Greetings from Orlando! The weather has been cold and rainy, but hasn’t stopped us from having a great time.
Today’s keynote focused on the importance of play – an integral aspect of childhood development. Play is essential for the cognitive and emotional growth of youth and is our brain’s favorite (and most effective) way of learning. Play teaches children how to problem solve, build relationships, and understand the world around them. We know this at camp. What better place is there for children to explore, imagine, and create than at summer camp? It is integrated into nearly everything we do.
“Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets; and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of education.” – Luther Burbank
