The Roughing It Blog

Parents Closing Circle!

Today we welcomed our wonderful camper families to camp for Parents Closing Circle! Camper groups have worked hard all week getting ready to perform songs and skits for all of their loved ones. We were so impressed with all of the creativity that the campers showed this session. Parents Closing

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Creative Campers at Roughing It

Week two of camp has been a blast! This week is creativity week at Roughing It, and boy are our campers showing off their creativity! Campers are working on life skills such as creative problem solving, positive participation, and group and individual responsibility. On Thursday, we enjoyed seeing all of

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Welcome Back for Session 2!

We are so excited to welcome back all of our returning campers for session two, and would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new campers as well!  All of our new camper groups are off to a great start, coming up with their group names and

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Aloha From Roughing It!

This week at Roughing It is our last week of session one, and was camp spirit and community week. Campers focused on team building, communication, making friendship ties and keeping them, saying farewells, and closure. On Wednesday, we celebrated Hawaiian Day, one of our many dress up days at camp.

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Session One Farwell Song From Staff

Today was the last day of session one! We want to thank everyone for an amazing first session! We hope that you all had a great session with us, and we hope to see you back soon! During our final closing circle, the Roughing It staff performed a song for

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Captain Caboodle’s Day at Camp!

Hey, it’s me – CAPTAIN CABOODLE! I loved visiting camp today and getting to say hi to all of my favorite Roughing It campers! I can’t wait to stop by again soon! Be sure to keep checking in at Camper Caboodle for photos and news from camp! Share your favorite

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Eco-Week Excitement!

This week at Roughing It is Eco-Week! Campers learn life skills like outdoor survival skills, group challenges (where everyone survives!) respecting the environment, minimum impact, making a contribution, taking action, and positive participation. All of our campers participated in Ranger Rachel’s non-natural nature challenge, where campers competed to see which

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Welcome to Roughing It!

Welcome to the first week of camp! We have been having an absolute blast at Roughing It. This week was friendship week, where campers worked on getting to know the other members of their group and making new friends. During the first week of camp, camper groups bond by creating

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Making Camp an Investment in Your Child

Todd Kestin recently wrote in the Huffington Post encouraging parents to approach summer camp planning in a new way. He advocated that camp be considered as being an equal part of the great investment equation that parents make when thinking about matters most in their child’s future. Investment in a great summer

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The Founding of Roughing It Day Camp

I am often asked how we came up with the idea of Roughing It, so let me take a few minutes to share with you my remembrance as to how it all happened. It’s been a great ride and I have been blessed to have been able to learn from

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Spending Time Outdoors Makes Kids Smarter:  3 Facts, 1 Conclusion

Every parent wishes for their child to succeed in school and this “success” for many families is heavily influenced by academics first. Doing well in school, getting good grades, enrolling in advanced courses, continually acquiring more knowledge and being “smart” is often top priority for parents and therefore the focus

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all! Wishing all our campers, camper parents, alumni and of course all our staff a day full of love and joy! If you didn’t already see our Valentine’s video message be sure to check it out! 

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Six Great Ways to Get Ready for Camp

The start of the camp seson is just around the corner! This can be an exciting time for kids and parents. When choosing a camp there is a lot to consider and many ways to educate yourself about camp and prepare your child for the camp they will be attending

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Huffington Post: Benefits of Camp

The Huffington Post recently published an article about the differnet ways that http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-kestin/whats-needed-to-prepare-your-child-for-the-future_b_3777547.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

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Teaching the Spirit of Giving

With the holiday season upon us it’s an important time to allow kids to take time and reflect on the things they have been provided. December is a great time to provide gifts to family and friends and bring people closer together, bu it’s also an opportunity to teach the

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CILT Service Project – Camp Sizanani

The CILTs, Campers In Leadership Training, spend their days at camp enjoying camp activities while developing valuable leadership skills by aiding younger campers and extending their own camp knowledge to those around them. As leaders in their camp community, they took their service role and extended it beyond our own

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How to Teach Children About the Spirit of Giving

The holidays are a great time to teach children about the Spirit of Giving.  This season is known for being a time when families come in out of the cold to eat food together, and many suburban children rarely see people who are homeless, hungry, or without adequate warm clothing.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Roughing It!  We are grateful to all of you for helping us create the Roughing It spirit and camp memories we’ve shared over the years.  

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