Session 1 Week 1 Recap
We’ve had a terrific start to Session 1 with a week full of new friendships, new challenges, and a whole lot of choosing kindness!
Our campers and staff have written lots of WOWs, made lots of friends, and challenged themselves to try new things. Our youngest campers (Bears) had a great Bears’ Adventure where they made forts, cooked dinner over a fire, and slept in tents under the stars. Our Bears and Tigers campers had Big Campfire on Saturday and showed off their cabin skits that they had been working on all week. Our Tigers campers also had their social where they played Bingo, had loads of fun, and even got ice cream!
All campers enjoyed carnival on Sunday where we played games, ate treats, and won some prizes! Our older campers (Lions and Eagles) have their Big Campfire this evening, and we are excited to see the performances they’ve planned. Lions had their social on Sunday evening where they practiced friendship skills and played casino games.
Thank you for sharing your campers with us! We have been having fun, making friends and growing this past week, and we’re looking forward to our final few days together this session.
Check out the Outpost Schedule to see overnight trips and special events happening this week!
Helping Campers Find Their “Green Zone”
The concept of red, green, and blue zones from The Yes Brain (a parenting book by Dr. Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.) has been a helpful tool for counselors as they learn how to assist campers who become dysregulated.
The red, blue, and green zones describe the emotional characteristics or states our children (and we!) are in at any given time. The “green zone” is the state we want to help our children be in as much as possible and to help them learn to return to when they enter the red or blue zones.
When our children are in that wonderful green zone, they are receptive, resilient, stable, calm, flexible, open, and teachable — all the traits that allow them to be their best selves.
When our kids feel and exhibit high anxiety, fight or flight, rage, extreme fear, a “deer in the headlights, or high arousal, they are in the “red zone.” It’s easy to remember since we all have experienced the feeling of “seeing red” or feeling extremely angry.
Some kids who are dysregulated or out of their green zone don’t go into the “red zone.” Instead, they may go to the “blue zone.” They’re in the blue zone when exhibiting shutting down, being depressed, going rigid, fainting, freezing, or appearing numb.
Understanding what’s happening when kids respond inappropriately (outbursts, tantrums, freezing, etc.) is helpful as we guide them to expand their green zones and learn how to deal with different emotions and experiences.
Tools we can use when campers become dysregulated include:
Connection
Staying in our Own Green Zone
Redirection,
Name it to Tame it
Our goal is also to help campers gain skills to expand their green zone and learn to remain in the “green zone” when responding to interpersonal challenges that are part of all relationships. We talk with campers about calm down strategies that work for them when they “flip their lid.” One of our Kindness Tips is to “Share your favorite calm-down (unflipping your lid) strategy with your cabin group.”
Thinking about children’s behavioral responses to different events and triggers provide a clue to the size of their green zone and can help us, as adult mentors, camp counselors, and parents, help them grow their green zones.
Related/Resources
Ep. 95: Raising a Yes Brain Child with Tina Payne Bryson
10 Ways to Teach Kids to Calm Down
Dr. Daniel Siegel Explaining the Hand Model of the Brain (Flipping Your Lid)
The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child
One-Page Summary of The Yes Brain
Ep. 20: The Yes Brain with Tina Payne Bryson (podcast episode)
The Yes Brain (Facebook Live interview) with Tina Payne Bryson
Bears’ Adventure – Session 1
A highlight of the two-week session for our youngest campers (grades K-3), and their version of backpacking, is Bears’ Adventure. This one-night trip allows campers to experience sleeping outdoors under the stars and cooking over a campfire. Campers’ luggage is taken for them to the campsite, so they are not technically “backpacking,” because they have no pack to carry. With just their water bottle and their positive attitude, they set out from camp singing and talking on their hike.
The best part of Bears’ Adventure is the free time kids get to play and explore the area. For many campers, the longer sticks provide the perfect start to a fort. Others enjoy laying on their sleeping bags talking with friends or silently watching clouds move overhead. Some participate in crafts and games while enjoying being outdoors. For many of these kids, Bears’ Adventure is their first experience “roughing it,” and they absolutely love it.
When they hike back into camp the morning after their adventure, our Bears campers stand a little taller. And their dirty, smiling faces are the best indication that they have experienced the awe of nature.
Tigers’ Social – Session 1
Tigers are our campers heading into 5th and 6th grades. They’re at a great age for age group socializing and events, and they enthusiastically participated in yesterday’s Tigers’ Social, which included socializing, snacks, and a rousing game of Bingo!
