Day Camp and Overnight Camp: Survival Guide for Parents and Campers

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It’s summertime: warm weather, freedom from homework, and great summer camp experiences. Camp is an amazing opportunity for kids to learn independence and responsibility. When we go to “family camp” in the Wisconsin Dells each year, my husband and I challenge our kids and say that camp is about trying new things, even if they seem scary (my almost six year-old tried a zipline for the first time this year).

The Benefits Of Overnight and Day Camp: camp signs

Children meet new friends at camp and learn self-confidence along the way. At overnight camp, they also learn about responsibility and how to take care of themselves! But, summer camp may not be an easy transition for all kids (and their parents).

Avoid Homesickness by Staying Positive and Following Camp Rules.

Parents play an integral part in their child’s adjustment to camp. If parents are anxious about sending kids to camp, kids will pick up on that and they will then feel anxious.

Some Camp DOs and DON’Ts:

  • DO stay positive about camp. Focus on all the incredible experiences your child will have at camp.
  • DO look at the camp website together to see the smiling faces of past campers. Research all the available activities and help your child learn what his day will look like.
  • DO visit the camp together before the first day.
  • DO participate in pre-camp activities offered by the camp to meet other campers. Having a familiar face can make all the difference.
  • DON’T tell your child that you’ll have a difficult time without him being home. This can make your child feel guilty that he is leaving you and that you can’t survive without him.
  • DO allow him to enjoy this amazing experience.
  • DO follow the visitation rules the camp has created, whether it’s day camp or overnight camp. Kids need time to adjust to camp and they do best when they can adjust with their fellow camp friends.
  • DON’T show up at camp unless the camp allows a visitors’ day. When parents arrive while children are trying to adjust, it will inevitably lead to the child wanting to bolt out of the new environment and retreat back to the comforts of home.
  • DON’T tell your child that if she doesn’t like camp, she can call you and you will pick her up. That speaks to your own anxiety about her being away from you at camp. If kids don’t know that leaving is an option, they will learn to acclimate to their new surroundings and be able to fully enjoy themselves.
  • DO make sure that a letter (or email, if allowed) arrives when your child arrives at overnight camp. This lets your child know that you are thinking about him. But, make sure to stay positive in your letter. Ask questions about the kids in your child’s cabin, favorite activities, and what he is excited to try at camp.
  • DO talk with other parents about their experiences and how they survived (the kids will be fine).

 

How To Get Your Child Outside And Active In The Summer

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Battling Their Electronic Friends

Parents often struggle with getting their children out and about during the summertime. Many children are perfectly content with watching televisiHappy Boy in Lawn Sprinkler With Friendson, playing video games, or playing on the computer for hours. It’s often up to parents to make sure their children are engaging in outdoor activities and staying active.

If you feel like you’re in a constant battle with the electronic devices in your home, it’s time to get creative and get your children outside. Below are some helpful suggestions to encourage them to be more active in the summer.

Fun Outside Activities For Children

• Get Wet! Spend time at your community pool. If a community pool is not an option, then use your backyard for some water fun! You can have water balloon tosses, water bucket races, or play with squirt guns or water squirt toys. You can even dance and play in the sprinkler. Get a kiddie pool or a big tub and fill it up with your children’s favorite bath toys.

• Get Dirty! Dig and play in the dirt. Plant flowers or search for different kinds of bugs. Give your child a magnifying glass and see what kind of treasures they can find! You can also bring out your children’s favorite toy trucks/trains and Lego blocks and create different communities for them to travel through. You and your child could start your own vegetable garden. You can plant tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and other veggies. Children will not only be fascinated when they see their veggies growing, they will learn about the growing process, too!

• Get Artsy! Bring a table outside so your child can have their own little art area. Provide them with markers, crayons, paints and lots of paper, and let them explore their creative side. Outdoors is the perfect place for messy finger painting. Have your child create pictures or play games (e.g. Tic-Tac-Toe or Hopscotch) on your driveway or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk.

• Get Educated! If you can, walk or bike to your local library. While at the library, have your child check out different books that they are interested in, and have story time outside. You can also check out books about different plants, flowers, birds and insects, and take these books to the nature center or your backyard and try to find the different creatures.

• Get Gaming! Play different outdoor games and invite some of the neighborhood children to play, too. Some different games that you can play are: Hide-and-Seek, Follow the Leader, Red Light – Green Light, Red Rover, Kickball, Four Square, Kick the Can, Hopscotch, Capture the Flag, or Horse/Pig and other basketball games, to name a few. “Inside” games like board games and card games can also be moved to a table outdoors.

