Camps provide a substantial opportunity for youth to develop important life skills. Identifying and training staff on critical competencies are essential to achieving the desired outcomes for camp participants. The purpose of this study was to determine the most critical competencies of the 4-H residential camp staff for achieving high staff…

The purpose of this paper is to present a profile of middle-school-age youth who participated in a weeklong experiential residential camp focused on helping campers learn about and interact with money, personal finance topics, and mainstream financial service providers. Based on pre- and post-test data, it was determined an experiential real-world…

Building on existing relationships with international youth development colleagues, we created the 4-H International Camp United Program (4-HICUP) as a leadership opportunity for international and U.S. teens. In 2019, teenagers from Azerbaijan, Italy, Russia, and the United States came together to build personal cross-cultural relationships,…

The University of California (UC) 4-H Mindfulness Retreat was developed on the basis of current research of positive youth outcomes associated with mindfulness. Curricula, resources, and programming were developed to introduce participants to mindfulness to improve overall health. The UC 4-H Mindfulness Retreat provides training and opportunities…

Summer camp programs provide distinct opportunities for positive youth development through caring relationships and opportunities to build skills. To examine the extent to which youths experience the 4-H Essential Elements through 4-H camp programs, we administered the National 4-H Camping Research Consortium's Camp Context Questionnaire to youths…