Originally posted on https://www.coloradoacademysummer.org/looking-back-on-your-summer-camp-experience/

Whether a parent or a child, there are many benefits to look back on when summer camp is over with.

That said the upside to attending camp is something that many parents and kids can talk about for years.

So, how will you look back on your summer camp experience?

Learning New Skills and Making Friends

When you sent your child off to camp, he or she had the opportunity to grow in so many different ways.

Among them:

1. Learning new skills – Did your child come home with one or more newer skills? If you said yes, they are not alone. Summer camp is a great opportunity to not only learn new skills, but polish up old ones. As an example, has your child wanted to get more experienced when it comes to the Internet? If so, they can go to a camp that has a focus on online education. From building sites or becoming more comfortable with social media, the sky is the limit. Given many schools have computer classes; online skills can be quite beneficial.
2. Making new friends – If your child is a little shy, they can emerge from that shell when they attend a summer camp. Being exposed to other kids their age is definitely a plus. Your son or daughter will one day enter the working world. In most cases, this will mean being able to work with and get along with others. By building relationships now, it can make it easier for your child to adapt to a team environment later. In fact, there’s a good chance relationships they pick up at camp will help them both in high school and college.
3. Be more independent – Another benefit from their camp was becoming more independent. If your child has been a bit of a homebody, they need to get out and experience more situations sooner than later. With that being the case, summer camp can be a great setting for such opportunities. Your child can feel a little more at ease in not being home and having everything decided for them often. By having to make some decisions on their own, they may very well have grown up in front of your eyes.
4. Prep for school – Although your child may not be excited for the new school year comes, camp can be a big plus as they prep. Some kids will get the opportunity to share with their class the experiences they had. Telling stories about positive experiences at summer camp can be a great way to break the ice of a new school year.

Whether as a child or a parent, looking back on this summer’s camp experience can be beneficial.

In fact, it may already have you thinking about signing up for next season when camp comes around.