Overview of American Summer Camps - What is Special About Them?

Beautiful natural settings, a placid lake, landscaped gardens, cabins full of enthusiastic children, and experienced camp leaders from all over the globe volleyball drills describe a traditional camp volleyball drills America. What began as a leisure camping venture by Frederick William Gunn in America in 1861 has now turned into a full-fledged training cum recreational hub for children where they are taught important life skills such as self-esteem, problem solving, decision-making, independence, and peer relations in emotionally supportive and physical safe setting. Over the years, the number of children attending summer camps has increased radically. Owing to such an overwhelming response, the number of registered camps is steadily rising with over 12,000 already registered in the United States.

Summer camps in USA can be divided into traditional day and overnight camps, adventure, art and academic camp, special interest and special needs camps, and teen programs. While traditional camps are a fine blend of recreational activities, fun, education, and physical training, sports usually focus only on the particular sport you are interested in.

So, you can go for a sports camp that specializes in sports like baseball, basketball, diving, horseback riding, ice hockey, ice skating, football, volleyball, tennis, skateboarding, snow skiing, martial arts, roller blading, and so on. Academic camps may pertain to a particular subject such as astronomy, creative writing, environmental science, math, science, robotics, or journalism. An adventure camp on the other hand is more fun-oriented and may involve canoeing, rafting, rock climbing, scuba diving, and kayaking.

Art camps can be very interesting and are ideal for anyone who has a passion for art, acting, animation, dance, music, film, and performing arts. Special interest camps, as the name suggests, may be more focused on hobbies and interests like cooking, fashion, fitness, modeling, chess, sewing, yoga, or game design.

Special needs camps are best suited for children having learning or behavioral problems, chronic diseases, or mental or physical impairments. While some may accept kids who have special needs due to various reasons, others may accept kids with a particular problem or impairment only. For instance, camps for kids with cancer or diabetes may not accept kids with other ailments.

Some of the best American summer camps include iD Tech Camps, Supercamp, Surf camp, Giant Campus Summer and Virtual Computer Camps, Film and Acting Camp at NY Film Academy - Harvard, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Adventure Camps, and SOCAPA, the School of Cinema and Performing Arts.

Donna Pianka is the key member of iD Tech Camps who writes about summer camps in USA for children and teens. Do something big this summer with American summer camps.