Easter Seals Camps for Kids
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Through Easter Seals, children and adults with disabilities can enjoy camp experiences.
camp fire image by Alexey Duel from Fotolia.com
Easter Seals assists people with physical and mental disabilities and challenges through programs of rehabilitation, recreation and support services. Regional Easter Seals chapters operate throughout the United States. Each chapter runs activities for disabled children and adults in its area. Many chapters operate camps for the individuals and families they serve.
Camp Experience
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Easter Seals chapters offer camps that emphasize things that people with challenges can do--playing ball, boating, singing, arts and crafts, swimming, taking part in evening bonfires and so on. Each Easter Seals camp aims to provide a safe, barrier-free environment for both adults and children to experience a fun-filled camp with as few limitations as possible.
Camp Options
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Easter Seals offers numerous camp options. Individuals and families may investigate both day camps and residential camps. Easter Seals residential programs run during the summer for 12 weeks and include campers age 5 and older with any type of disability. The summer day camp program operates for children ages 4 to 12 and provides an inclusive environment that mainstreams youngsters with disabilities with children who do not have identified disabilities. In addition, Easter Seals runs after-school and weekend programs in many locations. Hours, activities, eligibility, requirements, duration, transportation, availability and tuition vary, depending on the chapter that runs the camp.
Staffing
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Easter Seals camp staff includes counselors, registered nurses, a recreation manager, volunteers and medication managers. These staff members undergo extensive training before camp begins. They obtain CPR certification and receive specialized instruction from Easter Seals experts.
Weekend Trip Camps for Teens
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Teens with disabilities may join Easter Seals weekend trip camps. The teens travel together to various destinations and stay in campgrounds, hotels or other locations. During their trips they visit areas that, because of their challenges, they might not otherwise have an opportunity to see. The trips allow campers to see themselves as independent and capable individuals and, as Shelly Jordan, director of annual giving at Easter Seals Iowa, says, "see themselves in a new light."
Find a Camp
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Families who want to find an Easter Seals camp can insert their ZIP code on the "Interested in camp?" box on the Easter Seals Camp website at easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_camp. The site will point the family to the nearest Easter Seals camp resource.
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- Photo Credit camp fire image by Alexey Duel from Fotolia.com
