Camp Kupugani Frequently Asked Questions – Parents

Our registration process is simple and fast. You can apply by doing one of the following:

• Online Application
• Call our office at 1-815-713-4110 and we’ll take care of your enrollment over the phone. Telephone enrollment requires a credit card to secure the space.

Enrollment is ongoing. Because space is limited, it is best to enroll as early as you can to ensure a space for your child.

When there is more than one child in a family, you should also consider whether it’s better for them to attend camp together, or to be able to have their own individual camp experience (more on that, at this link).

Whether they attend the same or different sessions, there is a 10% cumulative discount per additional sibling (i.e. sib 1 = 10% off; sib 2 = 20% off, etc.)

A good progression for determining “readiness” is to start first with sleepovers at relative’s houses, then sleepovers at non-relatives (i.e. school or neighborhood friends). When the child (and parents) are comfortable with that, then it’s time for camp!

There can and should still be some nervousness since that’s a normal part of growth. Also, the more the child can be involved in the decision-making process and reviewing information, the better. Checking out camp videos and pictures, or visiting the camp and seeing what the facilities are like, are all beneficial to a would-be campers’ readiness and confidence. 

Your child, as a first-time camper, need not come with a friend; it can often be more beneficial to their growth to come “alone.” We help new campers feel comfortable in a variety of ways including intentionality regarding camper groups, fostering a welcoming culture, exposing children to difference, embracing flexibility, and just plain having fun!

Many aspects of our camp help our first-year campers acclimate quickly. We are highly intentional when creating our different groups (cabins, teams, and tables), distributing new and returning campers throughout. As a growing camp, we have critical masses of both returners and first-timers to maintain roughly even ratios. Having regular connections with three different groups maximizes each camper’s potential of connecting with a variety of friends. The intentional groupings help our new campers feel connected very quickly.

Our camp culture generally helps new campers feel welcome. We emphasize a “cool to be kind” vibe (as opposed to what can sometimes happen in schools or other youth-serving environments, where it is sometimes cool to be cruel). Upon arrival, campers are greeted vociferously whether they have attended camp not at all, or for multiple years. No camper feels left out. Returning campers proudly play a part in the process; returners are responsible to help new campers. Returners have appreciated our culture of kindness and like to make new campers as comfortable as they did their first summer. Children love the positive, supportive attention of peers. New campers also get immediately acclimated to camp during an opening day tour. Nothing better than to know where everything is right away!

Our high camper return rate (of around 60%, which is high for a non-summer-long program) helps our traditions continue year after year. Having a critical mass of returners helps our new campers feel welcome because they have peers helping them. And, because we keep growing, our 60% returner rate actually gives us about a 50/50 new to returner ratio. Returning campers are quick to bring new campers into the positive camp culture.

We embrace the flexibility of new campers by allowing them to do all activities, regardless of prior camp experience. If a new camper wants to lead a song before a meal, we welcome, assist and support them.

Overall, we empower each camper to find their voice and overcome challenges. Helping children find their voice helps them feel like they belong. Each camper is challenged to try new things; when children find something they are good at at camp, it helps them to expand that feeling of competence to other aspects of life.

Children have only one chance to be young; we enjoy giving them the opportunity to make the most of it. Being a part of our community gives campers a feeling of belonging that helps them look forward to returning to camp each year, rekindling previous friendships and making new ones. We love when first-year campers leave camp feeling like they have become part of our Kupugani family.

Check out this useful quiz: Is Your Child Ready for Sleepaway Camp?

