Studies have found that youth are experiencing higher anxiety levels than prior to COVID-19, and youth with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk. Medical specialty camps are a type of camp that provide opportunities for youth with chronic illnesses to share common goals, increase socialization, improve camper well-being, and increase knowledge of…

Day camps are a powerful context for youth development. The American Camp Association and Leave No Trace have been integral in supporting youth development by identifying outcomes associated with participation in outdoor recreation. Recreation majors in the programming class used the camp as a service-learning component of the class that offered…

Background: Summer camps engage millions of youth in enrichment opportunities during the summertime while employing a substantial young adult workforce to provide high-quality programs and services to camp participants. Workplace fatigue has been implicated in camp-related injury and illness events, yet few studies have targeted fatigue among camp…

4-H is the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension and has identified Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) as a national priority. Conducting STEM education during summer months for hard to reach youth can be a challenge. However, it is during summer when vulnerable students most often experience learning loss. During…

Children participating in cooking classes gain confidence in their abilities to prepare food. If children are to make informed, healthy, food ingredient and cooking method choices, they need to be equipped with these necessary skills, as well as with nutrition competence. Extension programs that incorporate nutrition and hands-on cooking can…

Many children experience summer learning loss during the summer as measured by grade-level equivalents on standardized tests. Camp-based reading programs are a promising strategy to reduce summer learning loss. Situated within a positive youth development (PYD) theoretical approach, this study explored the efficacy of a U.S. camp-based reading…

Research evidence suggests that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for children and youth. However, summertime can also be used to provide programs that support an array of goals for children and youth, including improved academic achievement, physical health, mental health, social and emotional well-being,…

Research has documented important interplays between the diagnostic characteristics of residents in group care centers and the functioning of staff teams responsible for the delivery of services. Factors that impact on the quality of working life satisfactions and frustrations are variable over time and may originate from within the team, the…

This article examines the unfolding of experiences in youth programs that differed in the degree of youth and adult influence over program activities. In-depth qualitative data were obtained over a three- to four-month cycle of activities in two "youth-driven" and two "adult-driven" programs for high-school-aged youth. All had been identified as…

Organized camping for youth and adults has demonstrated economic benefits for many communities. A questionnaire was sent to various agencies and private individuals to collect information on the economic feasibility of organized camps. The data indicated that 300 organized camps in Wisconsin contributed approximately $51 million to the state's…