Dance Summer Camp

One of the activities at camp that’s always popular is dance. It’s held in one of the historic stone lodges we’ve outfitted with mirrors on one end. In addition to playing games, we teach a wide range of dance genres from Jazz to Pop, Hip-hop and different forms of ballroom dancing. Last year, Kalin taught traditional Irish Folk Dancing too. Then at the end of each session, the campers put on a dance show for the whole camp. It’s casual and fun… and a great way to learn a few new moves.

Summer Camp Kids Teen Fun

Remember the “Slip n’ Slide” ?! You take a summer afternoon, a hill, a big long piece of plastic, a water hose, a little baby soap, and whole bunch of your kids camps friends and you’ve got a crazy fun time. Just run as fast as you can and launch yourself down the slide. Of course the trick is to make it all the way to the end without rolling off the side!

Girls Sleep Away Camps

We’re back from the American Camp Association national conference in Austin, Texas where we enjoyed hearing Dr. David Elkind talk about the power of play (free and unstructured play) in children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. He was invited to address the conference because he understands traditional summer camps as excellent contexts where this kind of play is encouraged. Dr. Elkind explains in his new book entitled, The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier and Healthier Children.

Here’s a quote that jumped out at me. He writes,

Not only does summer camp provide children relief from the pressures to achieve, it reacquaints children with the natural world, with the importance of friendship, cooperation, and the fragility of the environment in which we live.

The book, of course, goes into lots more detail and provides specific advice about how to encourage this kind of beneficial play, but here are a couple of the main points.

• Cut TV time to allow for playtime.
• Get children together so they can initiate play.
• Avoid providing too many toys too often.
• Keep free time on the schedule.
• Spend time outside.

There is much to say about each of these, but it’s neat to see how summer camp, and particularly a sleep away camp like Rockbrook, can really encourage them.  Camp is just one of those places where kids can be kids.

Camps for Teens

Here’s a shot from a rock climbing trip up at Castle Rock, the big granite outcropping on the Rockbrook Camp property (literally in our backyard ). It’s just one of the climbing spots we have at camp, and along with all the other outdoor adventure activities offered —backpacking, whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, mountain biking, ropes course, day hiking, whitewater rafting— it’s one way Rockbrook girls “play outside this summer.”

Fun Crafts for Girls

Rockbrook has so many arts and craft activities for girls— drawing, loom weaving, fabric painting, beading, candle making, and basketry, to name a few. But one of the most popular is pottery. The girls learn both hand-built and wheel-thrown ceramics techniques and have a great time making dishes like cups and bowls, and sculpting animals and other figures out of clay. With everything glazed and fired, we really see some amazing work!

North Carolina Boys Camps

Parents sometimes ask us to recommend a summer camp for boys, a place where the brother of a girl attending Rockbrook can go for camp. There are many great boys camps to choose from, but two are very close to RBC— Camp Carolina and Camp High Rocks. Both offer quality programs similar to the one at Rockbrook Camp for Girls.

Here are links to their sites:

Camp Carolina

Camp High Rocks

Teen Camp

Alex and Emi! …a couple of our fantastic “Hi-Ups” from last summer. Here they are one morning handing out muffins for “snack break.” “Hi-Ups” are the oldest campers who attend Rockbrook. They are girls who have finished the 10th grade.