The Roughing It Blog

As Featured in Active Kids, March 2013 Issue

We know that choosing a summer camp for your child is an important decision. There are many wonderful camps to choose from, but selecting the right one for your child and your family can be difficult. All Camps are not alike and meet many different goals but here are some

In one of our previous posts we talked about the many benefits of physical activity for children and time spent outdoors has just as many advantages for children. Apart from the fact that they are more likely to engage in healthy forms of play that will stimulate exercise, unstructured play

Academics are a crucial part of kids’ development; because of the impact on our kids’ futures and its vital element it plays in their success, we tend to overlook certain things that may seem trivial but are perhaps more deserving of our attention. Recess for example, a period of unstructured

In order for teenagers to successfully develop into well rounded adults they need a whole range of skills at their disposal to succeed on the road ahead. Perseverance, resilience and independence are all essential life skills for teens today, and finding avenues for teenagers to develop and practice these skills

Camp is a great opportunity for children to gain and practice some of the life skills teachers claim are critical to a child’s success and readiness for kindergarten.  According to teachers, independence and the ability to listen and follow multi-step directions are the areas kindergarten students struggle with most.  In

I just returned from seminar on camp accreditation and wanted to share more about this process so parents can use this information when looking for a summer camp for their child.  Although our own camp had been accredited over thirty years, it amazes me to see all that involved in

Though the idea behind practicing gratitude and being appreciative may be simple and seem inherent, kids don’t often practice it on a day-to-day basis. One of the great things about camp is that gratitude is intrinsically woven into many of the activities kids partake in. Whether it comes inadvertently with simple

Election time is a great opportunity to talk with our children about democratic decision making and look for ways they can take part in this process. Children of all ages really need to experience making decisions first hand, even at the most basic level, in their own social environments where

Play and creativity are developmentally essential for kids. Child experts agree that kids need lots of opportunities for unstructured play in their lives because this is how they learn to navigate the world and work things out on their own by establishing mastery. Creativity is key for innovation and problem

This summer I was fortunate to see two perspectives of camp as both an administrator who works at camp year round and as a new camper parent which has given me new insights into the power and true value of the camp experience.

Fall is a fantastic time for family hiking and enjoying the outdoors in the Bay Area. There are great hikes for kids that provide plenty of opportunities to see the splendors of season and spectacular trees in full array autumn colors.

It’s officially fall and back to school time! The transition of going back to school can be both exciting and challenging for many children with busy schedules, new class, new teachers, harder subjects and more homework.  Parents can help by encouraging their kids to use the skills they learned at

We dropped in on Cecilio, our grandson, when he was camping with his parents the last weekend of the summer on the Russian River. They were lighting the fire for s’mores. Cecilio said, “Granny Ann, did you know there are three types of campfires? One you start with kindling in