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Published: April 1, 2006
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EmailIn many ways, summer camps have done something remarkable over the generations: They haven’t changed a whole lot.
The typical main course is still a traditional outdoor program with swimming, hiking, games, horseback riding and the like. Kids live in cabins in a quiet setting away from their usual hectic lives. They leave computers and cell phones at home to sing around campfires.
But while people in the camping business believe that same core will survive for years to come, plenty is changing around the edges.
"The traditional camp form has a lot of power because it is a multi-generation phenomenon," said Jeffrey Solomon, executive director of the National Camp Association, a referral service for families. "Parents want their kids to have the same experiences they did. The main difference is that where camp before was all about a group traveling together, now there’s more elective programming — a lot of things you never thought about as part of a camp."
Many of the newest activities aim to satisfy campers’ growing taste for adventure, and offerings go way beyond ropes courses and backpacking trips. Examples at Virginia camps include hang-gliding, laser tag, trapeze arts, surfing, whitewater canoeing, BMX racing, mountain biking and in-line skating. Drama, music and other arts programs also are becoming increasingly specialized.
"I am seeing a desire to come away from camp with a skill or two - not just have fun," said Alyssa Adams, co-director of Camp Staunton Meadows in Clover, Va., where campers can practice tree climbing and black-and-white photography. "Kids want to take these hands-on experiences and bring them to their lives back home."
A big reason behind the growing diversity of activities is a change in who is going to camp. Older teenagers are signing up in higher numbers, many of them from dual-career or single-parent households where parents need a place to send their children when school is out.
In addition, the Internet has allowed camps to easily recruit all over the world, bringing in international campers who tend to be older. In fact, international attendance has jumped 20 percent over the past decade, Solomon said, a trend that likely will continue.
To appeal to campers in their mid- to upper-teens, programs are putting a higher emphasis on out-of-camp journeys and community service projects. Teenagers are sea kayaking, mountain climbing and canoeing or cleaning up polluted beaches, building houses in poor communities and delivering food to shelters.
But even as the age range of campers is expanding, more families are looking for shorter sessions at overnight camps. Instead of the once-packed six- to eight-week programs, many camps now say their biggest draws are one- to three-week sessions. The main issue: Kids have too many other things to do with their time, especially if they go to a year-round school and get just a few weeks of summer vacation.
"There are year-round sports and - and this is because schools are so competitive - so many educational activities and classes," Adams said. "And then people also want to fit in family vacations."
The high number of working parents also is changing the structure of day camps. Local programs now offer before- and after-care on top of the normal camp day, taking care of even very young children from as long as 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. "Summer camp is becoming more of an extension of the childcare year," said Kim Wood, associate branch director for the Victory Family YMCA in York County.
A lot of parents also want a program that incorporates several different sports so they don’t have to shuttle kids between camps, Wood said. To meet that demand, the YMCA recently started a "sports camp" that runs at the same time as its traditional day camp.
Thanks to the current emphasis on lifelong fitness and childhood obesity, parents want their kids moving. An ongoing challenge for camps is working with young people not used to spending long periods of time outside. At the YMCA, counselors depend on new games such as "super-duper sock tag" (a variation of flag football) to pull campers away from televisions or indoor game tables.
Nutrition is improving at many camps, too, Solomon said. Menus include more fruits and vegetables and less sugar, fat and preservatives. "Care packages filled with junk food are definitely not as welcome today," he said.
Something less simple to keep out of camp: technology. Most programs still frown on cell phones, iPods and Blackberries, but many camps are giving into parents’ desire for more contact during the camp session. Parents who used to rely on occasional letters home now can email their kids or check pictures posted daily on camp Web sites.
Some parents even choose to go to camp with their child. The idea of "family camps" — where parents and siblings can live in the same cabin or do activities together — is gaining in popularity. Most of those now run on off-season weekends or at the very beginning and end of the summer.
So 10, 20 or even 50 years from now, what will all of these trends mean for summer camp? While camp directors don’t have a crystal ball, most of them bet — and hope — that some things will never change.
"I know my girls come back because it’s an experience they can rely on," said Kathy Baker, director of the all-girls Camp Carysbrook outside Roanoke. "It’s a respite, a tight community. Of course we’ll have to change with the times, but I think our basic program will be the heart."
Which means future campers will still be sitting around the campfire, all set to roast marshmallows for S’mores.
