Ask anyone who went to summer camp for teens and they’ll tell you about their friendships that have survived over decades of life.
When you give your kids the chance to go to a camp over the summer, they’ll have this chance to connect with kids who share their interests. With the many types of summer camps for teens available, there’s no reason to keep them from this life-changing experience.
Here are five types of camps your kids should try.
1. Tech Camp
One of the ways to prepare your kids for the future is by training them to pursue their goals when it comes to technology. As technology takes over every industry on the face of the planet, having a little bit of tech knowledge goes a long way.
Even if your kids aren’t coders by nature, tinkerers of all kind absolutely soar at this type of summer camp. When given powerful tools to create, kids surprise us. They’ll come back home with all kinds of knowledge that they’ll want to show off to impress you and their friends.
Tech camp can involve coding practice and computers. It also entails all kinds of robotics, electronics, and building projects of all types. They’ll learn about collaboration and how to work well with others.
While some kids don’t work well with others by nature, they’ll learn the value of working together at a technology-based camp. Anyone who knows anything about the technology industry understands the power of working together. When kids learn this at a young age, they’re prepared to take on the workforce in big ways.
2. Sports Camp
If you’ve got active kids who love to show off their skills on the field or on the court, a sports camp gives them the chance to play with the best kids around. While not every kid loves a challenge, competitive kids who are into sports certainly love the feeling of winning a tough match against tough opponents.
Whether your kids love to play baseball, basketball, or chess, there’s a camp out there to quench their competitive spirit.
A sports camp ensures that your kids keep building their skills all summer long when school is out and there aren’t any local teams competing. Sports camp also teaches your kids valuable lessons about teamwork and how to leap over hurdles. They’ll return as stronger people who are also stronger competitors against the other players they face.
Sports camps usually have a broad range of activities for kids to try. If your kids are good at one aspect of a sport, they’ll find other ways to pursue those goals. By trying archery, that deadly aim as a pitcher gets honed without the risk of balls flying at their face.
3. Performance-Based Camp
Whether your teens love to sing, dance, or play music, performance-based camps give them the chance to do it all. There are even theater camps for kids who’ve been bitten by the acting bug.
By taking the summer to enhance their performance skills, they get the opportunity to become the star of the next school production. They’ll learn professional performance techniques that they don’t get the chance to learn from overworked schoolteachers.
Performance-based camps aren’t there to make everyone a star so much as they’re there to teach kids the nitty gritty of performing. Kids in acting and theater programs learn about how wardrobe, makeup, tech, and set design are done. This creates well-rounded performers who know the ins and outs of every element of the theater.
No matter what your teens specialize in, having well-rounded teens come through these programs ensures that they’ll succeed later in life. Even if this performance thing is just a passing phase, they’ll learn leadership skills and confidence to serve them well at work. That confidence and can-do spirit are valued in every industry on the planet.
4. Art Camp
An art-based camp is great for your kids who are trying to find their creative path in the world. While most young artists start out by drawing, artists move in all types of directions as they grow.
Much like the way that performance camps work, art camps give students a little bit of everything. They’ll get the chance to build structures and sculptures with their hands, really getting a handle on the built environment and three-dimensional space.
In art camps that have a solid tech budget, they’ll learn about recording sound and video. They’ll then take that knowledge and be able to create short movies and moving pieces of art.
You’ll be surprised with the ideas that your teens come home with after a few weeks learning about and making art.
5. Healthy Living Camp
If you worry about the health of your kids, you don’t have to pull punches when it comes to ensuring they have a healthy summer. You can enroll them in any number of healthy living camps.
At these camps, they don’t just get to exercise and eat a strict diet. They also learn about their bodies and why they need to be healthy. By creating good habits now, they’re more likely to stay healthy longer.
A healthy living camp is a tough sell for sensitive kids, but it’s a must if you want your kids to have confidence later in life. By having a healthy and fit body, they’ll also have a healthier mind to take on problems and climb over obstacles in their way as they grow.
There are All Types of Summer Camps for Teens
No matter what your kids are into, there are types of summer camps for teens to fit every interest and personality. There are camps for teens who love to be active and camps for kids who don’t. There are camps to help kids get over trauma and camps to challenge kids who don’t get enough challenges at home.
If you’re wondering what the perfect age is for kids to go to summer camp, check out our latest guide.
