A New Idea for a Great and Easy to Create Summer Camp: Camp Think

Here's an advance look at a short piece that will appear in the Mensa publication, The Intelligencer:

Camp Think

by Marty Nemko

There are camps for sports, arts, science, and religion. Why not a camp that focuses on improving thinking skills, a Camp Think?

It could contain such activities as:

• a camp-wide effort to develop a plan to solve a societal problem, for example, substance abuse. The resulting White Paper could be submitted to an appropriate local, state, and federal official.
• A debate on such issues as: Should taxes be raised?  Soda banned? Marijuana legalized?
• Contests: Which team (and/or individual) can make the robot that wins a 20-year dash? A rocket that flies highest with parts that cost under $50? Develop the best idea for a reinvented elementary school? Win a logic-problem quiz show? Create the best skit? Museum exhibit? Develop the best improvement for next year’s camp?
• Because life isn’t just about thinking, there would be time for songfests, sports, talent shows, storytelling, and yes, even traditional camp arts and crafts--I still fondly remember learning how to make a lanyard using the diamond and box stitches.

None of these require fancy facilities. You could have a small day camp in your home, a spare room in a church, or in your apartment complex’s community room.

If you’re looking for something to do this summer, you could do far worse than run a one- or two-week summer day camp for at least a small number of kids.