WHAT'S NEW AT CAMP
PARENTS CAN JOIN THE FUN, OR USE THE WEB TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH KIDS.
By Dawn Sagario
Register Staff Writer
March 12, 2007
Via Des Moines Register
You could say summer camp is saving the environment.
That's because gone for the most part are all those catalogs and pamphlets about summer camp the mailman used to bring.
They've been replaced by e-mail.
Parent Kirk Hartung, whose five children attended Y Camp in Boone, says e-mails about early bird specials and updates on program openings are one way technology has made planning summer camp more convenient.
"It's getting the information out quicker and easier," said Hartung, of Des Moines.
More technology - from online sign-up to parents viewing pictures on a Web site of their kids at camp - is one way summer camp has changed in the last several years.
Other changes include more free time in campers' schedules and camps for the entire family.
We talked to camp officials and parents about all three trends. Here's what they said:
Trend 1: Technology
From online registration to parents e-mailing campers, technology has changed communication during the last several years. Online registration was more popular than expected when it was implemented for the first time last year, said Robert Reid, with Camp Fire USA. Before, parents could download registration forms, print them out and send them in.
"We expected maybe 10, 15 percent of applications online," said Reid, who is executive director of Camp Fire's Heart of the Hawkeye Council, which covers mostly central Iowa. "I think we ended up with 40 percent. It's just more convenient. It's even more efficient for us, so it's a win-win."
When it comes to keeping in touch with campers, parents are sending e-mail instead of snail mail, said Dave Sherry, executive director of the Y Camp in Boone. This is the fourth summer campers have been able to receive electronic mail.
E-mails are sent to camp, printed out and handed to kids, he said. Campers do not have access to computers.
Sherry said e-mail is also a way the camp informs families year-round, by sending out mass e-mailings. Parents can also check out the camp's online monthly newsletter.
Web sites also help parents research camps, said James Cherry, with the American Camp Association.
"It has such a strong advantage over the old type of camp brochure that used to be the standard product," said Cherry, executive director of the association's Great Rivers Section, which covers Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and western Missouri.
Then there are the photos - digital evidence that parents can access to see whether their little campers are happy.
Traci Haselhuhn, summer camp director for the Iowa 4-H Center, said the camp has been using a service called bunk1.com for the past four years. Parents receive a security code and through bunk1.com, they can view photos of their campers and send e-mail.
"They like to be able to go online and see campers, and it's great; it's a promotional tool for us, too," Haselhuhn said. The 4-H Center is located between Boone and Madrid.
Parent Cindy Smith said the online photos helped her understand what camp activities her daughter, Abbey, was involved in at the 4-H Center. "It helps you understand things better."
Trend 2: More 'unstructured' play time
Haselhuhn, with the Iowa 4-H Center, said free play among kids was a hot topic at last month's national conference of the American Camp Association.
Time for free play "has been markedly reduced for some children," according to an October report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Researchers and educators say it's an important part of development, and kids aren't getting enough.
Free time where campers determine their own activities is something "we've always tried to do a little bit, but this year we've really tried to be intentional about it," Haselhuhn said.
"We still want it to be safe. We still want it to be a fun, educational experience, but giving them more of a chance to build those skill areas of their own choosing."
Haselhuhn said kids attending the 4-H Center's "Everything Camp" this year will have more freedom to choose the areas they participate in. "This really gives them an opportunity to pick what they want to do, and within those programs are more chances for free play."
Sherry, with the Y Camp, said they began including supervised, unstructured free time - for individual campers, and by cabin - in campers' schedules a couple of years ago.
Sherry said making decisions as a cabin "creates some teamwork, communication and problem solving."
"We feel that kids are so scheduled, so structured, that ... it's taken away some of their opportunities to just socialize and have time with friends and make decisions."
Cherry, with the American Camp Association, said the free-time movement is just one example of how camps are listening to parents' concerns.
"I think camps have become better listeners," Cherry said.
Trend 3: Family camps
It seems more families than ever want to share the camping experience. For the first time, there's a waiting list for the family camp this summer at the Y Camp in Boone, said Des Moines parent Hartung, who is on the Y Camp's board of managers.
Family camp is a trend that's grown markedly in the last several years, camp officials said. "We have over 300 people registered," said Sherry, executive director of the Y Camp. "I think more than anything, it's just a neat experience to have with your kids and it can be multigenerational.
"They can do things as a family ... but also be in a very comfortable atmosphere, versus a family vacation where they may be very scheduled."
"This is our third year of doing family camp, and over the past three years, the interest in them has definitely grown," said Haselhuhn, with the Iowa 4-H Center.
She said the family camp offerings include general family, mother-daughter, father-son, and "Bring a Big Person" where a 6- to 11-year-old brings an adult. Camps usually last one or two nights.
Family camps have become popular for several reasons, Haselhuhn said. Those include the rising cost of gasoline, and families looking for a quick, easy getaway close to home.
"They just have to show up and have fun and kick back and relax," she said. Camps are also improving their facilities, making them more appealing to adults.
Cherry, with the American Camp Association, said another factor is the post-9/11 world.
"Parents are living with a higher level of anxiety and they're reluctant to let their kids go greater distances," he said. Parents tend to "hover a little more over their children. They understand how precious their kids are and don't want to let go of them."
Reid, with Camp Fire USA, said these camps also give parents a first-hand look at the camp facilities, as well as a chance to meet and interact with the staff.
It's that hands-on experience that puts parents more at ease when deciding to send kids to overnight camp, he said.
"What we end up seeing from that is then they're more willing to send their kids to overnight camp in the summer," Reid said.
Reporter Dawn Sagario can be reached at (515) 284-8351 or dsagario@dmreg.com |
