The Value of Camp and Camping

My kids and I have recently discovered a new natural playground. The tree of us are overjoyed at the possibilities this brings for the coming summer. I envision hanging out under a tree quietly observing the wildlife; my youngest is excited about floating homemade boats in the creek and my eldest has some serious fort building planned.
This summer the kids will be spending a couple of weeks at residential camp. My eldest went last year, but this will be the first time for my youngest.
While it is hard for me to let go (being rather kid-like myself, I do envy them a little!), I am very pleased to be able to provide them with the experience.
Traditional summer camp offers kids a chance to be a part of a group in an informal way, with less imposed structure than in most other places. It gives them a chance to try and learn new skills on their own terms, and to figure out who they are and what makes them tick. It is a chance for them to learn and practice leadership and cooperative skills that are lacking in most kids lives. The atmosphere puts kids less on the defensive, and asks both less and more of them as a result. Kids are given the opportunity to create their own expectations of themselves away from teachers and parents, in a safe, but open and accepting environment, away from imposed adult expectations.
Of course, not all camps are like this--there are elite arts and sports camps, as well as tutoring camps, day camps that are an extension of daycare, etc. which all have different sorts of agendas. The value of these camps lies in other areas, and these are not the camps I refer to.

Another aspect of the summer that I anticipate with enthusiasm is canoe season.The kids have spent hours floating tiny stick boats behind the canoe, and dropping rocks into the lake as we travel. We spend much time singing together as we paddle too, and we go through several kilos of gorp each trip. For dawn and dusk paddles, we try to be as quiet as possible as the kids point out wildlife. Since their eyes are keener than ours, they often see things we'd otherwise miss.

At the campsite, they have spent hours exploring the water with their snorkels and the land with cameras, binoculars and magnifying glasses. If we have a site with a slope to the water, the use their buckets to create waterfalls and stick/needle dams. They collect firewood on our fire night (we traditionally have one small camp fire each trip if there are no fire bans on), and search for animal burrows and pick up any garbage left behind by previous campers. It becomes like a scavenger hunt.

The kids also enjoy setting up the tents while we hang the food ropes and start getting supper ready. Soemtimes one of them takes a bread to pump water and look for loons.

Even if back country camping isn't your thing, you can still spend time as a family enjoying the nature around you by going for nature hikes and playing in the sand at the beach with the kids. Let the kids lead the way, but encourage them to try new things and leave their toys and gadgets at home. The best and most creative play comes from the environment. Aside from a couple of buckets and shovels, nothing from home is needed to create a magnificent walled sand city, or a vast interconnecting canal system.

If you do spend much of your time in the sun, be sure to clothe the kids in SPF clothing and broad-rimmed sunhats. Research your sunscreens before buying--some create more problems than they solve. We like Badger sunscreen and Mexitan, although we found that Mexitan tended to go a little crumbly after a while. Check out this link for a sunscreen comparison chart: http://www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/sunscreen09/findyoursunscreen?&overall=g&&showall=1

If your family spends most of their time exploring the forest, be sure to wear lightweight long sleeves and pants for insect protection. Some swear by deet, others by citronella; some say eating extra garlic and increasing your B vitamins helps. I have tried all of these, but the only thing that works for me is clothing coverage. You will need to experiment to see what works for you. Be sure to minimize your use of deet if you do find it works for you as it absorbs into the skin and can be fairly toxic, esp. for kids. It will also melt various plastics on contact, and may react with synthetic clothing and cosmetics/sunscreens. Try spraying it onto cotton socks and sweatbands and the brim of your sun hat instead of directly onto your skin.

For more camping tips, tricks, recipes etc., see the Lemonade camping pages: http://greensim.com/lemonade/camp.html
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