Adventure Camps Teach Young Campers Great Outdoor Living Practices

As young ladies continue to prove themselves in school rooms, playing fields and until now male-dominated professions, they are also avidly acquiring open-air capabilities that were once reserved for boys. Such adventurous pursuits are increasingly being offered at overnight summer camps for girls either replacing more conventional camping experiences, or being offered in addition to the usual sort of activities found in the past.

Specially organized outdoor living skills programs teach girls in areas such as open air health and safety, outdoor food preparation, planning long distance camping trips and, most importantly, the ethics of outdoor living. This primarily refers to leaving campgrounds and trails in the same or better condition than they were before use, and to leave the smallest possible ìfootprintî behind.

Girls are taught how to observe their surroundings, how to survive in the wild leaving as little impact as possible, and how to live in balance with nature and the planet as a whole.

Some girls' overnight summer camps provide girls the option of participating in a program entirely dedicated to learning the skill sets needed for successful outdoor living, while others just touch on these tenets while retaining the traditional camp offerings.

Additional skills that are often included in adventure camp programs might include rock climbing, off-road bicycling and ropes courses which teach girls from age seven up to take part in these activities safely and carefully, while always being respectful of their surroundings and helpful to each other.

In addition to hiking and climbing, most camps offer aquatic sports such as canoeing and swimming. Counselors who work with the girls will always be competent in the activities they coach, and accentuate safety and team work above good results. The focus of adventure camps is to stretch the girls beyond their usual comfort levels, which in addition to learning new skills, will enhance their self-confidence.

Exploring camp surroundings gives campers the chance to feel at ease in a more wilderness type of area where they will encounter habitats as diverse as beaver dams and termite colonies, and everything in between. Young environmentalists are introduced to the interactions of the natural world and the ways in which they can add to the well being for all living creatures.

The knowledge acquired at overnight summer camps often leads to a lifelong interest in the natural sciences, giving girls the chance to broaden their horizons to new areas of learning. Girls who spend a summer at this type of camp are invariably left with a new appreciation and awareness of their environment and the need for conservation of our delicate eco-system.