It can sometimes feel daunting sending your “baby” away for the first time. But just like when you first sent them off to school or on a bike for the first time by themselves, summer camp can be a critical character development. For more help about considering a first-time camp experience, check out:

• Eight Reasons Why Your 7-10 Year-Old is Probably Ready for Camp…Even If You Aren’t!
• 10 Questions to Determine Whether Your Child is Ready for Sleepaway Camp; 
• 10 Questions to Help Determine Whether You’re Ready to Send Your Child to Camp; 
• How I Cured My Anxiety About Sending My Child to Camp (from a real parent!); 
• Encouraging Independence So Children Can Thrive; 
• Why It Can Seem Irrational for a Parent Without Camp Experience to Send a Child to Camp…and Why That Parent Should Anyway;
• When You Should NOT Send Your Child to Camp.
• Check out our quizzes!

If you need some reinforcement via camper parent references, please feel free to email us at info@campkupugani.com and we’re happy to send you a list of parents all happy to discuss their child’s Camp Kupugani experience.

The camp decision should be driven by the child; the best age is when the child is “ready,” which is typically between age 7 and 13. Camp Kupugani’s program is tailored towards children from ages seven to fifteen, and we have new campers within all of those ranges who are eager to have a great camp experience.

Eight Reasons Why Your 7-10 Year-Old is Probably Ready for Camp…Even If You Aren’t!

I should consider a single-gender camp for my child if….

• Do I want my child to be in an environment free of inter-gender social pressures?
• Is my child significantly more comfortable with friends of the same gender?
• Is modeling to my child that there is no one way to be a boy or a girl important?
• Is it important to empower my child to explore gender-specific issues?
• Does my child need a place outside of the home to talk about gender-specific issues?
• Does my child need help with empowerment against gender-based stereotypes?
• Does my girl need a girl-power rich environment?

I should consider blended camp for my child if…

• Do I want my child to work on positive intergender relationships?
• Is debunking stereotypical gender roles important?
• Is it important to have a family feeling (within a mixed-gender community)?
• Is normalizing play with different genders important?
• Is it important to model for my child that intergender relationships do not have to be sexualized?
• Do I want my child to learn important perspectives from a different gender?
• Is emphasizing person first and gender second an important concept?

The choice of camp can depend on a few factors. Our single-gender camps allow us to focus more on certain gender-specific needs and development. Our blended camps empower children to be the best version of themselves while working with a different gender. You can also consider whether your camper has mainly friends of one gender; and if so, do you want to safely encourage more interaction with whomever they don’t interact a lot?  

Benefits of the single-gender camps include:

• More intentionality on empowering that specific gender
• More intensity of relationships
• More emphasis on no one way to be a member of that gender
  • Addressing and combating gender-based stereotypes
• Relief of intergender social pressures
  • Freedom to express themselves without the social or relational pressure of the presence of the other gender
  • Potential to discuss topics more freely than they might be given in the presence of the other gender
• Specifically for the girls-only camp, there is more of a “girl power” vibe

Having a girls-only program allows us to address issues specific to girls and women. We follow a philosophy grounded in experiential education literature on girls’ programs. One study from the Journal of Adventure Recreation and Education (2011) shows that girls have more opportunities to “be themselves” without having to impress campers of the opposite sex. In co-ed settings, girls (and women) tend to act differently when boys are around—reducing the girls’ skill-building opportunities. Without distractions, girls can be more comfortable, focused and establish more meaningful relationships. They feel supported and safe, without experiencing the pressure and competition that might exist in a co-ed camp. Girls are willing to try new things and develop positive relationships. The key is to create an intentional environment that focuses on girls’ strengths (Whittington, Mack, Budbill, McKenney). In keeping with these types of intentional practices, we provide space where girls can be girls—free from the self-consciousness that might happen say at school, other social settings, or at a co-ed camp. Our girls are willing to try new things like dam jumping and rock climbing and develop positive relationships with other girls in their cabin groups and teams. Our girls get to concentrate on skill-building, personal growth, and having fun changing their world!

