Being at summer camp lets you try activities that you can’t do at home. Activity camps for girls are set up to teach these kind of traditional camp things. Take riflery for example. With instruction, some coaching and explanation of how to shoot properly, girls can really learn a lot. It’s fun to shoot, and then to retrieve your target and see your score. At Rockbrook, getting a bullseye automatically puts you in the “bullseye club” and gets your name announced in the dining hall. Riflery is another activity that you can really get into, and soon you’ll find yourself signing up for it everytime.
Tags: childrens-camps, girls-activities, kids-activities, Riflery
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It’s Archery!
Posted in: Camps
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Girls who attend Rockbrook Camp can take a regular gymnastics class. These summer gymnastics camps are just one of the many sports activities available at RBC. Beginning with basic flexibility, balance and strength training, you’ll work on tumbling, rhythmic gymnastics, balance beam, spring board, and parallel bars. Even if gymnastics is not your sport, being in a summer gymnastics class at camp is really fun and exciting because you will certainly learn new skills (tricks!), get some good exercise, and be with your friends. It’s amazing what, with personal instruction and a little practice, you can accomplish. You’ll be doing a flip in no time!
Tags: Camps, girls, gymnastics-camp, Sports, summer
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Equestrian Jumping at Summer Camp
Posted in: Gymnastics
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One of the most common questions we receive about our equestrian camp for kids is if girls can learn how to jump. Naturally, equestrian jumping is an advanced skill and it requires a great deal of practice and knowledge to do it safely. That’s why, while the answer is “yes, you can learn how to jump,” you must first be good at most other horseback riding techniques. Equestrian jumping requires a high level of accomplishment that you have to work up to. Step by step, you’ll have the right amount of challenge added to your lessons, and eventually you’ll be ready for jumping. With good personal instruction and well-trained horses like those at the Rockbrook equestrian program, kids can learn how to jump. Over your time at camp, you’ll be really good!
Tags: equestrian-camps, horse camp, horse-riding, Horseback Riding, horses
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Kids Horse Riding Camps
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Can I learn how to knit at camp?
You sure can! In fact, knitting has become one of the crafts at camp girls are really enjoying. You might think it’s old fashioned or something that only your grandmother would do, but knitting is really cool! And it’s not that hard to learn. With some basic pointers and a little practice you’ll be able to make a simple scarf, or even something more difficult like a hat.
The younger girls particularly like using the “Nifty Knitters.” These are special round, handheld looms that make knitting tubes really easy (there’s one on the shelf in the background in the photo). They are a fun way to see how knitting works and to make quick progress on a project before moving on to using knitting needles.
Knitting is one of those great crafts girls can easily do at home. It can easily become a life-long activity to enjoy for years to come.
Tags: craft, girl-camps, girls, girls-activities, knitting
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Loom Weaving at Summer Camp
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Outdoor adventure is one of the core camp activity areas at Rockbrook. Our outdoor adventure summer camps focus on backpacking (hiking and camping), rock climbing, whitewater rafting and kayaking. Most recently, rock climbing and kayaking have become increasingly popular, especially with the teens and older girls at camp.
After learning basic kayaking techniques like how to “wet exit” (That’s when you get out of the boat when it tips over upside down.), or how to “roll” (That’s when you roll back rightside up instead of wet exiting.), we head out to some of the local rivers for more outdoor action. For the more advanced paddlers, we’ll even take trips to the Nantahala river, a Class I, II and II whitewater river nearby. The mountains of NC, and the rivers that run between them, are just perfect for summer camps and this kind of adventure.
Tags: kayaking, outdoor-activities, outdoor-adventure, teen-camps
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Girls Kayaking
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We’ve been going through some of the old summer camp catalogs around here and we found this cool old map. It was mailed with the 1941 catalog and is really 14 inches square. Click on the map to see a bigger version, and you’ll be surprised to find song lyrics, buildings with long-forgotten names, the old water wheel (!), and even a little boater. Take a look!
Tags: history, maps, summer-camps, tradition, traditional-camp
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The Newest Rockbrook Camper
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Cory Doctorow wrote a nice post reminding us of the classic book about children and learning by John Holt, “How Children Learn” (originally published in 1967). The book, which has been revised and reprinted, can still be found on many education course reading lists because it makes a very important point teachers and parents easily and often forget. His basic claim is that children are natural learners, and that instead of always forcing them to adhere to a generalized curriculum, they should be encouraged to follow their curiosity, engage what they are passionate about, expand their perception and awareness, and experiment with the world around them. For adults, this means being less of a tyrant (”You have to…”) and more of a partner along for the adventure of growing up. Holt has observed this kind of adult coercion in the realm of learning to be often more counterproductive than not. Of course, parents and teachers need to provide some guidance at times and encourage or facilitate certain educational activities (or social behaviors!), but any habit of rigidly adhering to particular learning styles, contexts, or subjects may shape children to the detriment of their strengths and talents.
What does this have to do with camp? If most of the year is comprised of adults telling children what to do, what study, what to learn —and you have to agree it is— then having a break from that in the summer is incredibly important and valuable. After all, that’s what camp provides. Campers arrive at camp and decide for themselves (without mom, dad, or teacher) which activities to take and how they will spend their time at camp. With some guidance from the counselors, they make their own experience, explore their own interests, build their own understandings. The great feelings that come with this freedom is certainly one reason girls love their camp experience.
Camp is so meaningful for them because they are active participants in making it meaningful.
Tags: Camp, childrens-camps, learning, Outdoors, Summer Camp
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A Place to Grow
Posted in: Children
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We just noticed a few maple leaves turning red, and sure enough today in the first day of fall. Hurray! Here in Brevard, in the northern hemisphere, this is the autumnal equinox, and it’s that time of the year when the sun rises and sets exactly in the east and west.
You might think that this also means the equinox is that time of the year when the sun rises and sets at the same time in the morning and evening (making the day and night the same length), but this is not the case. The reason for this is a little complicated, but it has to do with the size of the sun and the curvature of the earth. Here’s an article that explains about it.
Your time at camp and all the fun you had this summer may seem like a distant memory, but just think, you’re now that much closer to next summer! Only three more seasons to go!
Tags: fall, holiday, North Carolina, summer, sun
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Countdown To Banquet: Less Than A Day!!!
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Arrr! It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
It’s true. There’s a big following of folks excited about all things pirate. Well blow me down, matey! Of course pirate day is one of our favorite silly activities at camp. It’s a great chance to dress up like a pirate, break out that pirate voice, and sing a pirate song. Here’s a photo of some counselors really getting into the spirit of it all.
Want to learn more about Talk like a Pirate Day? Visit the official website. Here’s some info especially for kids and teens too. There’s more pirate stuff than you probably want to know! Aye Aye Captain.
Tags: Counselors, dress-up, pirates, summer-camps
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Kids Summer Program
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Tennis always seems to be a popular sports activity at Rockbrook. Sure there are lessons and chances to have an instructor teach you more about how to be a better tennis player. Sure we have little tournaments (both singles and doubles) now and then. We can always improve our tennis skills like that. But we also play plenty of games, activities that while involving tennis are designed to be as fun (and sometimes silly) as possible.
One is called “Around the World” and it involves a group of children dividing and lining up on opposite baselines. A child from one side hits to the other side and after hitting, runs and gets in line on the other side. It’s kind of a rotation of players as everyone runs to the right around the court. The goal is to see how many people in a row can hit good shots back. You can imagine; it’s lots of action and lots of fun!
Tags: Games, play, Sports, sports-camps, tennis camp
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The Fun of Archery
Posted in: Tennis
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