Summer Camp can shape a child’s personality, don’t you think?

Did you ever go to a class or summer camp that was not just a fun experience but one that truly changed your outlook on life? Did you ever have a travel adventure that still influences the way you see things? For me, that happened at age 8, when I visited an orphanage in India during a summer vacation with my cousins. It was the very first time that I truly understood the effect of empathy. It was the very first time that I felt a heart full of gratitude. It was an experience that made a lasting impression on me and shaped the person I am today.

All across this country, parents and kids are either preparing for spring break or wrapping up that short vacation. From here on out, the end of this school year is on the horizon. It’s time to consider what to do this summer.

Summer camp offers the perfect opportunity for kids to stretch their imaginations in a way that differs from their in-class activities. They spend the school year focused on structure and learning—reading, writing, and calculating. Summer is the time to help them experience something different, something progressive, something that will open their minds to new possibilities.

How about activities or camps where they get the chance to deepen their understanding of themselves and to grow from within? Where they explore their inner world and their outer world simultaneously, expanding their horizons and connecting not just with their community but also with the world and its issues?

One such program is the World Peace Game Camp, whose founder, John Hunter, is an award-winning teacher and educational consultant who has dedicated his life to helping children realize their full potential.

The World Peace Game is a four-tiered structure that puts the problems of the world within reach of the students. Students are organized into country teams with political roles like prime ministers, secretaries of defense, and cabinet staff. Others play the secretary of the United Nations, president of the World Bank, arms dealers, “the weather goddess,” and a saboteur. This game exposes children to systems thinking, critical and creative problem-solving, leadership responsibilities, decision-making, negotiation, and much more.

This is an experience that allows children to contribute to a better future, not just as a community or a state or a nation but as one world moving toward peace.

Yes, it is a camp that requires travel and that needs some planning. But is that not what the summer should be all about? Giving children an experience to travel, to grow, to redefine themselves, and to experience new things that they can share with their classmates when they return to school in the fall.