Camp provides families with chance to spend time together

Date: 3/21/2011

By Bette Bussel, American Camp Association, New England

With birthday parties to plan, hectic work and school schedules to maintain, and soccer games to attend, we often miss the opportunity to enjoy family time.

That is why each summer more and more families are going off to Family Camp together. That's right — children, adults, and seniors! Each family member gets to have his or her own individual camp experience within a larger one shared by all family members present.

What are the benefits of taking the entire family to camp this summer? Here are a few to keep in mind:

• Family Bonding — A summer camp experience can strengthen a family bond in many ways. Families take part in team building activities and embark on adventures outside their daily routines. Watch your family grow closer as they support one another in achieving personal goals. Families who attend camp together share the learning, the laughs and the living quarters.
  
  
• Introducing Children to Camp Lifestyle — Children who have never experienced camp will be able to adjust to the camp lifestyle with the support of family members. Their comfort zones slowly broaden as they experience all that camp has to offer while in the company of their loved ones.
  
  
• Reconnect With Your Inner Youth — This is your opportunity to embrace your inner child! At family camp many adults relive and share their own camp memories while creating new ones. Other adults relish the chance to be a camper — sometimes for the very first time.
  
  
• Not Your Typical Family Vacation — Sit back, relax and let the camp experts take charge. The camp staff can worry about planning the itinerary, cooking meals, lifeguarding, teaching skills and leading adventures. At Family Camp, adults spend more time doing things and less time behind the scenes organizing and orchestrating. Family camps offer excellent opportunities to learn together.

With locations throughout New England, there are many different family camp options; no two are the same. Some family camps take place after the regular campers leave in August, while others specialize in sessions for families. Use the online Find A Camp tool, to explore family camps: http://find.acacamps.org/finding_advanced.php. Search by state and session length to start!

Provided by the American Camp Association, New England, the region's leading source for "all things summer camp."

For more information, visit www.ACANewEngland.org or call (781) 541-6080.

Find us also on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ACANew-England.