WHY CAMP?

There are many different types of summer camps, including co-ed, sleepover, day and specialty. Decide the goals you have in mind for your child’s camp experience and pick out a camp that will provide the benefits of a the camp experience you’re hoping for!  

Find an Accredited Camp Near You!

WHAT DO BCCA ACCREDITED CAMPS HAVE THAT OTHER CAMPS DON’T?

1. Compliance to industry standards

An accredited camp must demonstrate through a third-party review, that facility and program operations meet the highest safety standards. These standards are determined and enhanced each year by the BC Camps Association Executive Board.

2. Third-party oversight

An accredited camp agrees to be subject to period review by industry professionals appointed by the BCCA. This ensures that technical equipment is up-to-date and safe to operate, staff are trained accordingly, and programs are facilitated in a consistently safe and manageable fashion.

3. Community promise

Camps who seek accreditation commit to providing every patron and guest in their community a program that meets or exceeds the highest standards in quality and safety. We are affiliated with the following organizations:

International Camping Fellowship

WHAT ARE OTHER BENEFITS OF CAMP?

Every summer, thousands of children attend summer camps throughout BC, but if you’ve never sent your child to camp you may be asking, “Why camp?”  The benefits of summer camp experiences for children are endless. Here are just a few:

1. Make true friends

Camp encourages kids to relax and make friends easily. As all the fun at camp draws everyone together, camp creates friendships.

2. Physical activity

Children spend their day being physically active – camp provides a wonderful opportunity to swim, jump, hike, and climb. Camp is action.

3. Boosts self-confidence

Children build self-confidence and self-esteem with non-competitive activities and diverse opportunities to succeed. Camp teaches kids that they can.

4. Develop life-long skills

Camps provide the right instruction, equipment, and facilities for children to enhance their sports abilities, artistic talents, and adventure skills. Camps expand children’s abilities.

5. Become more independent:

Camp is the perfect place for kids to make their own decisions without parents and teachers directing them.  Camps help manage their choices in a safe, caring environment.

6. Learn social skills

Camps are close-knit communities where everyone cooperates and respects each other. Children share chores, resolve disagreements, and see the importance of sincere communication.

7. Reconnect with nature

Camp provides access to outdoor activities that enhance children’s perception of the outside world.

8. Unplug from technology

Camps give kids a break from TV, cell phones and the internet, and help them rediscover their creativity.

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF CAMP?

For more information on the benefits of camping, please visit the following links:

Every Child Needs Nature by Richard Louv

Summer camp: An Antidote to Nature-Deficit Disorder by Susan Sachs Lipman

Sleepovers and Summer Camps Teach Kids Important Life Skills by Carolyn Butler

Using the Nature Principle and Camps to Reduce Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv