Summer Camp Play

Like Henig, I am uncertain of the benefits of play. However, when I worked at a summer camp this year, I was assured that there are benefits. Having a variety of campers with mental and emotional disorders, the campers in my group were very sensitive to each other's energies. If even one person got rambunctious, the whole group would start screaming and tossing pieces of clay in the air. To avoid this, we began to have dance parties in classrooms, incorporate songs into work time, and take breaks to play "Big Booty." This playtime greatly improved my campers' attitudes. They would have more fun and be more productive because they weren't affected by or creating a group-wide temper tantrum. My happiest memory from this past summer is when my campers were building robots and laughing in between every song lyric that was blasted out of the radio.