What Makes a Transformative Summer Camp Experience
Researchers in foundry10’s Youth and Educator SEL Lab explored how summer camps designed by Young Women Empowered support the creative, social, emotional, and positive identity development of diverse youth.
Summer camp provides an excellent environment for social and emotional learning (SEL). Free from the academic demands and achievement expectations of school, youth have the time and space to practice social skills, explore their identities, and find a supportive community.
A study of 80 camps by the American Camp Association (ACA) found significant growth in self-esteem, independence, leadership, friendship skills, social comfort, and values and decision-making skills, from the beginning to the end of a session.
While the flexible and social setting of a summer camp can naturally lend itself to SEL experiences and promote well-being, some camps take a more intentional approach to foster growth in this area.
At Young Women Empowered (Y-WE), a Seattle-based organization that “cultivates the power of diverse young women to be creative leaders and courageous changemakers through transformative programs within a collaborative community of belonging,” youth have the opportunity to learn SEL skills alongside a diverse cohort of adult mentors.
Y-WE’s summer programming includes day and overnight camps like:
Since our partnership began in 2015, research at foundry10 has consistently found that after participating in Y-WE programs youth felt more empowered to take creative risks and pursue a variety of careers and expressed greater self-confidence and sense of belonging.
To learn more about the SEL impact of Y-WE’s program practices, researchers in foundry10’s Youth and Educator SEL Lab collected survey, interview, and observation data from youth at Y-WE Create Camp 2022 and 2023. The majority of participants identified as youth of color, aged 14–26, and as young women, girls, trans, non-binary, and/or gender-expansive individuals.
Making Transformative Summer Camp Experiences
Researchers at foundry10 identified several practices and routines that Y-WE program staff used to support SEL and promote well-being. Below are research-based, recommended approaches for designing transformative summer camp experiences.
Youth Have Meaningful (and Frequent) Connections with Mentors and Peers
Entering new environments can often bring up a sense of nervousness or anxiety among youth. This was the case for not only first-time Y-WE campers, but also returning youth. Several youth expressed feeling nervous because it was their first time at camp and they didn’t know anyone. However, as camp progressed, youth felt less socially anxious.
Y-WE campers engaged in several activities designed to cultivate meaningful peer and mentor connections including:
- Structured activities: Camp facilitators provided structured activities with guidelines to create opportunities for peer-to-peer connections. For example, Y-WE summer camps facilitated icebreaker activities, like “pair sharing” with someone they had not talked to, or creating a piece (e.g., song, dance, theatrical performance, etc.) in small groups with peers and mentors.
- Semi-structured time: Y-WE camp facilitators also created opportunities for youth to build community during free periods. For example, during lunch time youth could chat with each other or engage in creative activities individually or with peers.
- Peer, small group, and whole group discussions: Y-WE programs include open conversations that allow youth and adults to share their experiences, find similarities, and build shared understandings. Fostering connections through a variety of light-hearted and meaningful discussions can be included in camp.
These activities helped youth to feel more comfortable interacting with each other and practice social skills in a smaller setting. This had a positive impact in reducing youth social anxiety. One youth highlighted their enthusiasm in making a meaningful connection:
I was like, ‘Oh, where? We might live close to hang out sometime.’ And it turns out that they’re not even a minute away from me…I felt really connected at that point, especially because we’ve seen each other this week after we found that out…we’re carpooling home today and everything and I’m like… I made a connection.
Youth Can Engage in Safe Identity Exploration
Teens and young adults are often exploring various beliefs and behaviors through what they wear, who they hang out with, and what values they express. However, not all youth have access to an intergenerational community that nurtures and supports safe exploration. In the Y-WE summer camps, facilitators incorporated community practices to support young people in safe identity exploration such as:
- Normalizing difference: Understanding and accepting differences in identities and lived experiences helps youth be themselves. At the beginning of each day, Y-WE campers engage in plenary activities like creating community agreements.
- Open conversations: Y-WE encourages youth to share their experiences and discuss topics, like social issues or mental health, in groups or individual reflections.
- Modeling and practice: At Y-WE, adult mentors learn alongside youth in camp. Encourage staff and mentors to model healthy coping strategies and communications skills for youth.
Youth Are Empowered to Take Creative Risks
A camp environment that supports SEL gives youth the freedom and safety to take creative risks. Here are some of the ways youth at camp Y-WE Create were encouraged to break out of their comfort zone.
- Challenge by choice: Youth want to participate in activities on their own terms. Give youth space to decide how much or how little they want to engage and provide opportunities to experiment with open-ended creative projects.
- Independent and group reflections and projects: Youth mentioned that they liked how camp activities included opportunities to engage with a group but also space and time to work by themselves. Allow youth to reflect and work individually but also as a community in small and large groups. Y-WE did this by incorporating collaborative activities, like creating a vision board together or engaging in group learning walks.
- End of program showcase: Youth looked forward to showcasing their work to their family and friends at the end of the week. Plan a concluding event where participants can show-off and celebrate their pieces with peers and their community.
Youth Are Encouraged to Identify and Meet Their Individual Needs
Community care is an important aspect in supporting youth well-being at camp. Youth reported feeling respected and understood by camp staff and mentors. This is supported by Y-WE’s intergenerational community care practices.
- Ask about accessibility needs. Include a standard survey that asks about accessibility needs and staff work to accommodate those needs.
- Encourage campers to identify their own needs. Campers should discover and name their own access needs and to take care of them as needed at camp.
- Offer a designated wellness space and professional support. A youth feeling overwhelmed can talk to a mental health specialist or take a break in the wellness room to reconnect and get grounded.
By providing many different options for youth to identify and meet their individual needs, Y-WE created a community of care and enhanced the overall camp experience. One participant shared how this was enforced by Y-WE’s commitment to ensuring participants were accommodated and informed about the camp’s environment:
I definitely have struggled with a lot of the activities so I was also really nervous at the beginning of camp to see how I would do in that space. I’m very happy because Y-WE has accommodated it to a higher degree than I even expected…Well, before I came, I had talked to [Y-WE staff] about it and she assured me that it was on [the] ground floor, I would be able to get everywhere with the crutches…I also overheat really easily due to POTS, so I’ve been given ice packs more than once, and just sit in front of the fan on the couch in the middle of whatever time we’re doing. And a lot of other camps, because I go to multiple other summer camps, they still push me, like, ‘Get up now, do the activity. Do it anyway, you can try it.’ And Y-WE is very understanding about–you know your boundaries, you are your own human being, you can make your decisions. Like, if you can’t do this, you can’t do this. I think that’s another thing that’s really special about Y-WE is that we’re treated like human beings.
Overall, foundry10 research found that Y-WE summer camps provide a supportive community intentionally built with community care to help foster positive youth development.
Check out Y-WE’s website to learn more about Y-WE’s work and upcoming programs.
Read more about the foundry10 Youth and Educator SEL Lab’s work in this area.