Camper Support Team
Our 2022 Camper Support Team is an amazing group of people with many years of experience who are ready to provide assistance to campers and support our counselors this summer.
Our main focus is to partner with you to provide the best camp experience possible for your child. We will contact you if your camper is having an especially difficult time settling in to camp or if we need assistance with a behavior your child is exhibiting that’s not meeting our camper standards of behavior.
If you have any questions or would like to share how we can best support you and your camper, please let us know! Send us an email or give us a call at 800-554-2267 x. 0.
We’re looking forward to helping your camper have FUN, make FRIENDS, and GROW!
Happy Camping,
Chelster & the GAC Camper & Counselor Support Team:
Assistant Directors: Gem, Mec, & Peanut Butter
Head Counselors: Aloe, Anmut, Bagel, Bravo, Dinky, & Tripps
Session 1 Has Begun!
Session 1 has started! We’re so excited to welcome our Session 1 campers to our first two-week session of the summer. This session we have campers coming from as far away as Cananda, Mexico, and Germany and representing many states! Of these campers…
126 are 1st time campers at GAC
194 are returning campers
28 are 3-year campers
and 16 are 5-year campers!
We are so excited for the next 2 weeks that will be spent hiking, singing songs, waterskiing, campfires and so much more! Make sure to keep up with everything going on at camp through our News & Photos (on the Campanion App or your My GAC Login).
What are we eating this week? Check out the Session 1 Menu.
Healthy Habits for Happy Campers
Audrey “Sunshine” Monke’s article for Camping Magazine, “Happy Campers: Teach and Practice Healthy Habits at Camp” highlights some of the healthy habits we practice at GAC, including:
Habit #1: Face-to-Face Connection
Habit #2: Get Sufficient Sleep
Habit #3: Exercise
Habit #4: Spend Time Outside
Habit #5: Kindness
Why Kids Need to Get Uncomfortable
As parents, we spend a lot of time making our kids comfortable. Feeling cold? I’ll grab you a sweatshirt. Hungry? Let me get you a snack right away! Kid being unkind? I’ll complain to the teacher and make her stop!
At times, I’ve felt like it’s my duty to alleviate any discomfort my child is feeling. I think a lot of parents feel this way during this unique era of “overparenting.” One friend described the “lawnmower” parent who grooms the path for their child to make it smooth and without any bumps.
Some of us by nature are more “gritty” than others, able to push ourselves and deal with discomfort. Think about endurance runners who stumble across the finish line, bloody and exhausted. Others of us are more prone to climbing deeper into our turtle shell when faced with life’s inevitable discomforts and challenges. We tend to hunker safely inside our comfort zone and not let anyone or anything pull us out.
No matter where our kid’s (or our own) starting point may be, it’s important to explore the concept of being uncomfortable and, as parents, learn to tolerate that discomfort when our kids are feeling anxious, nervous, or afraid.
It’s not easy. Our natural instinct is to protect our kids from any and all discomfort. And when they’re little, that natural instinct serves us (and them) well. We change dirty diapers, feed them when they’re hungry, grab them before they run into the street.
Emotional discomfort is even harder to handle as a parent. When a kid makes a mean comment to our child and hurts his or her feelings, we bristle. We want to alleviate the discomfort immediately, so we call the school, the other kid’s parents, and the FBI to come in and stop that horrid child from making our beloved feel uncomfortable.
How can we best help our kids develop into adults who persevere and can handle life’s inevitable setbacks?
We must learn to coach our children to tolerate their discomfort. If we help them figure out coping strategies, they will be better able to respond the next time an uncomfortable or painful situation arises. For our kids to develop their grit and learn to expand their comfort zone, we need to be supportive, engaged, and empathetic, without immediately swooping in to ease their discomfort.
Audrey “Sunshine” Monke has been the owner of Gold Arrow Camp since 1989. She is the author of the 2019 parenting book, Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults. “Sunshine” has been writing and podcasting about summer camp, well-being, social skills, and parenting at Sunshine Parenting since 2012.
More Resources
Coaching Kids to Better Friendships
“Friends are everything. They are always there if you have a problem or if you get hurt, they can always help you up.”
– Patricio, Camper, Age 8
The commonly accepted trajectory of do well in school -> get into a good college -> make a lot of money -> flourish in life is not exactly accurate. You only have to know one unhappy wealthy person to know that’s not the path that will lead to happiness or fulfillment.
