Summer Camp: Get the American Overnight Camp Experience in China

It isn’t quite summertime, but we’re all looking forward to a little rest after the tumultuous year and a half that’s past. Some families treat summer like a lazy time, others as the fourth semester of school, but we all know that come July, some kind of break from the norm is in order. That’s where we at jingkids come in, ready to rock your scheduling world with these summer camp highlights. Each week we’ll go behind the scenes of a camp so you can make the right choice for your family!

If you grew up in North America, you probably went to summer camp, or know people who did. At the very least, summer movies and television were full of stories of overnight camps and the challenges and social interactions kids would face there.

That’s where Camp Greenwoods‘ origin story lies. In a Beijing apartment in 2010, two teachers in China realized the traditional USA or Canadian-style camps were nowhere to be found. They combined everything you’d expect in a fabulous summer camp: water sports, hiking, survival, crafts, music, and campfires, then added something that they say “no one else has, an all-Camp Olympics style “Color War” week which is a fun-filled competition-based program modeled after historic traditional camps found in North America.”

At every camp, Greenwoods’ instructors implement a values-based program, centering around Respect, Friendship, Service, Perseverance, and Patience. These values are absorbed into every experience on-site, helping kids learn traditional life skills as well as 21st-century skills, and the constant social-emotional learning that anyone who has gone to a summer camp remembers well.

It’s not just about the activity in camps, however. As Camp Owner Marco Reyes tells us, “At Camp Greenwoods children are consistently given safe challenges in their daily life at camp. The benefits also depend on the character of the child joining us. For some, learning how to be away from home is a great success for one child, where being more confident in making friends is the benefit for another. Either way, our kids are developing important life skills to carry them into the future, be that communication skills, leadership skills, adapting to new environments, problem-solving with their cabin-mates or others!”

Learning how to tie knots and maneuver a kayak aside, half the reason to go to a summer camp like this is for the social aspect. Kids rarely know each other before they attend, and Reyes believes camps help children increase the positive parts of their identity, such as self-esteem and independence, while social skills (making new friends, deepening relationships with peers) can often be the most important takeaway by the end.

Since the founders of Camp Greenwood have been in China for 12 and 15 years respectively, they are confident in their ability to make the camp experience work for people from all backgrounds and needs.

Curriculum: See example of Beijing Camp

Their program consists of set scheduled activities in the morning and individual choice in the afternoons. “Electives” are chosen at the beginning of the week and are a skill the child will do consistently in that time block every day that week. “Flex” is chosen daily and is inspired by staff & sometimes the children. Individual choice activities are not limited to those above but are a sample of a common program.

Conclusion: The motto “Camp Changes Your Life” truly has some meaning behind it. Children will get a camp completion certificate, but as Reyes reminds us, “the friendships they build and experiences they have at Camp Greenwoods camps are irreplaceable!”

Images: courtesy of Camp Greenwoods