According to varied research, summer camps can be incredibly beneficial for kids. We caught up with ESM Holiday Camps to learn more about the sports and creative opportunities they offer kids within a safe and supervised environment.

What qualifies ESM to talk about why camp is good for kids?
An average of 3,000+ children have attended ESM Holiday Camps each year for over a decade. While that is a lot of young minds absorbing the benefits of their holiday camp experiences, that’s even more parents witnessing growth and development in their kids.
If you have young children, you might think sending them to a camp to play, have fun, learn, interact, etc. isn’t much different from a school experience, right? Well, truth be told, there are many benefits exclusive to the holiday camp experience.

Why is holiday camp important?
Holiday camp is important because it offers a structured programme for children to grow. Kids go from home to school to extracurricular activities, with each environment contributing to their development. Holiday camp, then, is another unique venue for growth, allowing kids to become independent and self-confident, while socialising and making new friends, and learning new skills. Students often attend school year after year with the same kids, which can lead to labelling and being ‘stuck’ with a perception. A child may become known as studious, quiet, etc., when, really, he or she can be boisterous in another setting. Children who attend our holiday camps meet new groups of their peers in a different environment.

Here are some great reasons why you should consider a holiday camp:

Camp allows for a deep dive into new skills.

Think about giving your child a week or more to be immersed in a multi-activity camp, focusing on sports, arts and crafts, dance, drama, quizzes, team building and so on. This will help your child to really get out of their comfort zone to take some risks with their skills, without the looming fear of failure and resulting repercussions.

Camp helps with mental stimulation and physical activity.

We are familiar with ‘school break learning loss’ or ‘summer brain drain’ but many parents also feel that their kids don’t get enough activity during the summer months in the UAE. Camp can get kids going, both mentally and physically. Camp will also encourage kids to get off couches and into activities that can increase their quality of life.

Camp allows confidence to be reinforced by success.

Your child might have never played tennis before, or perhaps they’ve played tennis but have never attempted an overhead serve. Getting out on the court and learning to play tennis, or even putting together a sequence of shots, will boost their confidence. It might just compel them to try out for the school tennis team… and then who knows what they will become.

Camp helps develop social skills.

During camp children are taught to communicate, to work together as part of a team and to be leaders. Leadership is developed by asking campers to fulfill responsibilities that may not be expected of them elsewhere, while sharing resources and attention helps foster teamwork and the desire to participate.

Camp is fun and entertaining.

While holiday camp encourages your child to develop all-round resilience, new friendships, confidence, independence, and
a sense of belonging, they learn to do so while having fun and enjoying their free time.

ESM Holiday Camps has gone from strength to strength delivering brilliant Multi-Activity Camps and establishing itself as the leading holiday camp provider for children aged 4-14 in the UAE. It has developed a strong reputation by constantly focusing on what parents and children want by creating a safe camp environment which encourages children to thrive, learn, and develop while making friends
and having fun.