Combining structured programming and purposeful free time in a supportive and comfortable community, we intentionally create an environment that focuses on girls’ strengths. We provide young women with a place to question cultural standards and increase opportunities for them to gain leadership skills. We include intentional relationship-building activities, teach communication and conflict resolution skills, and provide strong adult leadership from counselors selected from hundreds of applicants. Our talented counselor-facilitators are always attuned to the ever-evolving dynamics of our campers. In our all-girls camp, we’re able to challenge the girls both physically and emotionally, yet enhance their safety. If you are an intentional parent, you will appreciate that we continue the socially progressive lessons you seek for your daughter to empower herself and thrive! To watch our webinar with 10 tips to empower girls, click here!

Benefits of the blended camp include:

• Addressing and combating stereotypical inter-gender dynamics
  • i.e. Day of the Queen Bees, where “traditional” roles are flipped
  • Ensuring every camper has an equal voice regardless of gender
• Increased “family” dynamics due to a higher percentage of “real-life” siblings
• Modeling from staff and fellow campers on positive intergender relationships
  • Normalizing interactions with the other gender
• Fostering learning from the other gender
  • Because boys and girls often deal with disagreements differently (with boys generally more likely to focus on rules, and girls generally more interested in talking through a conflict), campers maximize being well-rounded

For campers and families who prefer to have girls and boys at camp at the same time, we offer separate blended camp sessions. As noted above, much research shows the benefits of single-sex environments on a child’s confidence, self-esteem, social, and personal development. However, psychologist Marjan Madison contends that while these types of environments offer many benefits, they can put certain children at a disadvantage when learning to apply these skills to real-life situations. Kupugani’s blended session offers the best of both worlds. We provide the same safe and supportive environment that fosters growth and development while giving campers an opportunity to utilize their newfound confidence in a safe place that more closely mirrors the experiences they may have in everyday life.

Maybe the question should be: How can I not? There is immeasurable value to a dollar spent on a good camp experience-it develops the whole person via a comprehensive social and experiential education. The campers’ empowerment as they realize that they can become powerful, independent young people is priceless. The value of making a variety of lifelong friends from different countries, backgrounds, cultures, and religions is incomparable.

The camper (and parent) comfort level given a supportive environment with the campers guided by professionally trained counselors of astounding character, within beautiful natural facilities, is without parallel. Camp provides learning that can’t be experienced elsewhere, like schools, where there is a narrow academic focus. One can appreciate the value associated with good schools; however, the growth experienced there often doesn’t compare to the growth occurring in just days or weeks at camp.

An intentional camp experience provides wholesome, guided and nurtured opportunities to make sincere friends and to respect others; we emphasize caring, respectful, guided socialization. Our camp professionals facilitate interpersonal dealings. Counselor-camper guidance is consistent and practiced daily; the counselors are specifically trained around social issues, and have both the time and supportive atmosphere to do it well. We give children new perspectives on what daily life and an empowering community can be like for them. They can see that–unlike the pressures that can surround the school environment–all of life is not relentless competition; there can be multiple forms of achievement and popularity among peers.

Caregivers must be mindful around expenses like a camp experience, as with anything that you choose to have your child participate in. So we are sure to provide good value. What price can you put on your child developing a lifelong friend? How much is it worth to for your child to dam jump, rock climb, river walk, or sleep under the stars–to challenge themselves physically and mentally to do things that they haven’t done before? What price is sufficient for your child to be mentored by someone dedicated to supporting and empowering them? (That said, we do have financial aid available for families unable to afford the full tuition).

Here’s more on the return on investment discussing the value of a Camp Kupugani experience.

We’re absolutely happy to welcome friends to our Kupugani community! Click here to send us an email with your name, their name, their address, their phone number and the names and ages of their children. We’ll send out a packet, which includes all of our current information. If your friend enrolls their child in camp, you’ll receive a 5% tuition credit per enrolled camper. If there’s not a friend available though, it can often be a more empowering experience; check out our blog entry for 5 Ways to Emphasize Why Your Child Can Go to Camp For the First Time on Their Own, and another camp director perspective describing the benefits of To Camp Alone.