What is a more accurate trajectory? good interpersonal (social) skills -> positive relationships -> flourish in life.
Michael Thompson’s statement, “Friendship is the gold of childhood,” stuck with me long after I attended his conference session on the social lives of children. Friendship is not just the gold of childhood, but also of life. In my research for my Master’s degree in Psychology, I looked closely at studies related to friendship, social skills, and well-being. What I found was not surprising. For children, and adults as well, positive relationships are the best predictor of overall happiness and well-being. As parents, teachers, and counselors, we should be putting a primary emphasis on helping kids develop the social skills they need to make and keep friends.
Unfortunately, our culture is not supporting the development of healthy, solid friendships between kids. Friendship is more important than any academic subject or athletic skill, and yet the way our kids spend their time does not reflect this importance. For many kids, there simply isn’t time in their lives for developing strong, close friendships.
What are our kids learning about friendship in this Instagram, Snapchat, and texting era of “friends?” Many boast hundreds, even thousands, of “friends” and “likes” on photos. Yet some of those same kids don’t have one single person in their lives that meets the criteria of a true and trusted friend. Face-to-face social skills, such as being able to read non-verbal cues, are learned through practice. If communication is primarily through media, then those skills are not being honed.
Another cultural factor that is counter-productive to the development of solid friendships is the constant, high-stakes competition our children are constantly in with their peers. Who’s ranked higher at school? Who made the “A” team? Who’s more popular? Often, instead of being truly supportive and encouraging of each other, kids want their peers to fail.
Making friends, and being a good friend, doesn’t come naturally to all people. And, coupled with the crazy culture we’re in, it’s no surprise that many kids are struggling to form strong friendships.
Friends are the reason campers and counselors return to Gold Arrow Camp year after year. “Make Friends” is one of the three main goals we chant at the opening of camp each session. At camp, there is time for friendship — precious, relaxing time to get to know each other, spend time making memories, and communicating face-to-face. Our whole camp community is built around inclusion, respect, and kindness. There is no competition at camp, no “A” team or “popular” group. Just kids having fun together and learning to live and play with each other, work out disagreements, and become better friends to each other.
A few of the many friendship skills we focus on at GAC include:
Teaching Campers the Friendship Skill of Asking Questions
Friendship Tip: Find Your Best Calm Down Strategy
“A friend is someone you’re not afraid to be yourself with.”
– Hannah, Camper, Age 14
Counselors are trained to help kids connect from the moment they get on the bus until the last goodbye. Long talks at meals, around the campfire, and under the stars in sleeping bags are uninterrupted by cell phones and other technological distractions. Campers can’t “tune out” by putting earphones in. They stay engaged with each other and learn to connect. Counselors gently coach campers who need to develop social skills in areas such as listening skills, empathy, sharing, flexibility, initiating conversations, and understanding non-verbal cues. They encourage campers to be intentional about being good friends to each other and observant about what they appreciate about their friends.
“Friends are awesome, because they stand up for you, and they care for you.”
– Joey, Camper, Age 11
At one final campfire gathering last summer, the Randy Newman song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” came on during the slide show. A group of four twelve-year-old boys sitting on the bench in front of me spontaneously put their arms around each other and started swaying back and forth, singing along to the song. I will never forget that vivid picture of the power of camp friendships.
Audrey “Sunshine” Monke, MA, has been the owner of Gold Arrow Camp since 1989 and currently serves as the Chief Visionary Officer. In addition to her vision-casting and mentoring at GAC, Sunshine is an author (Happy Campers: 9 Summer Camp Secrets for Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults), podcast host, speaker and coach on the topics of parenting, social skills, and happiness. Find out more at her website, Sunshine Parenting.
Visit Sunshine Parenting for more friendship skills-related posts & podcast episodes.
Counselors Bring the GAC Philosophy to Life
Today marks the start of our Staff Training Week (“Tweek” for short). We’ll spend this evening getting to know each other and will spend the entire week learning how we will bring GAC’s Vision, Mission, & Goals to life this summer for our campers. Our 2022 staff will learn how we Connect, Coach, and Create to deliver the Fun, Friends, and Growth that our campers experience at GAC.
BONUS EPISODE: Sunshine & Soy Talk About How Counselors Bring GAC’s Philosophy To Life