Arts Camps Under Increasing Pressure to Prove Their Educational Merit in Addition to Being Recreational

Learning loss issues are now impacting how prospective parents look at arts camp opportunities, especially in the context of districts continuing to invest in academic recovery programs. Camps traditionally promoting their recreational and creative merit are finding themselves under increasing scrutiny to explain what skills or knowledge participants are gaining from participating in a program.

As a result, parents are starting to question camp providers more heavily about the curriculum of each opportunity offered and background of instructors, focusing not only on the entertainment aspect of programs but on the educational potential of camps.

Although some camps may remain purely recreational – such as dance intensives and illustration workshops – parents are more interested than before to see how participants are developing useful, transferable skills during a camp rather than just occupying themselves over summer days.

It is more evident with providers targeting middle school or high school students as families with expensive summers have an eye to see what programs may improve portfolios, help prepare for auditions and build skills.

Arts programs involving digital media, music production and filmmaking are also becoming of greater interest when parents see how a certain program may help a participant develop his/her skills and be able to apply them to actual projects.

Moreover, some arts programs offered in cooperation with school districts are now subject to specific requirements of being aligned with enrichment objectives of districts.

It does not mean that programs should include any testing or other forms of evaluation; however, this makes it challenging for camps to offer the same recreational experience as before as they need to provide more structure to their curriculum.

This requirement is putting camp directors into a difficult situation since they understand that part of creativity lies in giving freedom to experiment. On the other hand, parents concerned with summer expenses will not approve of an unstructured program and are seeking to know what results it delivers.

This situation affects the marketing approach used by arts camps. While it remains true that most of the providers still focus on the aspects of creativity and self-expression, some camps try to emphasize skills acquired during a camp, progress made by a participant and achievements resulting from attending arts camps.

Some arts camps started to organize events to exhibit works done during summer and even arrange recitals and film productions. These measures have proven effective as they show the outcome of an arts camp attended.

Nevertheless, smaller independent arts camps find it challenging to restructure their programs as it is usually beyond their abilities to formalize their program framework. It also becomes hard for instructors who developed their career based on artistic practice to move to a strictly structured learning environment.

Another problem comes from age segmentation as parents of different-aged children have different priorities when selecting a camp program. While young children require supervision and entertainment, teenagers need some degree of structuring and advancement in their skills.

Finally, arts camps are facing additional competition in their markets. They compete not only with each other; they face challenges posed by academic enrichment services, tutoring camps and specialized sports camps. All of them emphasize developmental outcomes of their programs.