Every kid should take a week or two at a sleep-away camp to get them off the couch, away from the Wi-Fi, and detached from their cell phones in favor of hiking, swimming, and exploring the great outdoors. Across the country and around the world there are camps that focus on getting kids in touch with Mother Nature — from working in gardens that provide the camps with food to taking daily walks to look for different plants and animals — so that they come back more in touch with their environmental side than ever.

Benefits of Environmental Camps for Children

Children get other benefits from an environmental camp, since they are also an opportunity for an ecotourism learning experience. Here are some of these ecotourism benefits that come with an environmental camping experience:

Instruction about indigenous wildlife –– offers small group tours that allow for up-close-and-personal views of nature, which are generally led by a naturalist. Theses trained leaders bring the education of plants, birds, insects and animals and their relationships to ecosystems alive.

Increased awareness about environmental degradation – an important component of ecotourism is to inform tourists about ways to minimize waste, soil erosion, air, and water pollution

Involvement with conservation efforts – ecotourism allows for a deeper knowledge of the fragility of the natural world.

Focus on the depletion of natural resources – ecotourism teaches how an eco-lodge harnessed solar or wind power for renewable bio-energy to power engines.

Exposure to cultural experiences – ecotourism interprets cultural traditions and experiences that provide long-lasting impressions about the world.

Inspiration for a life’s passion – ecotourism sparks the imagination to dream about a career or even find a solution to an environmental problem.

Many camps to choose from: 

You are bound to find the right camp from the following articles’ comprehensive range of camp types and locations.

GoGreenTravel – Amy Whitley’s article “10 Best Environmental Summer Camps for Kids” reviews a variety of camp options for all ages that help children gain an understanding of nature conservation programs; an understanding of ecology and green living that they can carry into adulthood; and an immersion into Eco-friendly practices that instill a life long love of the outdoors

MotherNatureNetwork “15 Green summer camps” covers camps offerings for a few hours to a few weeks. Each camp experience helps kids learn how to live green, appreciate the planet, and have fun outdoors.

Best of luck in finding the right camp

If you do, your children may come home singing like these animals.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVM5xXbUOtY[/youtube]

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