By David Cucchiara
Communications & Program Associate
Every summer, something distinctly radical happens in Morris County and throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of American kids leave home for a few weeks and become, briefly, someone else. The shy kid becomes a cabin leader. The kid afraid of swimming dons a life jacket and steps into a canoe. The one who has never played organized sports gets picked first for “capture the flag.” Then September arrives, camp ends, and everyone slips back into routines, friend groups, and classrooms.
Social historians have argued that this is precisely the point of this uniquely American institution. In the book “Children’s Nature: The Rise of the Summer Camp,” author Leslie Paris argues that summer camp works not because fresh air, conifer trees, and social interaction are inherently good for children — though, of course, they are — but because camp functions as a kind of sealed, temporary dominion, an organic “laboratory” where identity can be tried on and shed without real lasting consequence. Three features make this laboratory work: bounded time; removal from parents, permanent classmates, and the reputations kids may build over a school year; and low stakes with real consequences. Campers fail, embarrass themselves, and get cut from a team, but the record doesn’t follow them home.
If we are to believe Paris’s thesis is correct, then we should measure a good camp by the way its structure protects that confined, low-stakes experience. Three of the organizations the F. M. Kirby Foundation partners with in Morris County — Madison Area YMCA, Scouting America’s Patriots’ Path Council, and Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey — run their own version of this seasonal experiment.
Madison Area YMCA’s Quest Camps, held at Drew University, the F. M. Kirby Children’s Center, and the Family Center, put the bounded, low-stakes design on full display. Campers from preschool through grade 9 progress through camp under a simple banner, “Unplugged. Connected.,” trading phones and the everyday structure of life for a summer (or a week, depending on the program selected) of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) projects, field games, and face-to-face friendship-building. A camper who’s quiet in class can be the one leading a scavenger hunt team by Wednesday, with no grade attached to the outcome.
“Quest Camps give children the freedom to discover new interests, take healthy risks, and see themselves in new ways. Summer camp can spark something remarkable in a child, whether it is a new passion, a sense of belonging, or the confidence to try something they never thought possible,” said Finola Colon, Senior Director, SACC, Camp, Teen & Family. “Our role at the YMCA is to keep that spark alive. Through our year-round programs for children from preschool through Grade 9, we continue to nurture the confidence, curiosity, friendships, and resilience that begin at camp, helping young people carry those discoveries with them as they grow.”
Not far away, Scouting America’s Patriots’ Path Council runs Camp Somers and Camp Winnebago, its resident and day camps at Mt. Allamuchy and Winnebago Scout Reservations, respectively. Scouts spend a week or more earning merit badges, camping with their troop, or showing up solo as provisional campers. The experience is instructive in nature. A Scout can fail a knot-tying test on Tuesday and pass it by Friday, can lead a patrol for a week without that authority becoming permanent, can try a specialty like archery or wilderness survival with nothing at stake beyond the week itself.
“The greatest return on the F. M. Kirby Foundation’s investment isn’t measured in dollars, it’s measured in the confidence, character, and leadership we see growing in every Scout who benefits from their generosity,” said Joe Gonella, Chief Development Officer at the Patriots’ Path Council.
The program combines classic outdoor skills—hiking historic trails up to 18 miles, waterfront swimming and sailing, archery and shotgun ranges, and a working blacksmith forge—with newer additions like a STEM engineering area, zip lines over the pond, and a water trampoline and slide. Much of the week centers on merit badge work, rounded out by activities such as camp-wide games, a water carnival, and stargazing with ecology staff.
Like the Patriot’s Path Council experience, the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey’s Jockey Hollow and Lake Rickabear camps, newly open this year to rising kindergartners, offer sessions built around shifting weekly themes like “Galactic Girls” and “Mythical Quests,” paired with horseback riding, ziplining, and badge work. The rotating themes serve as a mechanism of their version of the “laboratory.” A camper can be an astronaut in July and a wilderness explorer in August, each identity fully resolved by summer’s end and none of them fixed.
“Every camper’s journey is unique because Jockey Hollow Camp and Lake Rickabear camp offer something for everyone,” said Shannon Cornine, Director of the Jockey Hollow Camp. “Whether she’s discovering a new passion, building lifelong friendships, or finding the confidence to try something she’s never done before, every girl has the opportunity to grow in her own way. Camp is a place where every camper feels welcomed, valued, and encouraged to be her authentic self.”
The camp breaks down activities by age with the youngest group (Summer Explorers, grades K-3) getting a gentler version of camp: an intro archery with foam or suction-cup arrows, pedal boating, a scooter track, sandcastle building, arts and crafts, swim lessons, etc. Older girls (Summer Adventurers, grades 4-9) get the fuller version: real archery, ziplining, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, a low-ropes challenge course, tennis, campfire cooking, and hikes into Jockey Hollow’s Revolutionary War historical park. Both age bands share that traditional camp experience and offer optional overnight add-ons (“Starlight Overnights”), letting a day-camp family ease a kid into the deeper end of the “away from home” experience.
As we continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country, and the progression of technology begins to supplant traditional summer camp experiences, it’s more important than ever to protect these vital institutions. Summer camp is more than simply a way to stay engaged over the summer break. It’s a restorative experience that allows kids to fail safely, try on new selves, and grow into a truer form of themselves.
