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Excelling at Camp Robin Hood: Why Boys Excel

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We are often asked by first-time camp parents about our Brother/Sister camp structure and how it is designed to help both boys and girls excel at Camp Robin Hood. Today we are going to be writing about why boys excel in this structure at Camp, followed by a blog post about girls coming soon.

Our Brother/Sister camp structure is designed to allow our boys to experience the important growth in friendship, mentorship and fellowship of a single-sex camp, while still living together as a part of a dynamic co-ed community.

Why do boys excel at Camp Robin Hood?

    1. The Mentors- One of the most important aspects of a summer at Robin Hood are the relationships built between our counselors and campers. During staff training we give our counselors the tools they need to become mentors for all of our campers. Why do we spend so much of our time focused on mentoring? A study found that children with mentors showed increased belief in their abilities to succeed and felt less anxiety related to peer pressure. Especially in young men, having a great mentor can really help propel our campers to success in college and beyond! 
    2. The Community- Majority of our daytime activities are conducted as single-sex activities, giving our campers and opportunity to focus on their own individual growth without any distractions. It also helps our campers develop deeper friendships and relationships with their group-mates. Our campers always come together for certain activities like drama, for meal-times and fun all-camp activities! This unique community structure also gives our campers an opportunity to interact and engage with our entire Camp. Any social issues that normally come up between the sexes at a coed Camp are minimized at Camp Robin Hood, allowing for both of the benefits of a coed and single-sex Camp.
    3. Skill Building – We all know that Summer Camp is the best place for children of all ages to learn 21st century skills! This is especially exemplified in the young men who attend Camp Robin Hood! Our Camp parents see an increase in leadership, communication and collaboration skills from their sons when the return home. There is really no better place to focus on skill building than at Camp!

We are always available to discuss these benefits in more depth and we would love to learn more about your son and his goals for the summer. Feel free to email us directly at anytime: woody@camprobinhood.com.

Healthy Habits at Robin Hood

We are already familiar with some of the facts… children spend more time in front of screens than ever before. In fact, children spend an average of 7.5 hours per day in front of a screen. Aside from schoolwork, children are spending more time being active on social media than actually being active! Lack of exercise and poor eating habits have contributed greatly to the increase in childhood obesity over the past three decades.
healthy-habits-for-recovering-substance-abusersAccording to the Center for Disease Control, In 2011-2012, 8.4% of 2- to 5-year-olds had obesity compared with 17.7% of 6- to 11-year-olds and 20.5% of 12- to 19-year-olds. This means as our children get older, they are becoming more and more sedentary. The physical, social and emotional effects that are associated with childhood obesity include pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low self-esteem and behavior and learning problems to name a few. Overweight children not only develop unhealthy habits that are hard to break but they also may be less likely to try a something new, join a team or engage in social activities.

At Camp Robin Hood we take the physical, social and emotional health of our campers very seriously. Not only are we intentional with the food that we serve, we make sure kids are active in ways that don’t feel like “exercise” but are, instead, fun!

july10-23Our menu changes daily with a number of healthy options that are always available. We are health conscious and serve your children what we serve our own. There is always a hot breakfast option (think eggs, pancakes, waffles) but we provide a hot and cold cereal bar (no sugar cereals here!), fresh fruit, homemade granola, hard-boiled eggs on our breakfast buffet daily. At lunch and dinner you’ll be impressed by our full salad bar. Our incredible kitchen staff takes pride in providing delicious salads and homemade soups daily. There is no dessert offered at lunch but we everyday we have snack at 4:25pm, which is usually a fruit! You’ll often see DC and Woody at snack checking in with the campers on the Quad. We always have a vegetarian option, are a nut-free facility, and have accommodated a number of food allergies in the past. Please contact us directly to discuss your camper’s dietary needs.

July29-14Sure kids might indulge in chicken nuggets and smiley fries (a crowd favorite!), pizza or any of our other camp favorites, but they will quickly be burning those calories off with our activities. A game of Ultimate Frisbee, Mountain Biking to the Maine border, a 3-on-3 tournament basketball tournament, a canoe trip to the Marina or practicing for our Robin Hood’s Got Talent Show, are just some of the ways our campers are getting in shape. Disguising exercise as fun is an easy way to keep children active all day long!

