Summer Camp

 

Girl Scouts support Leave No Child Inside Movement

Council encourages girls to spend time outdoors at resident or day camps

 

Remember the days spent playing outdoors during the summer, only to come home when the porch lights came on and your mom or dad gave the whistle indicating it was time for dinner?  Most likely today’s youth will have no such memories, since much of their spare time is spent indoors.

There’s a growing movement across the U.S. among camping and outdoor professionals called “Leave No Child Inside,” to reconnect children and nature, and to battle "nature deficit disorder." The local Girl Scout council, concerned about how lack of outdoor play negatively affects girls, is encouraging its members to make a commitment to this movement by sending Girl Scouts to resident and day camp.

            

By sending a girl to camp, parents are ensuring that instead of being ‘logged on’ inside, girls will put a ‘log on’ the campfire, enjoying structured and unstructured play outside, all while making new friends and memories that will last a lifetime.

            

Facts presented at an American Camp Association conference last year shows a large divide between children and the outdoors.

            

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, writes about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors and the consequential disturbing trends: the rise of childhood obesity, attention disorders, and depression.  The University of Michigan Health Systems reports that on an average children watch 120 hours of television a month, and over 12 and a half million young people (aged 2 -19) are obese. 

Encouraging children to be active outdoors is not only important for their health but very important for their physical and social development. Evidence suggests that forests and urban green spaces help in an individual’s recovery from stress and attention fatigue.

Campers at resident camp have the opportunity to hike, cook over an open fire, swim, boat, tube, and challenge themselves on our high ropes course. With all of that fun, there is also the benefit of de-stressing, gaining a sense of independence, and learning new skills.

For more information about our resident camp program, click here.

For more information about our day camp program, click here.