Camp Kupugani Blog
4 Ways to Live a Happy Life
At our midwest summer camp, we always try to encourage healthy living. An article from the folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree offers a few good tips. Summary below, with the whole article at the link at the bottom. Here are the different happy lives: The Pleasant Life: PLEASURE GOOD. PAIN BAD. Schedule more fun. The Good Life: Do what you’re good at and go as far down that rabbit hole of “flow” as you can, Alice. The Meaningful Life: The Good Life + helps others. The Full […]
How Much Freedom Should You Give Middle School Kids?
It’s hard to know how much independence to give middle school kids. Because they don’t mature in a linear way—it often feels like two steps forward, one step back—your tween may be perfectly competent at an independent task one day, and a ball of tears the next. Keep trying. Just because your child wasn’t ready on Monday doesn’t mean he won’t be on Friday. Of course, sometimes your tween is overconfident to a fault. Your daughter promises she won’t lose that phone she’s been begging for, but she can’t even […]
4 Easy Rituals to Relieve Stress
At our summer camp near Chicago, we continually try to improve how we can live healthy lives and treat ourselves well, so as to positively influence our campers and ourselves. An article from the folks at Barking Up the Wrong Tree offers a few good stress-relief tips. Summary below, with the whole article at the link at the bottom. Clench your facial muscles and relax them Take slow, deep breaths Splash your face with cold water Play some music and do a little dance New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Easy Rituals […]
Why Children Make Great Role Models
Check out this article by Denise Fournier Ph.D. on PsychologyToday.com to hear why children make great role models. A role model is someone we admire and wish to emulate; someone after whom we want to model our lives in some way. When we choose our role models, we tend to choose people who are older than us or have more life experience. We look to people like our parents; our bosses; or people deemed successful by society’s standards, like world leaders, entrepreneurs, celebrities, or famous athletes. But who says role models have […]
What Makes Families Resilient?
Is your family resilient? What are the things you and your family can do to be more resilient? Marianna Pogosyan, Ph.D. shares her expertise and insight in this article from PsychologyToday.com. Family resilience has been defined as the family’s ability to “withstand and rebound from disruptive life challenges, strengthened and more resourceful” (Walsh, 2011, p 149). From decades of research and clinical experience, Dr. Froma Walsh, one of the leading authorities on family resilience, has identified nine processes around the beliefs, organization, and communication of families that can shape their response to adversity. Family resilience, […]
5 Reasons to Avoid Sending Your Child to Camp Kupugani
(1) Your child will probably engage in gleeful repetitive renditions of camp songs for up to 4-6 weeks after camp. You may be tempted to sing along, stomping hands and feet, and potentially violate social norms of your work, home, or other community. (2) Your child might repeatedly admonish you on how and why to use “I statements” to resolve conflicts. (3) Your child might publicly admonish you for leaving food waste on your plate or littering. (4) Your child might be overzealous about their newfound independence after camp. (5) […]
Fun Fall Activities for Kids
As the weather gets cooler and the leaves begin to change color, it’s time to start thinking about how you can help your kids get outdoors and take advantage of all that this amazing season has to offer. Here are 101 fun fall activities for kids: Visit an apple orchard. Make apple crisp. Build a scarecrow stuffed with newspaper. Have an apple cider “tea” party. Bake apple chips. Make an apple stamp. Bob for apples. Make handprint leaves. Jump into a leaf pile. Paint wooden crafts. Make popcorn balls. Create leaf rubbings. Stuff leaves […]
Why Do Teenagers Lie? And What’s a Parent to Do?
Of the many battles to contend with when raising teens, lying can be the most frustrating and debilitating for parents. Thoughts swirl in your head, Why do teenagers lie? Will my teenager always be a liar? Where did my teenager learn this dishonest habit? You might also wonder how to stop your teenager from lying, while feeling deeply frustrated that your teenager continues to lie even though you know they’re not telling you the truth. These feelings are totally normal, but not necessarily helpful when it comes to changing your teenager’s behavior. As difficult as it may seem […]
Dare to Embrace Difference
I hope that you are well, or as well as you can be during these tumultuous times. Depending on your worldview, you might be considering what to do in response to the what you see in the larger world—to defend rights, to counter hateful rhetoric, to rebuild movements and momentum for positive change. I ask that you support Kupugani and our mission to continue to create a version of the world that we want to see—where issues of difference can be celebrated, and our commonalities can be recognized and appreciated. […]
Are You Culturally Competent? Do You Want to Be?
Given the historic levels of what some have deemed a “cultural crisis” in this nation, perhaps now’s as good a time as any to challenge yourself with our cultural competence quiz. Are you culturally competent? (Do you want to be?) Are You Culturally Competent? Find Out Here
Ways Technology Influences Your Child’s Behavior
At our Midwest summer camp, we minimize electronics during camp sessions, to empower our campers to maximize their social development. A recent blog from the good folks at Intelligence for your Life, underscored how electronics influence children’s behavior. Bullets below, with the whole piece available at this link. Developmental psychiatrist Dr. Sara Konrath says that kids today consume three times more screen-based media than they did 50 years ago. They also score 40 percent lower on tests that measure empathy and compassion for others. Videogames are especially harmful because the […]
Where Has the Summer Gone?
Now that summer is officially drawing to a close, let’s take a stroll back through memory lane. We had a wonderful and fun-filled 8 weeks with our boys- and girls-only camps and the ever-growing blended camp. We had campers who: conquered their fears on a 60-foot limestone rock wall, crate stacked 21 milk crates, dam jumped, slept under the stars and peed in the woods. During the Kupu-Olympics, the red and blue teams competed in the three-legged race, gaga, potato sack race, and canoe relay, and somehow they tied every […]
