, my best friend’s name was Mark. He and I did everything together. When I think back, this memory never fails to pop into my head. We were lined up at the gate of the Humeville Swim Club. As we walked to the playground, in single file, Mark and I would sing the Beatles song, "Yellow Submarine". We only knew the chorus, but that was good enough for us. When we got to the swings, we would hop on and start our daily routine of singing and swinging. We would sing "Hello, Goodbye, Jell-o, No Pie." I never knew where that came from, but they were good 'ol' days.” - David L Feldman (PHI)

“I grew up as a camp kid, and also worked as a counselor for nine years and fondly remember those days even more than when I was the camper! My favorite memory is sending our new counselors through the woods asking every counselor for the "left-handed smoke shifter" when we cooked out on Fridays. Of course there's no such thing, and each counselor would tell the newbie that they thought so and so had it, or they gave it to someone else, and send the new counselor on the biggest wild goose chase... we all waited to see how long it took the new counselor to realize there is NO left-handed smoke shifter! Simple prank that never got old. - Brittany A. Dean (BRO)

“Well I didn't get to go to camp as a camper, but I did go as a counselor and was the keeper of giggling 12-14 year old girls. This was a church camp near Bedford, Indiana. On the last day of camp, everyone is tired so we have a day of games and I was counselor of the horseshoe games. (I chose it because it was in the shade). Needless to say, these girls had hardly heard of horseshoes let alone did they know how to play. One girl in particular was deadly. She threw the shoe straight up and I knew it was a bad deal. I screamed "watch out girls" and low and behold it hit me on the head and almost knocked me out. They put an ice pack on my head and made me lie down on the bunk. A little later I tried to get up and everything started moving, literally. I really thought I was hurt badly. Come to find out we were having an earthquake, wouldn't ya know it (nothing bad, just tremors)!” - Kathy Carlisle (CIN)

“When I was about 11 years old I went to this camp called NYSP, that was sponsored by Ohio State University. I did not enjoy going to NYSP at all! We stayed outside the majority of the day and had to run a lot on the track with the sun beaming down on us. All the kids enjoyed it and thought it was the times of their lives. I on the other hand thought that was abuse! However, now when I look back on that time, I am glad that I was able to do something productive with my summer even though I despised the activities we did. All kids should go to summer camp, at least once in their lives. Then they have memories, good and bad, to share with everyone.” - Champagne Braswell (GRO)

“I just thought I would throw this into the mix. I realize you are looking for summer camp stories but just as a flavor to that thought… I am of the older generation here being 59 years of age. When I was a boy, we really didn't have summer camp. I was raised on a 250-acre farm in the Hocking Valley so when summer came and all my fellow school mates in town would be off to their summer camp, I would have the joy and pleasure of spending the summer "making hay" for the following winter. This would entail getting up at 5 a.m. to do the morning chores and spending the rest of the day out in the fields either doing the hay or working the corn. In the evening there would be the evening chores around the barn and by the time you got to the house you were ready for bed. The nights were too short and the next day everything would start all over again.  Summer camp? For me that would have been a holiday dream!” - Charlie Workman (GRO)

Heidi Kelly is a Legal Assistant II in the Foreclosure department of the Pittsburgh office

Summer camp is all about making relationships and connections while many of the other gifts given these days isolate children from each other. instead this year give the gift that will reconnect them.
 
Consider giving your children the gift of CAMP! Camp doesn't need wrapping and its batteries won't wear out. And, unlike this year's hot, new toy, it is a gift your kids will remember well into adulthood ... we promise!
 
And camp will bring them other wonderful gifts, such as confidence, independence and self-discovery. Not to mention the gift of summer friendships.

It's true that we all have our moments in which we just want to chill out in front of a lit-up screen. But summer is an ideal time for your child to take an extended break from all the electronics and become immersed in the real world, in realtime with real experiences and real opportunities for genuine growth. It is the ultimate 24/7 playdate -- and it is the ultimate gift you can give your child.
 
Yes, gift certificates are available please give us an email or call so we can get it to you in time for the Holidays.
 

Our kids will need to find a way to reconnect with our natural environment to become participants in a global effort to restore ecological balance. Environmental awareness begins with a sense of personal connection to nature. 

How do parents bring back balance to a child’s experience? One answer has been around since the 1920’s: summer camp. Modern summer camps can guide kids back into a natural alliance with nature through the pure fun of movement. The challenges of summer camp are fun rather than stressful, but they are no less effective for developing a child’s sense of confidence and independence.

One good example of a modern “green” summer camp is Swift Nature Camp near Minong, Wisconsin. The directors have developed policies that promote camper experience perfectly attuned to the needs of the times, without sacrificing the great fun and memorable friendships that are the classic benefits of summer camp.

Jeff and Lonnie Lorenz, directors of Swift Nature Camp, begin with their policy on electronic devices. “We do not permit cellular phones, BlackBerries, pagers, radios, iPods, cassette or CD players, laser pens, TVs, Game Boys or digital cameras. They simply are not what camp is about.”

Swift Nature Camp combines traditional camp activities with ways to immerse themselves in and learn about nature is likeliest to succeed in inspiring environmental awareness in campers.

Signing up far ahead of time is important. The first thing to do when selecting a kid summer camp is to look at your child’s needs and wants. Will they thrive in a sports camp or a general camp. What do they want from their summer? Skill building or building friendships?
 
Summer camps should be a complete departure away from teachers and a time for mentors to step in. The essence of the best camps are imaginative, experienced and quick witted people who staff them. These mentors shape up the milieu of the camp so that every camper brings life lessons learned when he or she returns home. The experience which is gained and the knowledge acquired in every case go a long way in shaping up the overall persona of the person a camper becomes.

Kids Summer Camp is a resource with more focus on arts and crafts with special regard to environmental consciousness. Kids go on from camp refreshed, delighted and full of experience when they return to regular classes in the fall.  The exposure that summer camps offer a child will stay with the camper for the rest of a life as the wisdom that can only come from experience. How can parents with a good grasp of what is good for their kids find the right camp? The best place to search for obtaining precise information is of course the World Wide Web.

With a bit of patient research on the internet, you can easily lay your hands on some resourceful data. Parents might assume that if they are paying a higher rate for the kid summer camp that the child will return home with more education. They disregard the fact that the true meaning of summer camps is all about the experience. With the guided presentations of web program directors, the best traditional camps included have woken up to the archetypes involved in the whole process.

Parents ought to seek the best professionalism from persons representing summer camps. There is always a lot of apprehension and questioning for parents in terms of pros and cons their child will face in every social situation life brings. But the right kid summer camp is a good opportunity for every camper to socialize at a level which encompasses every facet of life.

One day we walked out to Picnic Island just to see what was going on. It is a different place in the winter with no low plants so you can see almost across the island. We particularly wanted to go look at the Eagles nest. It seems that the winds from one of the storms destroyed the nest. However, we still saw eagles flying around so they are still nearby but we did not see where their new nest might be.

See Ya next Summer
Lonnie, Jeff & Forrest