Developmental Milestones and the Camp Experience: Ages 4-7

Developmental Milestones

• Acquire greater ability to reason, plan, and remember
• Begin to better appreciate social conventions
• Experience a growing awareness of the feelings of others
• Identify with and model behavior of significant adults
• Regulate their own emotions with increasing success
• Begin to think about how others perceive them
• Become better at activities requiring strength and power (for Boys)
• Become better at activities requiring fine motor skills, such as drawing or writing (for Girls)
• Improve in the areas of agility, balance, and coordination

What's on Their Minds

• Anticipate fun activities shared with parents
• Wish to please parents and older siblings
• Think about rewards for good behavior and consequences of misbehavior
• Worry about separation from family
• Begin to understand gender roles and social stereotypes of males and females

Building Parent-Child Relationships

• Provide intellectually stimulating environment for child
• Give reasons for directions
• Encourage verbal give-and-take
• Be consistent in expectations and consequences for misbehavior
• Offer frequent emotional support and reassurance
• Read together, cook together, play together
• Be a positive role model in language, behavior, and emotion-regulation
• Limit TV viewing to one hour or less per day

Maximize the Camp Experience

• Share some aspects of the camp selection process (e.g., what kind of camp, how long to stay, whether to go with a friend or not)
• Consider one-day camps or mini-camps for best exposure to new situations
• Provide structured, summer fun while sharing experiences with family through day camp
• Consider overnight camps as appropriate for children who have had varied and positive experiences of being away from home, who are toilet trained, and who have good self-care skills
• Select a camp that specializes in activities for pre-school and primary grades
• Select a camp that provides a good mix of athletic, artistic, and intellectual pursuits

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