By alumnus Isaac S. Peterson(1987-1995)
Summer Camps in Boston and Surrounding Areas of New England Have Rich Summer Programs, but William Lawrence Overnight Camp Has Experiential Learning Seasoned Heavily with Fun
There are numerous niche, academic enrichment or related camps for kids ages 5 to high school students. There’s space camp in Texas, comedy troupe camp in Kansas City, the arts classes or a puzzling Lord of the Rings-themed camp in Vermont (that appears to be gone now). Single-interest camps have always been a summer option for kids.
But those one-track camps hint at the classic struggle of raising boys: there are very few things boys want to do for a very long time. They’ll look outside at the grass and get ideas. That’s the case even if they excel at their single-activity camp.
This thirst for novelty and movement will not be a problem at William Lawrence Camp.
Lots to Do–Something Will Stick, They’ll Love It, and They’ll Gain Confidence
In the last blog about new skills and help for homesickness, we discussed the fifth cornerstone of William Lawrence: fun. In this post, we’ll talk about fun for children ages 5 to a teenager again. In this context, we’ll talk about fun tasks, hobbies, sports, projects, and challenges that snag your son, nephew or grandson’s interest like the proverbial flower to the honeybee.
The craving for novelty is common to all children, but for boys, it’s first base in their development of an interest. Once they have an interest, it can quickly become a skill.
Fun and skills? Eventually, boys mature, and novelty becomes less important. They get more abstract in their interests, yet novelty is always a pull. And as their bodies shoot up like the towering old-growth birch trees at summer camps in Boston and greater New England, anything that lets the boys swing at, jump, climb, sprint, kick, throw, build, paint, carve, sculpt, or craft will become much more fun. And that kinetic thing will become attractive to them. And eventually, one or more of these interests will become a skill.
Fun and skills: they can work together. Just like boys want to be the first to scramble up the hill, they value working as a team when needed.
Self-Confidence and The Right Kind of Creative Differences
A boy’s need to gain confidence is vital. Our last post mentioned child psychologist Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys, who researched this topic.
Many readily-available activities that appeal more to boys are quantifiable, hierarchical and structured; look at sports and video games. There’s always a score or a level. And some boys don’t reach a high level or score points. It’s a natural desire for boys to want to be better than someone else. But some popular fun ways to compete for young people and boys don’t work.
However, while American football, baseball, basketball and PlayStation might be readily available to boys–boys can also gain success in numerous other sports and interests.
And there is one of those waiting at William Lawrence Camp.
One essential thing Executive Director Nat Crane and Assistant Director Jess Paquette stress is creative differences: but the good kind and not the kind that ruin reunion albums by classic rock bands. A boy might be created for sprinting and punting a soccer ball, while another might be made for rock-climbing which he can get a feel for—in an anchored full harness and helmet—on the ropes course.
How to Build Boys’ Self-Confidence, an article by the Child Mind Institute, encourages us to think about a boy’s self esteem and attributes in an individualized way. It’s healthier than thinking or discussing their attributes in a quantifying (though every boy has a healthy desire to compete). Nat and Jessica agree, and they cultivate a program and camp that encourages variety without an overemphasis on ranking.
The variety of fun things to do at William Lawrence summer camp means a variety of boys will find something they like and are good at.
Summer Camp at William Lawrence and Traditional Team Sports
In the 80s and 90s, it was rumored throughout the camp that then-head chef Art Makechnie had tried out for the Boston Celtics. When he had a free moment to shoot hoops on the court, you could see why.
William Lawrence has hosted campers who compete at the highest levels in secondary school athletics, whether that school was nearby Phillips Exeter or an urban school in Los Angeles.
The long tradition of New England’s dominance in athletics (much to the chagrin of sports fans in the rest of the country) is embodied at William Lawrence, and it’s enriched and refined by our fourth cornerstone: sportsmanship. If your son is interested in and excels at soccer, basketball or baseball, he’ll sharpen his leadership and teamwork skills at William Lawrence Camp. The third cornerstone is comradeship.
Summer Fun Sports: Individual
If the boy works best competing on his own, William Lawrence Camp has some classic sports that focus on the individual.
The perfect example is tennis. William Lawrence has the Jessup Memorial side-by-side regulation tennis courts: good old hand-eye coordination and high-scoring matches. Any boy will feel confident when scoring three times is forty points!
Another individual sport is swimming. A historical feature of the camp is our waterfront. Swimming instruction and the whole-body, high-aerobic workout that comes with it are almost irresistible even to the fussiest of boys.
Classic Campcraft: Survivalist Skills, Canoeing, Hiking, Ropes Course and More
Suppose the boy is less concerned about the bat or the ball. In that case, he’ll still find some fun activities where he can excel, develop an interest, and submerge in the vigorous, kinetic experience of William Lawrence Camp.
Boys will explore the varied classic camp interests surrounded by the giant pines, trails and enormous grassy fields around Lower Beech Pond in Tuftonboro, New Hampshire.
The great outdoors is not only hiking a trail through rocky woods (though the many field trips your son can take for zero added cost include canoeing the historic Saco River and hiking some of New Hampshire’s Presidential Mountain Range.)
Confidence and Fun as a Summer Camp Guide
Your son, grandson or nephew will have greater confidence through fun at William Lawrence. For 110 years, WLCS has been the classic rustic camp experience in the greater Boston area for young boys to make new friends, develop leadership skills and just have good, get-your-hands-dirty (but then wash them thoroughly) summertime boy fun.
