Growing Grit at Camp Foley

We've been throwing around the word GRIT for a few years now at Camp Foley. The definition, according to Google, is: courage and resolve; strength of character and is synonymous with courage, tenacity and perseverance. Foley-GRIT is defined as: courage to take risks without fear of failure; unshakable spirit; resolve. 

At Foley campers learn to take risks, try their best, and if they fail, to try again!

In the May/June edition of the American Camp Association's Camping Magazine there was an article for camp directors about how camps can work on developing grit in their campers. The article, "Eleven Tips to Building Resilience with Campers," is a good one for camp directors AND camp parents. 

11 Tips to Building Resilience with Campers

1. The Benefits of Failure

From the article: "True competence and self-esteem develop when we face difficult challenges and realize we can find a way to get through them."

2. Encourage Effort and Improvement

3. Do All Kids Deserve Trophies?

From the article: "Campers need 'realistic' pictures of their strengths and weaknesses so they can develop truer pictures of themselves based on fact."

4. Instant Gratification Does Not Build Frustration Tolerance or Equal Accomplishment

5. True Self Esteem and Confidence

From the article: "Where does confidence come from? I bet it comes from facing difficulty and finding a way to succeed." 

6. Is Every Camper a "Superstar"?

From the article: "All children can be their own superstars if we help them find ways to feel good about themselves. We need to encourage our campers to evaluate success for themselves - not based on our ideas of what is good for them or their parents' ideas of what is good for them." 

7. Points of Contact

8. Teaching Inclusive and Not Exclusive Behavior

From the article: "Children will feel good when they stand up to do what is right and make a contribution to include others' they will feel rewarded for reaching out to be inclusive."

9. Boredom, Frustration, Disappointment, and Patience

10. Are You Ethical and Fair?

11. Encourage Positive Thinking and Optimism

From the article: "Having resilience means you are able to find a sliver of something positive even when going through the roughest times."

We strongly encourage reading the entire article online to learn how campers benefit from summer camp by growing grit and building resiliency. 

How Camp Prepares Children

Campers interact with a variety of other children to help
prepare for a successful future. 

"Ready, Set, Go: How Camp Prepares Children for Lives of Success" was published in the 2013 November/December issue of Camping Magazine. In the article, Stephen Gray Wallace, MS Ed, writes about how camps play a role in promoting "readiness" (how prepared children are to be productive and successful adults) and reducing risk (the likelihood of children to participate in risky behavior).

He says that at camp, children "build for essential pillars." These essential pillars include: Sense of Self, Rites of Passage, Positive Risk Taking and Mentoring Relationships. Read the full article on the American Camp Association's (ACA) website to see how these four pillars are linked to positive youth development, reduction in risk and overall mental health. 

Once again, the ACA is providing examples as to how "Camp Gives Kids a World of Good." We at Foley love the fact that one of the things we help promote is readiness and that we can help reduce risk.