(Metro News Service) Summer camp is something akin to a rite of passage for millions of youngsters each year. Many adults look back fondly on their experiences at summer camp, often crediting such times as formative periods in their lives. Summer camp benefits children in a myriad of ways. Recognition of the many advantages of attending a summer camp can serve as a great reminder of just how fun it can be for children to spend their time away from school at a camp of their choosing.

Nurtures Social Skills & Fosters Teamwork:

Campers continue to socialize throughout the summer. Socializing isn’t just for the school year. While children in high school might be independent enough to come and go with their friends during summer break, kids who are still in elementary school or middle school might not be old enough to handle such freedom. That can make it hard to stay in touch with friends, which in turn can contribute to feelings of boredom and loneliness. Camp provides ample opportunities for young children to socialize during a time of year when they might not see their school friends as often as they’re used to. Camp facilitates an environment where kids learn that to succeed, they must work together with their peers and their camp leaders.

Enhances Self-Confidence & Builds Friendships:

Campers can expand their horizons. Though some summer camps are exclusive to residents of certain communities, many tend to feature children from numerous towns or municipalities. Such camps provide an opportunity for campers to expand their horizons by engaging with youngsters who come from different backgrounds. Indeed, the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University notes that summer camp may be the first time children spend substantial amounts of time with people whose backgrounds differ from their own. Whether they work through homesickness or tackle an activity that pushed them outside of their comfort zone, kids walk away feeling a stronger sense of personal pride and self-reliance.

Provides Healthy Activity & Reintroduces Them to Nature:

Camp can get kids off their devices. Modern children are growing up in a digital world, and parents know how hard it can be to get kids to put down their devices and get outdoors. But the key to making that pivot could be access to outdoor play spaces. A 2025 study from researchers at the University of Michigan published in the journal Health and Place found that efforts to reduce kids’ screen time are more successful when children are given a chance to play outside. Many summer camps are structured around outdoor play, making them a potentially invaluable ally as parents seek to help children cut back on the time they spend using their devices. From rock climbing to whitewater rafting and horseback riding, summer camp gives kids a chance to try activities that they wouldn't ordinarily get to try. Children who do not attend camp and live in households where both parents work or in single-parent households where Mom or Dad works may be forced to spend much of summer indoors, which could increase the frequency with which they turn to devices to occupy their time.

Eases Summer Slide & Encourages Personal Growth:

Camp adds structure to summer days. Once a school year ends, the structure a school day provides vanishes into thin air. Couple that with extracurricular activities that go on hiatus during summer vacation, and kids accustomed to structure are left with little to do and no need to schedule their time. That can add to an aimlessness to summer days. While camp may seem like a quintessential summer pastime for kids where they might learn to swim, play an instrument, paint, build, sleep in a cabin or sing around a campfire, they're rewarded with personal development skills that will help them in the classroom, in their relationships and eventually, in their professional calling. Camp can provide the structure kids are accustomed to, but still offer a break from responsibilities like homework or the commitments required of extracurricular activities.