• Get Picking! Look into going to different orchards or farms so that you and your children can pick your own fruits and veggies. Then, pack some of them into a basket and have picnic in the park for lunch.

Other Outdoor Options

  • Have naptime outside
  • Take a trip to the zoo
  • Bike, rollerblade or skateboard
  • Blow bubbles, jump rope or hula hoop

Fun In The Sun And Fine Motor Skill Development

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Mother and Young Daughter with Potted PlantsMany summer time activities have a hidden benefit…they help to develop your child’s fine motor skills! Here are few of the fun things that you can do this summer to increase hand and finger strength, fine motor coordination and dexterity.

Make Outdoor Art

  • Play with sidewalk chalk! Sidewalk chalk comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, making it easier to find chalk that fits your child’s hand and keep them engaged. Draw pictures, play tic-tac-toe or hopscotch, write the letters of your name or a message to a friend. The fun you and your child can have with sidewalk chalk is endless.
  • Water play is an essential summer time activity. You can use squirt guns, empty spray bottles or even turkey basters to “write” on the sidewalk or use them Read more

Boost Your Child’s Language Through 9 Easy Summer Activities

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Summertime holds great opportunities to enhance your child’s language skills. Take advantage of extra time at home and summertime activities to give your child a boost using language with the following tips:

9 Tips To Get Your Child Talking This SummerMom Reading With Daughter

  1. Introduce a new vocabulary word each week. Discuss the word with your children, use it in conversations with them, and praise them for using it.
  2. Ask your child to tell you at least 3 things about their day. This can include someone they talked to, an event that took place, or even what they ate for lunch. Allow them to start off with simple descriptions, and then begin to include more details as they are discussing their day.
  3. Include your child in planning for trips. Have them list items that will need to be packed, sequence events that will occur, and describe what will happen on the trip.
  4. Encourage your child to talk about an event that just happened. If you spent the day at the park, have your child talk about what games they played and who they saw as you are leaving.
  5. Help your child tell a story by asking “who,” “what,” “when,” and “where” questions to make sure important details are included and understood.
  6. Read books with your children. Have them re-tell what happened in the story.
  7. Act out stories or movies. Put on a short play or re-enactment of a book that was just read, or even have children make up their own story for the play. Make it a day long project by having them create puppets to use in the show.
  8. Play “Twenty Questions” or “I-Spy” while in the car. They can put different twists on the games by finding things by category, creating their own categories, or finding objects based on a letter in the alphabet (e.g. “S…I see the Sears Tower and the skyline!”).
  9. Involve your kids in social activities, whether it is through structured programs like a summer camp or spending times with their peers.

If you feel concerned about your child’s language development, consult a Licensed Speech and Language Pathologist for further assessment and guidance.

Introducing Chores To Your Child

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family clean upMany parents struggle with deciding when their children are old enough to help with chores. And when that time comes, they may have difficulties getting their children to lend a hand around the house. Instead of making chores seem like a punishing task, try to be creative and have fun. By getting your children involved with housework, you can teach them about responsibility, enhance their self-esteem and give them the sense of accomplishment that accompanies a job well done.

Strategies to get your child helping out around the house:

• Simplicity is key – You want to make sure that the task is manageable.  In the beginning, don’t assign chores with multiple steps. Keep in mind that your child will not be able to complete chores perfectly, and that it will probably take several attempts until he/she can do them according to your standards. Be sure to praise your child’s  attempts, and whatever you do, do not fix his/her work. This will only discourage the child and make future attempts less likely.

• Be consistent – When introducing new chores, make sure to pick just a few manageable tasks. Starting with one or two chores is a wise idea. After the child is able to accurately complete these chores, introduce additional tasks. You do not want the child to feel overwhelmed with several tasks, because he/she will begin to ignore or ditch new chores. Additionally, be sure to let him/her know when the chore needs to completed. If the chore is not completed in the specified time frame, there should be reasonable consequences in place that your child is aware of. Read more

Gross Motor Skills on the Playground

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Through play, children explore and learn about the world. While doing so, they also learn the gross motor skills that they need in order to successfully navigate their surroundings. Children also learn about sensory information, which allows them to react appropriately to the environment. Gross Motor Skills Blog

Children take in sensory information by touching different textures, experiencing different smells, and hearing different noises in their environments. A great place for children to practice and develop gross motor skills without even knowing it is on the playground!

