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This author profile represents a collective of people contributing to articles and blog posts on the Rockbrook Summer Camp Site. These authors include camp directors, counselors, adventure staff members, camp moms, and other volunteers, each providing their unique perspective and thoughts on life at camp.
Summer Camp Horse Barn
• History • rbc

Remembering Camp in the 1930s

  • Summer Camp Horse Barn
  • Summer Camp Horse Barn

Here’s something cool. Back in the early 1900s, the Albertype Company of Brooklyn, NY produced a number of postcards documenting scenes all around the country. Rockbrook Camp was apparently a favorite subject because we’ve found several cards from the 1930s highlighting scenes of camp. They are just excellent archival documents showing what camp was like in the early years.

Here we see a scene of the old horseback riding barn and paddling canoes on the French Broad River as it passes by camp.  Don’t you just love them?!

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camp lisa songs
• Summer Camp • rbc

Lisa Loeb’s Songs for Camp

Lisa Loeb Camp CD Cover

Lisa Loeb, singer and songwriter best known for her hit song “Stay,” has released a new CD of songs inspired by her time as a kid at summer camp. It’s a fun collection of original compositions and traditional songs all about going away to camp, the friends, the food, the fun, of just being at summer camp. She explains,

“The inspiration was the actual songs based in camp songs. In camp, we have gross-out songs, and ones like the peanut butter and jelly song. One of the things I loved most about camp is that you’re singing all the time. You did sports, and arts and crafts, ate a lot of fun food — you were singing everywhere.”

The CD has some cool guest artists helping out too, people like Steve Martin (who plays banjo) and Jill Sobule. We also like a lot of the great camp lyrics on songs like, “Are You Ready for the Summer?” “It’s not Goodbye,” and “Best Friend.”  If you’ve been to camp, you’ll really enjoy this CD.

You can hear the song “Best Friend” over at Lisa’s website. And then check out all of the great Rockbrook camp songs.

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Outdoor Tetherball Game
• Games • rbc

How to Play Tetherball

Outdoor Tetherball Games at Camp

Lately we’ve been getting a few questions about how to play the game tetherball.

So, how do you play tetherball?

The main goal is for each player (there are only two kids, one against the other) to hit the ball in a direction that will wrap the cord up around the center pole. Each opponent is hitting the ball in an opposite direction, so that’s the contest— you hit it one way and she hits it the other way. The trick is to hit the ball so that it’s hard for your opponent to reach the ball and hit it back. One strategy is to hit the ball downward so that it goes high (and hopefully out of reach) when it wraps around to your opponent’s side. You win when you wrap the cord completely around in your direction and the ball hits the pole.

After you play a while kids can add rules that make the game more challenging and fun. Maybe you can allow only certain kinds of hits, or require that the ball wrap around high on the pole, or create funny penalties for “carrying” the ball or grabbing the string.  Like all great games, there are loads of options!

Tetherball is one of those amazing outdoor games kids love to play at camp. Got a free minute? Let’s play!

P.S. Want to learn more about tetherball? Check out this article.

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Camp horseback riding lesson for girls
• Horseback Riding • rbc

Horseback Riding Lessons at Camp

horseback riding girl camp lesson

The horseback riding activity at camp is a nice combination of learning, riding, and fun with all things horse and riding related.

With the great instructors and amazing horses down at the Rockbrook Riding Center, you learn so much about taking care of the horses and the operation of the barn (which is no small thing for 26 horses!). In the horseback riding lessons, you ride of course, but you also learn how to improve your riding skills and to become more comfortable on the horse. All of this is great fun, if you’re a little “horse crazy.” But even if horseback riding isn’t your number one thing to do, you’ll still enjoy being down at the barn with your friends, and you’ll learn a bunch too.

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teen girls at summer camp
• Summer Camp • rbc

Camp Builds Teen Self Esteem

NC Teen Camp Girl

It’s not something we talk about much— mostly because it happens without any extra effort —but camp is a place where everyday you can achieve something great. You can make something, do something extra-ordinary (if ordinary is what happens at home or at school), meet some challenge, and feel good about it. For a teen girl, especially, camp proves you can do it, and you can believe in yourself.  It’s a real boost to your self-esteem. Sure things can sometimes go badly, like when you can’t quite hit the target at first, but camp is also a place where you get plenty of encouragement and support from the people around you. Particularly at Rockbrook, we’re not competing. We’re all trying new things and enjoying each other’s company, no matter what our “score.” Here too, it feels so good when you realize that these people are your friends, no matter what. Ask the teen girls that come to camp every summer, and they’ll tell you. It’s just like this.

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Camp North Carolina Aerial View
• Horseback Riding • rbc

Equestrian Jumping at Summer Camp

summer equestrian camps

One of the most common questions we receive about our equestrian summer 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 summer equestrian program, kids can learn how to jump.  Over your time at camp, you’ll be really good!

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camp needlecrafts summer porch
• Arts • rbc

Learn to Knit at Camp

crafts with girls knitting

Can I learn how to knit at camp?

You sure can!  In fact, knitting has become one of the many needlecrafts 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.

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Adventure Summer Camps Kayaking
• Adventure • rbc

Kayaking Adventure at Camp

adventure kayaking camps

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 III 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.

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Child Camp Playing Tennis
• Tennis • rbc

Tennis Games at Camp

Tennis player at summer camp

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!

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Summer Camp Teens
• Campers • rbc

Camp for Teens

Camp Teens Girls

Often when parents begin researching a camp for teens they have some kind of growth experience in mind, something they hope their teen will gain from his or her time at camp. Sure they want the experience to be fun, but parents also believe it will be formative too. There’s a lot to go through in your teen years, so having a place in the summer that helps is a good thing.

Some camps are explicitly designed to address these kinds of issues and provide specific activities to help teens gain “personal power,” build “self-confidence and self-esteem” and develop “deep friendships.”  Others, and Rockbrook’s teen program fits in here, emphasize creating a friendly and noncompetetive environment where teens can relax, be themselves, and try new activities.  In this kind of setting and with true encouragement and support, teens find they have hidden talents and abilities and they do grow more confident and capable.  The culture of camp, as the foundation for the excitement and fun, is the driving force for the transformation our teenagers experience and parents appreciate.

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