How many weeks?

Can my child handle more than one week?  

Summer can be a time to broaden children's horizons, help them learn something new, hone a specific skill or interest, get them "school ready," or keep/get them "on track" academically.  It can also be a chance to let them unwind and discover things for themselves without the pressures of adult-orchestrated activities.

Free Time is for Self-Discovery

Researchers and psychologists including Boston College's Dr. Peter Gray (author of "Free to Learn," citing over a hundred research papers on the role of simple self-directed play and free time in the development of curiosity, creativity, empathy, and passion for learning) might argue it is better to provide a "boring" summer with minimal shifts in routine, and maximum time for learning through play.  Young humans (and all mammals), he explains, learn through play - it's a large reason for the success of our evolutionary development.  Bridging human evolution to modern life, one of Dr. Gray's TED Talks describes the importance of play (as opposed to traditional schooling) in developing an inner motivation and passion for learning.  

Slowing down gives children time to be curious.

For school-aged children, summer break can be an important time for self-discovery.  Dr. Gray's research-backed argument is that kids who play without interference from adults or the constraints of minute-to-minute time schedules are better able to develop skills like collaboration and problem solving, physical and emotional resiliency, and a sense of curiosity and natural wonder that traditional school settings tend to dismantle over time as children progress from grade to grade.  So why not give them as much free time over the summer as you can?  

Above All Else a Stable Routine 

Regardless of the "activities" offered by the camp you choose, no matter where you send your child for camp consider the benefit of providing your child (and yourself) a stable routine.  If you must send your kid to camp, going to the same one week-after-week, perhaps even year-after-year, can be quite beneficial: 

1. Changes in routine are stressful.  My wife and I still have to deal with the stress of schedule changes with our 10 and 11 year olds, and I expect that will continue until they're fully "fledged."  Tensions get especially high whenever our family needs to reset the morning and evening routines, especially when school is out, or when a club or sport starts or ends.  

2. Changes in expectations and rules are stressful.  One camp may allow a child the freedom to climb a tree, eat whenever they feel hungry, or make up their own game and develop the rules on their own, while another may insist that campers walk quietly in a single-file line, eat at a specific time, and follow arbitrary rules set by adults and enforced by teenagers.  

3. Changes in social structures are stressful.  Frequent changes in group dynamics also might not permit a child the space or time needed to foster stronger social bonds, or to learn how to work through simple everyday social challenges.  Many camps tend to have larger groups for the sake of profitability, and those larger groups tend to be harder for kids to navigate and for caregivers to manage safely.  

All three changes happening on a Monday morning (and cascading back into your family's weekend), can be especially difficult, and can limit the amount of personal growth that can happen over a summer.  So why not limit those changes as much as possible?

What if they get bored?  What if they're outside too long?  

Humans evolved outdoors, and time spent freely in nature has incredible mental and physical benefits as a result (many are explained in this article from the Child Mind Institute).  With regard to boredom, doctors know that embracing and adapting to downtime is a necessary part of developing creativity and problem solving skills, as explained in this article from the Mayo Clinic.  

Lure of the Wild campers have lots of time to play and solve problems creatively 

Children are incredible creative thinkers when given the space and time to come up with their own "activities."  As Lure of the Wild campers, they get tons of practice coming up with games and projects on their own, and no two days, weeks, or seasons are ever the same!  Campers who return week-after-week and year-after-year love the variety of adventures or discoveries they experience.  Our campers get so engaged in their play that they simply don't want to call it quits at the end of the day.   

The Final Answer: 

If you also believe in the power of pure, unadulterated play in the outdoors... and its ability to foster connection to nature, a sense of wonder and awe, positive social development, physical resiliency, emotional intelligence, kindness and empathy, and happy, healthy children, consider signing up for as many weeks of Lure of the Wild as you can.  It's why our best prices are available to families who return and sign up for multiple weeks, year after year.