Girls Summer Camp: Choosing The Right One

While part of the fun of any summer camp is interacting with children of the opposite gender, a girls’ summer camp can be an excellent opportunity for children to cut loose, bond, and not compete with each other. A girls’ summer camp will often allow girls chances that they don’t always have at mixed gender summer camps. For instance, a shyer girl who is really excited about being the lead of a canoe race might not step up to the role with boys around her vying for the position, but will gladly step up if those around her, her competition, are also girls.

Single gender summer camps also allow girls to be girls and boys to be boys; however a girls’ summer camp has its own benefits and advantages. What that means is that the girls aren’t so worried about their hairdo and the boys aren’t so worried about their tennis swing. Though this is arguably good for both genders of children, some say that girls benefit from this summer camp setup even more than boys do.

Researching a Girls’ Summer Camp

Many adults think that the only camps that are single gender any more are Girl Scouts camps.  This is simply not true.  Thanks to the Internet and a simple search engine, it’s possible to find many summer camps advertised as ‘Girls Only’. You might not be able to find a girls’ summer camp that is geographically very close to you, but if you’re willing to travel a little bit for the added benefit of getting your daughter into a camp where she can really be herself, you’re sure to find a camp for her. Though there are not as many single sex camps nowadays as there were 50 years ago, they still exist, and for good reason.

Many girls who went to single sex high schools or single sex summer camps share some of their happiest memories from these periods in their lives that were linked directly to being in a place where only girls could be. Summer camp is fun in all its forms, both sleep-away and day camp, with every focus from gymnastics to soccer to knot tying.

Children not only learn a lot at summer camp, they also learn a lot about themselves and about their social networks while at summer camp. Girls who’ve been to single sex camps or high schools, as well as mixed gender ones usually say that they enjoyed both environments, but that the ‘girls only’ one taught them things they couldn’t learn in mixed-gender environments.