Birthday Adventure Camp

We just returned from an exhausting and exhilerating weekend celebrating Thor's 11th birthday. They all seemed to have a blast and it was so gratifying to see Camp Freedom used in precisely the way it was intended. We gave each boy a small pocket knife and upon arrival at Camp, the first order of business was to start making weapons. They quickly amassed an arsenal of swords, complete with duct tape handles, spears, daggers and killing boomerangs. They decided to go on a Minotaur Hunt when it started to get dark. They enjoyed archery and the bb gun range, as well as the zipline and other classic camping activities like fire-making and toasting marshmallows. I spend a lot of time with young boys and I have developed a few theories about them which are surprisingly counter-intuitive. Boys can be crazy and ridiculous and extremely difficult to manage under certain circumstances. But what I have found is that the minute you introduce a little bit of real danger, i.e. fire, guns or knives, in a controlled environment, they immediately become mature, respectful, and eager to hear what you have to say! Rather than vilify their desire to experiment with these things, showing them that we trust them enough to teach them how to use them safely, seems to have a wonderful effect on the boy's self-confidence. Camp Freedom has given us the opportunity to give our boys some real freedom and independence and allow them to experiment with many activities that would be impossible in their urban neighborhood.