What is the history of camp education?
Camp Education has a long history, beginning with youth development professionals in the United States in the mid-1800s.
You can access a comprehensive timeline of the history of summer camps in the US here.
Much has been written about the intent behind summer camps from the earliest efforts. Camps were founded across the country primarily related to significant worries from adults that traditional education was not enough, and that summer time off was dangerous to youth development. By creating innovative, group-centered, "learn-by-doing" programming held entirely outdoors, these educators pioneered a disruptive and powerful solution to developing resilient, capable adults.
“Boys and girls (especially those whose parents did not need them to be wage-earners) were spending more time than ever before in the regimented atmosphere of the schoolroom, without the opportunity to apply their book knowledge to the real world. For the middle- and upper-class youngsters who most concerned camp organizers, the long summer vacation offered an escape from this regimentation, but a school break unconnected to farm chores was still a relatively new—and worrisome—phenomenon in the 1890s. Camp director Henry W. Gibson characterized it as "a period of moral deterioration with most boys … who have heretofore wasted the glorious summer time loafing on the city streets, or just as disastrously at summer hotels or amusements places.“
Abigail A. Van Slyck – A Manufactured Wilderness: Summer Camps and the Shaping of American Youth, 1890-1960
It was not long until the brightest educators began to see and promote the value of camp education.
“I have a conviction that a few weeks spent in a well organized summer camp may be of more value educationally than a whole year of formal school work.”
Charles William Eliot – 21st President of Harvard University
Currently, the summer camp industry in the United States is significant, with estimated revenues expected to reach approximately $23.1 billion by 2024. This includes various types of camps such as leisure, adventure, and educational camps. The industry is experiencing steady growth, driven by increasing interest in outdoor activities and wellness, as well as parents seeking enriching experiences for their child.