US Kids 5 Favorite Summer Camp Activities - Different From Our Generation?

Are kids really so different these days? We figured at21st century to work witj power tools. But there are
our office that all the PlayStation Portables, cell phones,plenty of solutions for that. How many lanyards will
Facebook, and Twitter have really changed kids.campers make? Macaroni art masterpieces? These
Therefore, they ought to have different preferencesstill top kids' lists of things to do at summer camp
for summer camp activities, right? Wrong, it turns out! Ibecause then they get to bring something home for
polled the 10 or so adults who work in our office inmom and dad.
New Jersey what their favorite camp activities wereHere we put archery, and crafts actually came up
in the 1970s and '80s, and then contrasted those withsecond on our list. I still have my little wooden duck on
the preferences of kids who have just attendeda stick that walks when you push it. A classic.
camps in the Adirondack Mountain, New York area.#4: Camp "Olympics" where each cabin dons the
Shockingly, the results turned out to be almost identical!same color in a fight to the death against the rest of
So I suppose kids aren't really that different thesethe camp. These relay races, canoeing, and scavenger
days after all. Here are the 21st century kids' favoritehunts can foster lasting memories for kids, and not just
activities vs. ours.because little Boris gets heatstroke and tosses his
#1: Archery. Yes, the idea of an under-13 child firing acookies on David, the most popular male counselor. It's
salvo of arrows out in the fields where other kids runall about teamwork, and kids thrive on that.
and play may conjure up memories of "Lord of theAgain, crafts was second on our list. The "Olympics"
Flies." However, with the adult supervision and trainingdidn't come up, though we did have one at our camp
that counselors get in child management, archery is aand I loved it. It would definitely be in my personal top
perfectly safe summer camp activity. And kids love it.10.
It makes them feel like nobles back in medieval#5: Horseback riding. Both the kids and adults agreed
England. Or Ted Nugent.on this one. The odd thing when it comes to this one
We had said canoeing was our favorite, which endedtaking 1st place is that, only a couple of people in our
up as the next one on their list. Archery was our #3office actually got a chance to actually get on a horse,
choice. I guess we might have been a bit more violentand those of us who did were not exactly riding Black
back in our day, what with all the Motley Crue andBeauty--we're talking ponies here. Either the horses
Twisted Sister.were always eating or sleeping or, to be quite honest,
#2: Canoeing. Summer is hot. The ideal place to be iswe just didn't have the courage to ride. The kids we
on the river. Canoeing not only provides an opportunityasked all said, "Yeah! I rode a horse" if their camp had
to burn off some steam for kids, but also presents anone, but we're still waiting for official evidence before
opportunity to work cooperatively. It's a wonderfulwe'll take their word for it.
team-building exercise.In conclusion, we have decided that kids are really not
Ours was swimming, which didn't actually end up onmuch different from how we were. It's nice to know
the kids' list. But we figure swimming is just the burlier,that our modern society with all its technology isn't
more rugged version of canoeing. Score 1 macho pointturning out soulless robots wrapped up in their own little
for kids from the '70s and '80s.worlds, as some might lead you to believe.
#3: Crafts. Kids feel a tremendous sense ofBut let them try and say that to our faces--especially
accomplishment when they craft somethingwhen we're riding our horses and wielding our bows
themselves. Unfortunately, there is not a shred of hopeand arrows.
that any summer camp is going to let a kid born in the