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Water is our drink of choice at Camp Robin Hood. With soda being a main culprit in childhood obesity, we have completely eliminated from our camper’s routine and diet. Coolers are located throughout camp so that campers and staff remain hydrated at all times!

While Camp Robin Hood doesn’t specialize in weight loss throughout the summer, it is a benefit that occurs amongst many of our campers. Even if you weight loss is not a priority for you when looking at a camp, the benefits of being active will be great for everyone!

After a summer on Lake Ossipee, campers will leave having been exposed to health conscious foods, fun and exciting activities, a greater self-esteem and independence. We believe that by living a healthy life everyday, leading by example and instilling healthy habits, our children will be on the path to leading a long and healthy life.

Campsickness… A True Ailment

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Campsick

/kamp, sīk/

adjective
(as defined by Urban Dictionary)

The opposite of homesick (or home-lonely; medically, you’re not actually ill). Intense longing to be back at summer camp. Afflicted persons may show a variety of symptoms, including melancholy, reminiscence, and attempts to incorporate camp culture, routine, and lingo into “real world” life.

Some cures for “camp sickness” include send the afflicted person back to camp and constant communication with fellow Robin Hooders. Designated camp time will allow those who are campsick to instantly be cured of all symptoms.  Otherwise, be patient with them. Try to distract them without making them feel as though you don’t care about how they feel. Listen to their camp stories, even though you’ve likely heard them more times than you care to. If possible, try to incorporate their favorite camp customs into the “real world”. Encourage contact with other “camp people”, because they will share experiences and alleviate the feeling of being alone.  

After spending the best summer at Robin Hood, many campers missed it so much they became campsick. Most of their friends at home did not understand, and aggravated the feeling.

Remember When…

Untitled designRemember the first day of camp? Cleveland and New York buses pulling in one right after the other? Getting to see all of your camp friends and meeting new ones all at once was the perfect way to start she summer.

Remember our first rainy day? “Trash Fash” debuts in Girls’ Camp and the creativity was flowing with two “looks”, day and evening, made out of coffee filters, plastic cups, toilet paper and other items found in your Trash Fash bags? Remember Boys’ Camp’s 3 on 3 indoor basketball tournament sponsored by Pepsi-Co? Great coaching Saxons!

Remember your first campfire? Saxons and Scribes you began your legacy by teaching songs and buddying up with the TPJs.

Remember Robin Hood’s Not-So-Talent Show? DC & Woody starting the “Whip and Nae-Nae” craze for the summer?

Remember July 4th? Waterslides, Fortune Tellers, raffles, games, a dunk-tank, dance party at the beach and the Ice Cream Truck?

Remember Robin Hood Gives Back? Boston Cares visits and talks about veteran awareness. Campers spend time working throughout camp and then cool off with charity laps in Lake Ossipee? How many laps did you swim?

Remember Robin Hood’s So You Think You Can Dance? Taylor vs. Katy, Shia LeBeouf, an Outkast medley to name a few…

Remember when the Court Jesters hooped it up with Robin Hood elite? Entire camp “whips and nae nae’s” on the lower court. Team Robin Hood shows them we’ve got skills with 3’s from Podl but we can’t beat em!

Remember PVD? We started the weekend with the talent show which was so much fun! Remember Saturday, the weather was perfect… not too hot and not too cold. Remember playing and enjoying the magic in the trees with your families?

Remember Excursion week… anxiously waiting to see when you were leaving and where you were headed?  All the fun exploring New England with your groups? Junior camp has the Realm to themselves for 3 days…

Remember Founder’s Day? Celebrating RH milestones, gifting camp with incredible additions including a new Briar says…, lots of items honoring Chuck’s 50th Summer and a Fake Break too!

Remember Green & White? A 5:50am drumline wakeup call to lead you throughout camp? DC & Woody on jet skis with honorable judges on speedboats behind them to announce the beginning of the best five days of the summer!

Remember Robin Hood running on Dunkin for lazy day with team dinners that night?

Remember the last few days of camp? Amazing energy at activities, GL swap day, Scribe and Saxon speeches, sunsets and group bonding?

Remember the last day of camp? Getting your phones back and setting up Robin Hood group chats because ‘campsickness’ is a real thing!!!!

Remember 2-0-1-5 Keeping Andy’s dream alive.  Best friends from the start, we’ll never part.  Our love won’t fade…