By Steph Ward, Challenge Course Program Coordinator
During the summer months, it is said that children have a learning loss that is equivalent to losing three months of math and English. Most of this loss is due to the children not using those skills during the months that they are away from school. Here at camp, we like to challenge kids to use their brains in a way that might not be the traditional manner found in a classroom. We do a lot of this on the challenge course, which we consider our own outdoor classroom! Every camper who comes to the challenge course will participate in things that will get their brains working and get them to work together with others to solve a problem – whether it be in the air or on the ground.
We do activities like “Islands,” where that have to figure a way to get all team members to the other two islands and back to the starting island. They work together using the materials they have to come up with a solution.
“Towers of Hanoi” is a challenging mathematical project where children use problem-solving and logic to move tires – all seven them – to the opposite pole. This activity takes effort from everyone in the group, along with lots of patience.
We even work with the science club at our girls camp to help them with their egg drop project. We dropped the eggs off one of our zip line platforms. Fun and educational!