Great sensory and motor activities for your children on the playground include:

Slides

Slides help in the development of the vestibular system, as the body is in motion and the head can be placed in different positions. It is also a great motor activity, as it requires the child to climb the stairs of the slide, balance on one foot and shift his weight during stair climbing.

Climbing Wall

Climbing a rock wall is great practice for coordination of the upper and lower extremities, as the child has to figure out where to place his hands and feet, and in what sequence. The wall also helps the child develop his upper body and finger strength. Some playgrounds have moveable structures to climb (for example, made out of rope or chain link), which require even greater coordination skills and balance, as the body is required to shift its weight accordingly as the structure moves. Both of these activities also provide proprioceptive input to the joints and muscles.

Tubes

Children can crawl through tubes on all fours, in a bear crawl or in the crab walk position. This helps a child develop core strength and body coordination skills.

Swings

Swings are a great source of vestibular input, as the body is in motion while the feet are off of the ground. Pumping your feet also helps to develop sequencing and motor coordination skills.

Monkey Bars

Monkey bars help to develop upper extremity and hand strength, as well as coordination. If the child hangs upside down on the monkey bars, it also provides great vestibular input!

See-Saw

The see-saw requires coordination, sequencing and cooperation of two children at the same time in order to make the see-saw move. Balance and core and upper body strength are required to hold oneself up on the see saw.

Spring Rider

A spring rider is a seat on a spring that rocks back and forth. It provides great proprioceptive input into the body’s joints, as well as vestibular input while the body is in motion and the head is placed into different positions. A child also needs to coordinate his body movements in order to make the spring rider move, and core and upper extremity strength is required to hold on to the rider.

The playground is the perfect place for children to develop their gross motor skills – skills they will need for everyday activities. These skills can help prepare them for school, as they will need the core strength to develop proper posture for table top activities, and coordination skills for writing and cutting. Gross motor skills will also prepare children for sports and cooperative play with their peers. Movement activities can help to regulate the nervous system, so that a child can be better able to pay attention during class or when doing his homework. Most importantly, movement activities encourage a healthy lifestyle and help children build confidence, as they are able to participate in a variety of activities with peers and become more self-sufficient in their daily tasks.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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Handwriting Over the Summer: Practice Makes Perfect

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Children worked so hard on writing at school, and they should continue writing over the summer to prevent losing all of the progress they made. Practice makes perfect! Repetition will decrease anxiety and keep them at or above the expectations for the following year. Here are some fun writing exercises you can try over the summer:

Handwriting Excerses:

• Write a story with your child. Each day, set aside time for her to write a few sentences or paragraphs (depending on her age) for a special story. By the end of the summer, you will both have written a special story together. This approach will keep your child interested, as she will enjoy reading her contributions each day.

• Have her practice the formation of specific letters by writing large capital letters with sidewalk chalk on the driveway. Next, have her use a hose with a nozzle to spray a stream of water and erase the chalk lines. This will help increase fine motor control and strength.

• While you are in the car, or sitting on the beach, use “air writing” to send each other messages. You can also have her write messages to you in the sand on the beach, in the water at the pool, or in the shaving cream while dad is shaving.

Just have fun with it. You can also set aside some serious writing time where you purchase handwriting books at the local bookstore or toy store, or print worksheets from the Internet for practice. Repetition, repetition, repetition!

Quick Tips For A Smoother Transition Into A Summer Schedule

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Fun Family SummerMany children perform best when they follow a schedule and have a consistent routine. School is coming to an end and summer is approaching, which also translates to a less structured schedule and, potentially, a less productive day. Here are a few suggestions to make the most out of your summer routine:

Visual Schedules:

• At school, many children follow a picture schedule that lets them know what activities they will be participating in that day. Summer is a great time to let kids be kids and allow them to learn through play and gain independence while choosing what toys and activities they want to do on a daily basis. If your child craves predictability and struggles with transitions, try making a summer picture book. Take pictures of your child’s toys, games, books, and places they enjoy playing (backyard, park, pool, etc.) and allow them to create their own plan for the day.

Play Dates:

• Play dates with peers are a great summertime activity. Be sure to swap information with the parents of your child’s friends at school before the end of the year. Children learn a lot through playing together, including skills such as negotiating, compromise, taking turns, communication and imaginative play. Read more