ORGANIZATION, AIM, OBJECTIVES AND IMPORTANCE AND

TYPES OF CAMPING

OBJECTIVES:

In completion of this chapter, one will be able to:

 explain the organization of camping

 put light on the aim and objectives of camping
 elaborate on the importance of camping and
 discuss the various types of camping.


INTRODUCTION

The history of recreational camping is often traced back to a British

travelling tailor, Thomas Hiram Holding, but it was actually first
popularized in the UK on the river Thames. By the 1880’s large numbers of
visitors took part in the leisure time activity, which was also considered as
the late Victorian craze for pleasure boating. Thomas Hiram Holding was
considered as the father of modern camping in the UK. The form of camping
promoted by Thomas was something that he has experienced in the wild
from his youth, when he had spent much time with his parents travelling
across the American prairies. He later embarked on a cycling as camping
tour with some his friends across Ireland, he wrote a book on his Ireland
experience Cycle and Camp in Connemara which led to the formation of the
first camping group in 1901, the Association of Cycle Campers, later known
as the Camping and Caravanning Club. The Association later merged into
the National Camping Club. The International Federation of camping Clubs
was founded in 1932 with national clubs from all over the world affiliating
to it.

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity, which involves an

individual to stay outdoors and away from the comforts of his home in a
shelter such as a tent, a caravan or a motorhome. The general idea is to take
a leave from the developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natural
ones in pursuit of activities providing the thrill and enjoyment. For an
activity to be considered to be camping it is an essential characteristic that a
minimum of one night is spent outdoors, and this feature distinguishes it
from activities such as day-tripping, picnics and all other similarly short-
term recreational activities.

Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing

the ability of an individual or organization to ‘lead’ or guide other
individuals, teams, organization or an entire country. It is the ability to build
up confidence and zeal among people and to create an urge in them to be
led. Leadership is an important element in directing the functions of a group,
an organization or management. Wherever there is an organized group of
people working towards a common goal, some form of leadership becomes
essential. “The power of leadership is the power of integrating”. A good
leader stimulates the best qualities in a group, unites and concentrates
scattering. A leader provides a direction or channel for the unused potential
to be utilized, thereby increasing the creativity and productivity of the group.

Camping and leadership go hand in hand, while camping provides

individuals with the skill sets required to survive in tough situations,
leadership is essential that the campers don’t lose hope and are directed to
work in one direction so as to increase the probability of survival in the
wilderness.

Further in the following topics we will be discussing how camps are

organized, what are the aims and objectives they sought to fulfill, the
importance of camping and the various types of camps that one may
participate in depending in the needs of the camper.

Organization of Camping

A camping trip may be the highlight of the year for lots of groups.
These are the few days or 2-3 weeks of rich experiences and things to be
done together with peers or people of the same interests away from the
protective atmosphere of our home and also away from the watchful eyes of
parents for some. Planning such an event and seeing it through is a challenge
for each group leader. The growth of the group and form bonds with other
members works best in camps. They are together as a group for several days;
no one has the option to run away in between camps. Doing things together
pushes people together and forms bonds. Since camps are away from home
and so an individual gets used to new situations, do without their daily
shower and sleep in a place which is not as comfortable as the soft bed back
at home. Independence, social behavior, helping out and dealing with
disagreements might be totally new experiences for some kids.

In order to make it an experience of a lifetime and that they keep

coming back for more there are certain aspects that need to be considered.
Before organizing a camp the following general things needs consideration:

 An adequate and competent camp personnel

 Budgeting
 Target group
 Camp site
 Food and refreshments
 Equipment supply
 Program/activities/contents
 Daily program/activity schedule
 Duration of the camp
 Transportation of the campers
 Plan of the camp site
 Pitching and allotment of tents
 Grouping of students
 Health
 Sanitation and safety
 Records
 Fees
 Rules of the camp
 Problems of the camp

Aim of Camping

Camping being a recreational and educational activity has a common

aim as both. Camping aims at development of the camper developing his or
connection with the natural environment, development of personal
aspirations, psychological behaviors and social skills; provide opportunities
to be independent thus developing their decision making abilities and
exercise self-discipline; develop team spirit and harness leadership skills.

The camper’s aim in attending camps is to have ‘fun’. A camper

judges every activity on the basis of pleasure and interest. To fail to satisfy
the camper’s aim will defeat the central aim of the camp.

