Forest Lake Camp for Boys: Philosophy

As noted previously, Forest Lake Camp for Boys is both an entity of its own, as well as part of a greater whole.

Forest Lake Camp for Boys is a traditional sleep-away camp experience centered around outdoor learning through experience and play. It is designed to expose our campers to a wide variety of activities while at the same time allowing them to grow their skills in their areas of interest. The program at Forest Lake is elective and our campers choose their activities every third day for the following three days (Sunday is the exception). This enables our campers to concentrate on specific activities to specialize their skill sets and allow progressive development while at the same time ensuring the program provides variety and plenty of choice.

The program for our boys is also about developing new skills for life. This includes everything from becoming a better soccer player to becoming a better friend. It includes learning how to play an instrument and learning how to live away from home with a diverse set of friends, both new and old. It’s about trying everything our program has to offer that they enjoy, but also trying some activities that are a bit outside their comfort zone.

Our Camp is small, with a solid family feel. We keep our camp small because we know the relationships and bonds our campers make are better if they are close, and when everyone has a chance to get to know each other, a family atmosphere is easily created.

The brother-sister aspect of camp gives the boys at Forest Lake the best possible experience at camp. The evening co-ed activities allow for the growth of appropriate social interactions and support the family aspect of camp. During the day the single-sex activities allow our boys the freedom to try new activities without the social pressures many are used to in their routines outside of camp. As part of the traditional camping experience our campers will be able to participate in a large variety of team sports, individual sports, the Arts and of course our adventure programs.