Putting play back in your child’s day!

Out of thousands of YMCA camps in the country, YMCA Camp Chase was one of only eight Day Camps selected by the national YMCA organization, YUSA, because of the camp's innovative approach to programming.  A team of YMCA staff went out to parents and interviewed them about their summer experiences.  We interviewed kids who have been attending YMCA Camp Chase and kids who have not attended camp before.  Our results were compiled and the YMCA staff was flown out to Chicago to YMCA of the USA.  Where we compiled data and listened to speakers and started the process of updating camp to meet the needs of parents and children in our community. 

Peter Gray, a professor at Boston College, spoke about the decrease of play in kids’ lives. We talked in great detail about the role play has in children’s intellectual, social, moral and emotional development, and we heard Professor Gray talk we realized that parents and kids noticed this decrease in these areas too. 

In summary, here are our steps moving into the 2014 summer season:

1. We will collect data from members of our camp community – DONE

2. We will complete the initial design of the program - DONE

To give you a sense of what we are moving toward, we want you to think back to the days of recess when you were a kid: the open area to find friends, and pick and choose rules and how we interact; the ability to go and play a sport, or to hang out with friends.  Open choice is the key and allowing children to set boundaries of their own, while still being supervised but not directed by staff.  We are choosing to define play as “Open choice of activities within boundaries.” 

“Play is self-chosen and self-directed. Play is motivated by means more than ends.  Play is guided by mental rules. Play is imaginative. Play is conducted in an alert, active but non-stressed frame of mind.” Says Michael Garcia; Senior Director of Camping.