The camp must be recreational to the extent that it must ne satisfying

to camper’s aim but it does not prevent from doing a very high level of
educational work. Every camp has its own definite objectives and goals
towards which every phase of camp life will be directed.

Objectives of Camping

Objectives act as the means for the achievement of the aim of

recreation. The following are the most important and common objectives of
a camp or camping:

1. To further the welfare of campers and its leaders, through

camping/outdoor education.
2. To extend the recreational and educational benefits of outdoor living.
3. To give emphasis to spiritual opportunities through camping.
4. To give more opportunities for developing fellowship among the
campers.
5. To give stress in camping on leadership and citizenship training in
keeping with the principles and traditions of democracy.
6. To stimulate high professional/educational standards of camp
leadership.
7. To provide for exchange of experiences and successful practices, and
for development of materials, standards and other aids for the progress
of camping.
8. To interpret camping to related groups and to the public.
9. To develop the skill of improvisation in the absence if real things or
materials.
 10. To provide opportunities to develop better understanding among
themselves; this enhances socialization.

Importance of Camping

We all are aware that camping is a fantastic recreational activity,

providing hours of enjoyment and a welcome opportunity to connect with
loved ones, other campers, as well as nature. But that’s just the start.
Camping also has a whole range of wonderful health benefits, from physical
and mental aids to those that are tailor made for children, these benefits
ensure there’s even more reason to involve in camping activities. Following
are the importance of camping:

1. Camping helps with problem solving:

Camping and the activities associated with it present the camper with
challenges which he needs to solve at that very instant. The challenges
are not something that one comes across in daily life like where and
how to set up your tent; or how to deal with scenarios where one
cannot use the modern gadgets or items of familiarity.
In addition to all of the above, camping introduces the camper to new
experiences – perhaps an activity he always wanted to try but never
found time for. Whatever the case, new challenges and experiences
keep your brain healthy, as they force you to think for yourself.
Outdoor education awakens the people to a whole new world of new
ideas, which tends to give them a deep and affectionate respect of life.
2. Camping is great for children’s education:
Camping introduces children and individuals to a whole new world
and asks them an ability to overcome new problems and challenges,
having exposure to a different set of challenges not only keeps the
brain healthy but leads to increased learning opportunities. Outdoor
education is a method of education through direct experience with
nature, people, objects, places and actually ‘Learning by Doing’.
Learning is faster when it is done practically and has a prolonged
effect, there is also a greater appreciation and understanding for those
things that are learned first-hand.
3. Camping helps you sleep better:
 Another important benefit of camping is that it is good for health,
especially for people suffering from sleep disorder or lack of sleep.
Research in 2013 from the University of Colorado Boulder found that
camping can re-set our biological clock and help those of us who find
it tough to sleep and/or wake up in the morning.
It is particularly due to the increased use of artificial light in our daily
lives and the fact that camping can help us to adjust to the natural
light-dark cycle if we’re given that chance. Receiving adequate sleep
has long been touted as critical to our overall health and wellbeing.
4. Camping increases your vitamin D intake
As camping is an outdoor activity hence that chances to spend more
time under the open sky, but in order to get all the Vitamin D it is
essential to be under the sun at the right time.
5. Camping leads to increased exercise:
It generally happens that our daily routine entails long sitting hours in
the office or at home with kids; the chances for exercises are very
limited. Going for camping is a great opportunity to explore new
surroundings; wandering through a nearby national park or even
mountain climbing.
This increased exercise has myriad physical and mental benefits,
which also includes combatting health problems and diseases thereby
improving quality of life.
6. Camping makes you happier:
As camping lightens up the mood and improves the quality of life. It’s
all to do with serotonin, the chemical that our body produces that
helps to make us happy. It has be studied that some factors that help
the body create serotonin comprises of: more sunlight, more oxygen
and increased physical activity and camping ticks all the boxes.

Types of Camps

There are various types of camping some of them are:

 Adventure Camping
 Dry Camping
 Backpacking
 Canoe Camping
 Bicycle Camping
 Car, Off-Road and RV
 Glamorous Camping or Glamping
 Reenactment Camping
 Social Camping
 Urban Camping
 Winter Camping
 Work Camping

All camps are different from each other, some are far superior to others
because of the type of personnel they employ, the facilities they possess
and the services they render. There are boys’ camps, girls’ camp as well
as co-ed camps. Co-ed camp is often selected when there are boys and
girls of a specific age for a specific camp and where there is a need from
the professional institutions to train both the genders for the professional
career.

