Primary school students are at an age where social development is very important, as what they learn at this age can grow into the values that they go through life with. Social Development involves a range of aspects such as learning the values, knowledge and skills that will enable children to interact with others and effectively contribute in all aspects of their life. As children develop these skills socially, they tend to respond to the environment and influences around them, this is why school camps are the perfect opportunity to develop children’s soft skills.
Most typical school camps will offer a range of different activities and exercises that develop the following soft skills:
- Teamwork
- Problem solving and critical thinking
- Communication
- Attitude
- Encouragement
They also develop personal and social skills that are crucial for school students such as:
- A belief in their ability to make decisions
- A feeling of connectedness to peers and society
- Forming an identity
A big selling point of school camps is the friendships that are formed, some lasting a lifetime. Camps take children out the safe surrounding that is their home and parents and are put in dorms to share with other children. Many children here discover things about others that they’d never knew otherwise; it’s a place where friendships are in the perfect environment to develop and flourish. Throughout the whole camp community, children are encouraged to rely on the support of their peers for help and work together to achieve goals.
The power of any school camp is embedded in its activities which attract the children to participate and get them outside of their comfort zone all on the premise of having fun together. What school aged children doesn’t want to fly across a zip line, play tug-of-war, rock climb or even just being outdoors? But the real power of school camps is realising that while most children may enjoy getting outside their comfort zones doing activities such as rock climbing; there will always be kids that just don’t enjoy it and that is perfectly fine! They take this into consideration and find other activities that they enjoy. On school camps making sure all children are accommodated for and no one is left out is a huge point that the camp’s staff extensively focuses on, to ensure that all children attending get the most out of camp and at the end of the day; they have fun!
