Camp remains a powerful experience for youth of any age, but special care must be taken to ensure camps are supportive of diverse audiences. This article describes the process by which 4-H camp organizers created a welcoming and affirming camp for teen dependents of active duty, retired, or veteran military personnel, especially those campers who…

Day camps are a powerful context for youth development. The American Camp Association and Leave No Trace have been integral in supporting youth development by identifying outcomes associated with participation in outdoor recreation. Recreation majors in the programming class used the camp as a service-learning component of the class that offered…

As 4-H evolves to include a wide breadth of youths' modern interests, innovative educational opportunities and evaluation practices become necessary. Horsemanship and safety-based horse camps were created in response to a statewide challenge to develop competitive 4-H members and retain those members as they approach adolescence. This article…

Camp scholars have designed structured curricula to engender specific outcomes and to break down the "black box" of programming. Implementation evaluation explores how well a program operates when delivered, further breaking down the black box. The purpose of this study was to explore the implementation of a new structured camp…

In the first learning community session since last summer's programs, foundation staff at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in Connecticut invite providers to share their news. "What worked? What challenges did you see?" Seasoned providers highlight field trips taken, books introduced, newsletters crafted by youth and shared with…

Low-income minority females are disproportionately affected by obesity. The relevance of summer months to weight gain is often overlooked. Some evidence suggests that summer programming, such as day camps, may offer increased opportunities for structured physical activities resulting in less weight gain. This study examined the effectiveness of…

Two methods were used to identify important operational constraints and their potential impact on special education camps: a review of current literature and programs using content analysis and the development of day and resident camping experiences. In the content analysis, a process of evolution through trial and error was seen as leading to…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Camp Invention, a hands-on creativity and science day camp run in partnership with about 400 schools nationwide. A survey of 17,526 campers, parents, and staff supported the positive impact of Camp Invention for both boys and girls, in urban and suburban settings, and on attitudes towards creativity,…

The Michigan Youth Service Personnel, the men at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, and the residents around Oscoda, Michigan, implemented and carried out an exemplary youth camping program dedicated to helping troubled boys achieve a far brighter future than would ordinarily be expected. The program was evaluated by Florida Technological University.…

Summer day camps for learning disabled elementary school students can help children to maintain and improve academic and social skills that may otherwise regress during summer vacation. Two such New Brunswick programs are described in terms of rationale, camp structure and organization, funding, student selection, staff selection, training,…

More than 50 years ago, the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study provided services to a randomly selected half of matched pairs of young boys living in congested urban environments. This "model intervention program" is analyzed in this paper. Between 1935 and 1939, information on approximately 1800 boys was gathered. This information was…

A study conducted a nationwide evaluation of 15 residential camp programs designed for children, youth, and young adults with mild to severe disabilities. The study involved 2,184 campers (ages 7-19) with disabilities and was undertaken to further validate evaluation instrumentation, evaluate residential camp programs for children with…

A three-year study examining the effects of 15 resident camp programs on over 2,000 disabled campers ages 7-21 indicates that campers made notable achievements in both affective and recreational skills, that positive gains in personal development carried over to the home and community settings, and that increased independence was the predominant…

A survey of 44 secondary level students who attended a summer camp for gifted/talented youth analyzed reasons that campers did not enroll in certain course offerings, ideas for future course offerings, occupational areas of interest, the extent of racism in the schools, and the amount of drug use in the schools. (JDD)