From broadcast children’s theatre to music, sports, health and 4-H programs, the summer camps listed in this publication offer a wide variety of activities designed to be a rewarding experience for all participants. 

Running from mid-June to mid-August, the camps, geared for children from 18 months to high school age, are held at a variety of on- and off-campus locations across the First State.

This year, a record 105 camps (some with multiple sessions) are listed in the Summer Camp Guide, a 35 percent increase over 2006. The camps include many programs designed to engage students in academically challenging endeavors.

Camp activities and adventures include attending college classes and living on UD’s Newark campus to children’s theatre and self-paced problem-solving. Back for its second summer is the Destination Dinosaur camp, as well as the perennially popular aerospace camp, mixing summer fun with the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

From high chair to high school, music camps give participants the opportunity to polish personal performance skills and participate in public concerts.

The always popular sports camps for girls and boys, ages 7-18, offer basic and specialized skills training, ranging from swimming, volleyball, field hockey and soccer to football, baseball, basketball, softball and lacrosse.

The number of 4-H camps across the state grows each year. Offered in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, 4-H camps help participants have fun while honing leadership skills and developing a sense of civic responsibility through community involvement.

I don’t want to be here! I want to go home,” wailed the girl in Katie Daly’s office at a 4-H overnight camp last summer. Daly, a New Castle County 4-H educator, called the girl’s mother, who agreed that her daughter should wait another 24 hours before going home.

“What a difference a day makes,” recalled Daly. Both staffers and campers made a concerted effort to engage the girl in activities, and by the end of the second evening, she was the life of the party at the camp dance. “She had a huge smile on her face for the rest of the week,” Daly said.

It wasn’t just sheer luck that the girl rebounded from her case of nerves. “The mother had done her homework and researched the 4-H overnight camp experience before enrolling her daughter,” Daly said. “She also had thought about her daughter’s likes and dislikes and matched her with a camp that fit her personality and interests.”

Most importantly, the mother felt confident that her daughter was emotionally ready for an overnight camp experience. One of the best ways to determine this, Daly said, is reflecting on how a child handles sleeping at a friend’s house.

“Parents know their child best,” Mark Manno, state 4-H educator, said. “Don’t send your child to camp, especially an overnight camp, if he or she doesn’t ask to go first.” But don’t be surprised if your child–the same one who begged to go to camp–gets second thoughts much like the girl in Daly’s care. “First-day jitters are very, very common,” Manno said.

When today’s parents were growing up, making a decision about summer camp wasn’t hard. Choices were few and most kids went to the same day camp and/or overnight camp that everyone in the neighborhood attended.

These days, parents and children are faced with a bewildering array of choices. First, will the child attend day camp, overnight camp, or maybe a week or two of each? Will it be a coed camp or single sex? A large camp or small? Highly structured or one that allows for free time? Close to home or far away?

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg—after that, it’s time to look at the curriculum. Are the parent and child looking for a specialty camp or general interest experience?

There are specialty camps for sports, the sciences, music, drama, the creative arts, history, politics and even forensic science. There are camps for children with special needs, ranging from diabetes to asthma. There are camps for adopted kids, for children who are trying to lose weight and for kids who love math. 

General interest camps are a popular choice. Manno is a big fan of this kind of camp, especially for younger children. “Up until fourth or fifth grade, most kids find that everything interests them, so a general camp gives them a chance to explore,” Manno said. But these “little-bit-of-everything” camps are a far cry from the camps of yesteryear, back when lanyard-weaving, swimming and making s’mores topped the list of activities. For example, Joy Sparks, state 4-H program coordinator, said that today’s 4-H general interest campers learn about environmental science, health and nutrition, nature, music, art, world cultures and much more. They learn how to use high-tech, global-positioning-system (GPS) technology, as well as learn traditional camp songs. 

Patricia Tanner Nelson, Cooperative Extension family and child development specialist, said that neighbors and friends can be an invaluable source of information. “Which camps have they had good experiences with?” Nelson said. “And, more importantly, do they know which camps to avoid?”

