Journal your camp experience

Frank Cox<coxf@msu.edu> -

Capture your camp experience through journaling.

In the summer or during the school year, youth participate in a variety of camps. In these camps, youth are learning about different educational topics or subjects. They are participating in different activities like teambuilding, recreation and sports for learning and having fun. Camps can be a benefit for youth. Youth can find ways to capture the benefits and remember the good times and positive impacts they have at camp by keeping a journal.

What can camp participants write about in their journal? Here are some of the things they can write about in the form of questions.

  • Did the participant learn something new? If so, state what was learned.
  • What are the new skills that were learned?
  • What positive changes (in attitudes and behaviors) were made as a result of camp participation?
  • What were the positive impacts of meeting new friends?
  • What were the positive impacts of learning from the staff or counselors?
  • What were some of the challenges and how did the participant overcome the challenges?

How can youth participants use the information from their journal for their future? If youth participate in youth groups like 4-H, there may be opportunities to apply for awards and they can use their journal to answer questions or write essays in their applications. Their experience from camp can also be used in job interviews, college and scholarship applications.

Some youth are impacted by camp in a positive way and develop an interest to become a camp counselor. The information from a counselor’s journal can be used to relate to the youth campers their working with by sharing their experience.

Michigan 4-H Youth Development offers opportunities for youth to participate in camps. For example, some statewide camps are the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp, the 4-H Health and Food Science Camp, the 4-H Renewable Energy Camp, and the 4-H Veterinary Science Camp. Parents and youth can also check the MSU Extension office in their county to learn more about 4-H camp opportunities.

As youth participate in camp, they can take advantage of free time to journal and capture the impacts of their camp experience.

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  • life skills
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