Summer is just around the corner, and I find myself remembering the excitement, anticipation, and, if I'm honest, anxiety that came along with sending my neurodiverse (ND) child off to camp. Amidst all of those emotions, one thought kept me grounded: my child is just...
Happy Campers
Here’s a challenging statement that I’m finding more and more to be true: If what we truly want is for our children to be happy, we as parents need to stop focusing on their happiness. Seems counterintuitive, right? The trouble is that happiness is not a destination...
What We’re Reading: Our Favorite Children’s Books
Reading is powerful. Quite simply, reading is mental exercise. It builds neural pathways in the brain, it improves concentration, it encourages curiosity and most relevant for What Different Can Do, it can make kids more empathetic. The more diversity we see in books,...
A Story of Hope: Sarah
Being different isn't always easy, especially for kids. In a world where children can be teased for almost any reason, standing out can sometimes feel like a burden rather than a gift. And with the constant pull of screens and the overwhelming stimuli bombarding them...
Kid Activity: Spectacular Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a simple way to create a day’s worth of entertainment for children of any age—from preschoolers to teens. With a little imagination and some common items, you can design your own scavenger hunt for kids. Not sure where to start? No worries! You can...
A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name
To say that I am a fan of summer camp is not only an enormous understatement, it is also a little off the mark. Having spent the last 32 years in some way involved in working at or running summer camp programs for children and families across the country, I guess you...
How to Tie Dye – Easy Techniques for Beginners
Thank you to Sarah Stearns for this easy tutorial for beginners. Below are Sarah's essential tips and tricks for making all sorts of tie dye designs, including that perfect rainbow spiral, right at home. Before you start dying, gather some supplies and materials....
Preparing Your Child for Summer Camp
Summer camp can be an exciting and rewarding experience for any child, but for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) it can be even more impactful in terms of building a positive self-image and increasing social skills and interactions. It can also be...
Art Tracing with Pencil
This "Anyone Can Do It" craft is called Art Tracing. There are a number of ways to trace or transfer an image into linework from a photo or artwork but today we are going to walk you through how to trace using a pencil. You'll need a photo or artwork of almost any...
Emotions Wheel: Putting Words to Big Feelings
It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, sometimes we all have feelings that we don’t quite have the words to explain to the people around us. The more specific we can be with the words we use to describe how we’re feeling, the better we can understand ourselves...
An Inclusive Model
Our residential program, one of the first in the country to be accredited by the National Inclusion Project, makes summer camp at Camp Southern Ground so much more than just a week away from home.