Finding the right activities for children as they grow up is kind of like riding on a carousel. Maybe when your child stepped on to that spinning platform adorned with porcelain animal seats, the first seat they took was the perfect seat for them and they never wavered as they spun around the ride enjoying every second. Maybe though, it took awhile for them to find the right seat. The horse seat was too scary looking or the bear seat wasn’t comfy, and it wasn’t until they found the elephant seat that you found the perfect spot for them.
An ideal activity or program is one that a child can enjoy in the moment and throughout their lives that also sets them up for success later in life due to the skills and lessons they learned along the way. Finding that may take some trial and error, just like on the carousel!
We want to help families explore after school activities by highlighting the benefits of a well known childhood program that has been around for over 100 years and talk about what still makes them such a great option for facilitating childhood growth. That program is the Boy Scouts of America.
Boy Scouts' aim is to help today’s youth use scouting as a vehicle to develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives. According to the Boy Scouts website, “scouting promotes activities that lead to personal responsibility and high self-esteem. As a result, when hard decisions have to be made, peer pressure can be resisted and the right choices can be made.”
Let’s see some more benefits:
Scouting provides adult interaction in the form of mentorship that young people can benefit from. Boy Scouts has a process that screens, selects, and trains adult leaders who can be role models for young people and have an impact on their lives.
Scouting creates an environment that helps young people develop skills and habits that they will be able to build upon throughout their lives. Whether it is improving upon those habits or understanding the mechanisms needed to learn new skills as they continue to grow.
Scouting does not define religious belief for its members. Boy Scouts believes each of the major faiths can breed hope, optimism, compassion, and belief in a better tomorrow. Scouting encourages young people to begin a spiritual journey and benefit from the moral compass that can be developed through the practice of faith tradition.
Scouting encourages young people to recognize and respond to the needs of others through different levels of community service. Being able to take part in community service and recognize the needs of others is important for playing a part in a healthy society.
Scouting offers many different kinds of outdoor programs such as hiking, camping, swimming, climbing, and conservation. Other programs include first aid safety training as well as drug abuse awareness and prevention programs. Participation in these programs helps young people understand the values of a healthy lifestyle.
Scouting helps young people think about how to become better people. It teaches important values and responsibilities through a plethora of different character-building activities.
Peachjar is proud that Boy Scout troops across the country use Peachjar to share their programs with families in their communities. Whether it's flyers about joining their troop, their latest activities coming up, or why Boy Scouts are great in general, we see so many flyers come through our system for this organization all the time!