Summer Camp Goes Virtual

It’s summer here in America.  It’s traditionally that time of year when families take their big vacation for the year and children enroll in summer camp. While this year’s normal schedule of child rearing activities has been temporarily postponed, they are currently being replaced by new exploratory means.

Due to the cancellation of summer camps nationwide, a myriad of renowned companies and organizations are offering free virtual summer camps. These companies include Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft and Walmart and the organization National Geographic, one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Even the Boy Scouts of America is offering unique summer camp experiences for first through fifth graders.

Virtual summer camps provide children with a way to interact with each other in the digital world while simultaneously giving their working parents a break from the everyday struggles of traditional parenthood. Kids have the opportunity to connect with each other via video chat, learn new things, and play games with others. This helps eliminate the normal fears around missing out on what their summer would be like if the state of the world was different.

Walmart has been putting a ton of effort into helping make families’ summers as great as possible with their free drive-in movies and launch of Camp 50. The company has gone all out for Camp 50 by enlisting the help of major names Drew Barrymore, Neil Patrick Harris, LeBron James, Idina Menzel and Todd Oldham as their selected counselors to bring summer fun to kids across the country via the Walmart app. Various activities for Camp 50 and other virtual summer camps encompass a wide range of activities such as fitness, arts and crafts, interactive storytelling, and other entertaining activities.

No matter a child’s interests, there is likely a summer camp experience currently available for it. Virtual summer camps cannot replace the otherwise experienced fun times spent in the sun. However, they can help foster a nurturing environment for children nationwide this summer.

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