How to ease the nerves of kids preparing to head to southern Alberta summer camps

The Southern Alberta Bible Camp in Vulcan County.

With the end of the school year on the horizon, many students may be preparing to head off to summer camps.

For those that have never been, it can be a bit of a daunting and anxious time.

"It’s very normal for the children to have a mixture of nervousness and anxiety to try new things," said Deepa Sivakumar, an early childhood education instructor at Lethbridge College.

"Parents should try to express confidence and teach them some tools and techniques if they are feeling anxious and nervous," she said.

"Doing breathing techniques will help, and visualization exercises."

One camp preparing to welcome youth in a few weeks is the Southern Alberta Bible Camp (SABC).

"We are going full steam ahead," said Tonia Martens, SABC program manager.

"We have about 30 staff already onsite -- a bunch of young adults who are here helping us prepare for camp."

SABC offers week-long camps for kids in Kindergarten to Grade 12, with the first camp set to start on June 30.

"We have 1,409 campers as of today, that was this mornings' registrations, and we can register just about 2,000," Martens said.

"Registrations are higher than last year at this point, and continuing to grow weekly, so we’re excited to hopefully have numbers higher than last year."

For first-time campers, Sivakumar encourages parents to talk to their children about the ups and downs they may feel, and to assure them they will be safe.

"The main part is that camp isn’t about succeeding, it’s about having fun and the experience matters the most," Sivakumar added.

She says being confident, patient, positive and helping them feel ready, whether through a routine or answering questions, can help them feel prepared for camp.

"Parents can provide pictures of the activities they'll be doing in the camp, or they can talk about the expectation that the children are expected to do, so that it helps them ease their anxiety level."

Martens adds it can take a bit of time to become settled at camp, but says in the end it's worth it.

"Camps offer an opportunity for kids to get outside of their norm and come and try something new that they've never tried before, make new friends, go on an adventure and just get away from some of the norm that their experiencing right now which is school."