If possible, visit camps with your child, Nelson said. Schedule an appointment with the camp director and/or camp teachers and counselors. Nelson recommended asking these questions of camp personnel:

Staffing

• What is the hiring process for camp staff?
• Are staffers screened for criminal records?
• What training do staffers receive?
• What expectations do they have for behavior? What is their philosophy of discipline?
• How do they help children learn positive friendship and leadership roles?

Camp atmosphere

• What does a daily schedule look like?
• What is the balance between active and quiet activities? Group and individual activities?
• What kinds of food are served at meals and snacks?
• What is the adult/child ratio? How many campers in each group?
• How big is the camp?
• For overnight camps, how much sleeping/personal space does each child have?

Safety and health

• Is the camp accredited by the American Camping Association?
• Are medical examinations and immunizations required?
• Is a full-time nurse/physician on staff?
• What are the procedures in case of emergency?
• Are all staff members trained in CPR?
• If your child has special health needs, including periodic medication, how well can the camp meet those needs?

Fees and related costs

• What extra charges will there be?
• Will the down payment be refunded if you cancel?
• Will you need to purchase special clothing and/or camp uniforms?
• For overnight camp, are there laundry facilities? Are these machines free or coin-operated?

Nelson also recommended getting references from parents of children who attended the camp you are considering. For more information on choosing the right camp, Nelson suggested visiting the American Camping Association web site, [www.acacamps.org].

Regardless of which camp you choose for your child, rest assured that summer camp is an opportunity for growth and learning.

“Participation in camping has a number of benefits and outcomes that have been documented in research, including social skills development, character building, self-respect and community living development,” Sparks said.

Explore the rain forest, help out in a soup kitchen, delve deep beneath the ocean’s waves and investigate a crime scene with UD’s Early Learning Center (ELC) this summer.

ELC is offering children in grades K-6 a host of summer camps that give them the opportunity to explore the world and themselves.

Sharon Stull, ELC associate director, said the kids suggested many of the camps and some were brought back from last year by popular demand. “We polled the kids after the last camp last year, brought back the ones they liked the most and added a few new ones,” Stull said.

Starting June 11, The Rain Forest camp will use the Internet and books to teach campers about the people and animals who live in the rain forest and why it’s important to the world’s environment. One of ELC’s five classrooms will be turned into a rain forest complete with trees, foliage and animals.

The Making a World of Difference camp, from June 18-22, involves children in the community. This year, the children will be helping at the Emmaus House, a social services center in Wilmington that provides emergency shelter, meals, case management and referral services to homeless families with children. The camp kids will help with yard work and collecting items needed by those who use the shelter. 

From June 25-29, youngsters will explore the ocean’s depths in The World Under the Sea camp. They’ll focus on tsunamis like the one that devastated South Asia in December 2004. They’ll learn how the gigantic water swells form and what happens when they hit.

Colonial America camp takes youngsters back in time. From July 2-6, the children will travel to the Hagley Museum to experience what life was like in colonial times. They’ll participate in 19th-century work, play and family life.

For kids who can’t get enough of sports, The World of Sports camp, July 9-13, is just the place. They’ll learn how the first games came to be played and the philosophy behind those games. This year, the focus is on softball before participating in ELC’s summer Olympics.

July 16-20 is Oh, the Places You’ll Go camp where kids trek around the world, “visiting” six different countries and learning about their culture, language, family, cuisine and currency.

Beat to a Different Drum camp is all about music. Youngsters will create and move to music, learn new dance styles, play different instruments, even build an instrument. Camp is July 23-26.

How about honing your child’s analytical skills from July 30-Aug. 3, with CSI-Crime Scene Investigation camp? Using forensic equipment, including fingerprint dusters, UV lights, casting kits and more, kids will survey simulated crime scenes to discover the truth behind three baffling crimes. The crimes are being kept secret by ELC staff until camp, but police officers from Maryland and Delaware will be there to offer advice. All campers will be fingerprinted and learn how to find and document fingerprints from a crime scene.

