Confidence. Junior Maine Guides  – those certified decades ago, as well as more recent candidates –  agree that the outdoor living program, which culminates in a rigorous five-day outdoor test encampment, gave them confidence. And not just in the woods. During the program’s nearly 80-year history, more than 2600 youngsters aged 14 to 18 have been certified as JMGs. Co-sponsored by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Maine Summer Camps (a non-profit organization with 125 Maine camp members), the program builds that confidence by teaching participants outdoor living skills across the board: canoeing, wielding an axe, building shelter and fire, using a compass, and many others.  But certification goes beyond that, JMGs say. “It shaped me,” says...

Every summer, deep in the woods of the Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve in Oquossoc, Maine, as many as 75 teenagers gather for a five-day encampment with one goal in mind: to become certified as Junior Maine Guides. From paddling a canoe to wielding an axe to cooking over an open fire, these candidates demonstrate their skills to a panel of testers – many of whom received the JMG certification as youngsters themselves.

“Camps take place in beautiful natural areas. It’s one of the great treasures of camp.” Setting, however, is just the starting point for helping kids learn to love their environment, says Jessica Decke, summer camp director of Tanglewood 4-H Camp in Lincolnville. Decke and other camp directors agree that camp offers an ideal opportunity for youngsters to appreciate the natural world in the moment, and also develop a spirit of stewardship that can last a lifetime. “Kids are really drawn in and really concerned by what’s happening to the planet,” says Garth Altenburg, director of Chewonki Camp for Boys in Wiscasset. Camp offers the chance for first-hand participation in taking care of that planet. “It applies to the majority of...

No Facebook. No Twitter. No email. No technology at all. For many kids who attend summer camp in Maine, cell phones and other devices are not part of the picture. That, according to Matt Pines, director of Maine Teen Camp in Porter, is a game-changer. Pines, whose co-ed camp caters strictly to teenagers, cites a number of benefits to getting away from screens. Benefits that carry over to non-camp life. The first, he says, is sleep. Kids who get away from the artificial light of their phones and computers before bedtime fall back into a natural sleep cycle, Pines says. The result can be nine hours of sleep instead of six. “Getting consistent sleep is a massive health benefit,” Pines...

Teamwork. Communication. Collaboration. Responsibility. All buzzwords for a good resume. And though the work may take place under the summer sun, camp administrators say camp counselors do it all. Being a counselor is supposed to be fun, and counselors may wear shorts and flip-flops, but their roles and responsibilities really do set them apart.

Maine camps are steeped in history and nature, values we fear we are losing today. Children from all over the country have been coming to camp in Maine since the late nineteenth century. While Victorian parents may not have been desperate to unglue their children’s eyes from a tiny, all-compelling screen, there has always been a sense of the green world away, a place lost to us in our civilized state (which we of course do not want to give up entirely). Sending your child to Maine is like sending them into the best parts of the wilderness.

Childhood lasts only a dozen or so precious years, a time of learning, growing, play and seminal experiences that will shape the course of a life. Each year of childhood is divided into two times: the school year and summer vacation. And while the school year is crisp and crackling with possibility, books with unbent spines, shiny shoes, and maps of the world, the summertime is magic. Summers are when real discovery happens, when children may run, and swim, and climb all day outside under a warm sun until late in the evening. It is a time to explore, create, and be free in a way that we chase forever after it ends. The months of June, July, and August...

For each child, the ideal camp. We strive to ensure every camper has the absolute best summer, and one of the ways to do this is matching the kid with the most perfect place, where they will thrive, be challenged and where they will find kindred spirits and lifelong friends. Above all, we want campers to be comfortable, physically and emotionally. Consider amenities as well as activities. Will your child be content sleeping away from home for weeks? Or is a day camp right this year? Coed or single gender? Is your independent child looking to curate their own experience by choosing a “major” and outlining a program of recreation? Or do you have a free spirit happier to go...

Can you imagine going one day without consulting the internet for some kind of information? Whether it’s social, business, casual research, or idly passing time, we all seem to be constantly connected to and reliant on our devices these days. Our children have never known a world without the web. Without total access to all the world’s collected knowledge, all the media, all of their friends at their fingertips all the time. What if we could give them a summer without Siri? Removed from the digital age, more connected to the tangible, is it a step back in time that needs exploring? Is there any value in returning to a simpler way of life? What might they learn if they...

So, your camper comes home on a high, talking about games and names and songs you’ve never heard of before. This is a new kid! A happy, silly, twigs in her hair, kid who wants to teach you about scat and astronomy. That elation lasts long enough for all the laundry to get done and put away, their favorite television shows binge-watched and best-loved home cooked meals enjoyed. Then you have on your hands what’s known as the camp-sick sulker. And you still have a few weeks of summer to fill! What’s a dedicated parent to do to keep everybody sane and happy before school begins? Take some tips from us and extend the camp lifestyle into your own.