The benefits of incorporating camp songs
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EmailIncorporating songs into your camp curriculum can be beneficial to campers.
If you ask people who attended overnight summer camp as a child what they remember most about their camp experiences, a large majority will mention camp songs. Singing songs together at camp creates lasting memories. There are many benefits to incorporating songs into a camp program, including the following.
Stress and anxiety relief
Singing songs together can be a great way to relieve the stress and anxiety campers feel as they acclimate to the camp experience. Feeling connected to others through song can have a positive impact on the camper’s mental health. It can help them relax and become more familiar with other campers.
Building a sense of belonging
Just like reciting the 4-H pledge together, singing songs together can foster a sense of belonging. Singing songs together allows freedom and safety to campers. When camp facilitators create an environment where youth feel safe to express themselves within their group, youth feel a sense of connection and safety. Through the shared experience of singing together, campers can develop emotional connections with each other and with the camp environment.
In the Australian Journal of Psychology article, Belonging: a review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework and directions for future research, a sense of belonging is explained as the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences. It is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic and behavioral outcomes. Actively participating in a group activity like singing can strongly and quickly develop these connections
Providing a safe place to foster camaraderie
When a camp environment creates a space where youth feel physically and emotionally safe in a group, they can form more positive and solid relationships with peers and older role models. Camp songs are a powerful tool for building camaraderie. Learning lyrics, mastering movements and developing a group style together can foster a stronger bond to promote teamwork and cooperation.
Bringing diverse audiences together
Music has long been used to bring people together. Camp songs create connections among campers. Singing together creates a sense of unity among campers. Barriers that often keep individuals apart quickly dissipate as people feel closer and more connected as a result of singing together. A recent study found that people singing together in a larger group experienced bigger changes in social closeness after singing than the smaller group, suggesting that endorphins produced in singing can act to draw large groups together quickly.
Promoting a feeling of fun
Most camp songs are silly and often bring laughter. The energy a rousing round of The More We Get Together, Wigalow or The Cat Came Back can foster endless giggles and smiles. Continuing the tradition of singing songs at camp can create memories that will last a lifetime!
Michigan 4-H offers many camping opportunities. Check with your local Michigan State University Extension county program to find a camp near you.