Everyone needs to unleash their creativity every now and then and with A World of Make Believe camp, kids can do just that. They’ll write their own play and act in it, make the scenery and the props and perform it on the last day of camp, held Aug. 6-10.

What’s Next on the Back-burner camp introduces children to the world of cooking and nutrition with a cook-off. Each of the five classrooms will be given a box of ingredients. The campers must then come up with a dish, prepare it and offer it to ELC judges who will taste them a choose a winner. They’ll take part in the Iron Chef Cook-off from Aug. 13-17.

Kids can embark on a journey through the world of entrepreneurship, at Under The Big Top camp using their imaginations to design a booth, create a materials list, work within a budget, design games for various age groups and manage a team of workers as part of ELC’s production crew for its annual carnival.

For more information about all of these camps, call (302) 831-6205.

With more people moving to the First State each year, the number of 4-H summer camps continues to grow. Serving Delawareans in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, 4-H camps offer children ages 5-14 a chance to have fun, make new friends and serve the needs of their communities.

New Castle County camps include 4-H Junior Scientist, where campers experience a hands-on approach to soil science, forestry, water, biodiversity and the ecosystem, and 4-H Biotechnology Camp, where campers work in teams to solve a murder mystery through the use of biotechnology experiments and questioning of suspects.

Other New Castle County camps include Cloverbud, Counselor-in-Training, ECOquest and Summer of Service.  Kent County 4-H camps include Cloverbud and traditional day camps.

Reflecting the growth in Sussex County are camps in Georgetown and Bridgeville, and eight new camps for 2007 at the Hickory Tree Community Center in Selbyville.

Mark Manno, a state extension educator in the Cooperative Extension Service in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said he is not surprised at the popularity of 4-H camps in Delaware.

“4-H camps have always been popular. They almost always sell out,” Manno said. “With the growth of 4-H after-school programs and other grant-funded programs and the resulting staff expansion that those grants bring, as well as the need to serve those kids in the summer, we have had to expand our day-camping programs.”

Continuing to make the camps popular is the fact that they are affordable and accessible, and that they are designed with working parents in mind, Manno said.

“The camps are high-quality, utilizing the resources of the University and the Cooperative Extension Service,” Manno said. “We use only juried, peer-reviewed and approved curricula. We offer science and technology, and all our camps use the experiential-learning model.”

Another plus for the 4-H camps, Manno said, is that they are locally based and make extensive use of teen volunteers.

“The camps are designed and implemented at the local level, Manno said. “The teens are actively engaged in planning and implementing these camps. The teen-camp volunteers help to keep the children engaged, and the kids really like having the teenagers as counselors.”

While the camps are a fun experience for participants and counselors, they also are highly structured and supervised, Manno said.

“I think a lot of this has to do with keeping kids engaged and challenged and having small classes,” Manno said. “We employ all the accepted principles of youth development in our programs. We are not afraid to change things around to meet new or emerging needs or to return to what worked 20 years ago, if needed.”

Although parents and children may view 4-H camps from different perspectives, there are certain common denominators that appeal to both groups, Manno said.

“All of our camps are fun,” Manno said. “We try to be different. We offer things that you just can’t get anywhere else, such as biotechnology, murder mysteries, entomology, working with live animals, archery and shooting sports, food, nutrition and more.”

Manno said that the first overnight camp at UD was held in 1948 and has been offered every year since.

“We’ve been in this business for a long while,” Manno said. “The first camp, Short Course, was offered at UD around 1916, and our day camps really took off around 1983.”

An important component of the 4-H experience, including summer camps, Manno said, is that the programs give children a voice in determining what subjects are to be learned.

In the larger camps, participants may choose up to three items from a list of 30 possible subjects, Manno said. 

--Jerry Rhodes