There are various types of camps and sometimes with specific themes
such as music, drama, horse riding, training camps for games and sports,
work camps (N.S.S. camps), religious camps, institutional camps (school,
college or university etc.), camps for the specially abled, youth camps
etc.

Sometimes they may be simply categorized into the following three as

well:

1. Co-ed Camps: As mentioned above as well these camps are common

for both genders.
2. Non-Private Camps: These are also called organizational or
institutional camps. They may vary in their operations. Some of these
camps operate for a full summer season with fees as high as private
camps.
3. Boys Scout Camps and Girls Guide Camps.
CONCLUSION

Camping is one of the most entertaining outdoor recreation program

attracting huge groups of people of different age groups, there are various
types of camps being organized for different groups with a wide range of
themes. However it is the camp organizers who have to take care of a lot of
aspects so as to make this a life time experience and also that the participants
are satisfied when they go back to their daily lives. Their productivity should
improve and they would not only come back for another camping experience
but also bring more of their friends or family with them.

SUMMARY

Camping is not just a recreation activity for the purpose of vacation but an
educational one. It ends teaching the participant life skills of surviving under
different conditions when he or she is away from daily comforts and does
not have the privilege of using the modern gadget and technologies to solve
his or her problems. Gives more opportunities for more active participation
in a wide range of activities that are physically, mentally, socially and
emotionally taxing and the individual solves problems thus gaining more
and more fitness in all aspects thus making them fit and bringing about
integrated development.

GLOSSARY

Biological Clock: An inherent timing mechanism in a living system that

is inferred to exist in order to explain the timing or periodicity of various
behaviours and physiological states and processes. It is a system in our
body that controls the occurrence of natural processes such as waking,
sleeping and aging.

Budgeting: The act of estimating costs, revenues and resources over a

specified period, reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and
goals; it is the most important administrative tool as it also serves as a
plan of action for achieving quantified objectives, standard for measuring
performance and device for coping with foreseeable adverse situations.
 Camp Leadership: Camp leadership refers to leadership or the action of
leading an individual or group of individuals in the camp setting for
specific activities planned in the camp. It may also refer to preparing
leaders through camping.

Camping: An increasingly popular outdoor recreation activity among

children, youth and even adults, camping involves staying away from
home in a shelter such as a tent, a caravan or a motorhome. For an
activity to be considered as camping one has to spend at least one night in
the camping area.

Improvisation: Improvisation is the term for the act of improvising. In

technical context, this can mean adapting a device for some use other
than that which it was designed for, or building a device from unusual
components in an ad-hoc fashion. In context of performing arts
improvisation may refer to a spontaneous performance without specific
or scripted preparation.

Leadership: Leadership is the activity of leading a group of people or an

organization or the ability to establish a clear vision; sharing that vision
with others so that they follow willingly; the act of providing the
information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision and
coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and
stakeholders.

Nature: Refers to the phenomena of the physical world collectively,

including plants, animals, the landscape and other features and products
of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.

Outdoor Education: Outdoor education usually refers to organized

learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs
sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in
which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and
outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, canoeing, ropes courses and
group games. Outdoor education draws upon the philosophy, theory and
practices of experiential education and environmental education.
 Problem Solving: The process of working through details of a problem
to reach a solution. Problem solving may include mathematical or
systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual’s critical
thinking skills.

Socialization: Adapting behaviour to the norms of a culture or society,

going out and meeting people or hanging out with friends is socialization.

FAQs

Q1. Discuss the origin of camping.

Ans. The history of recreational camping is often traced back to a British
travelling tailor, Thomas Hiram Holding, but it was actually first
popularized in the UK on the river Thames. By the 1880’s large numbers
of visitors took part in the leisure time activity, which was also
considered as the late Victorian craze for pleasure boating. Thomas
Hiram Holding was considered as the father of modern camping in the
UK.

Q2. Illuminate the journey of Thomas Hiram Holding, how did he

embark on the journey of recreation?
Ans. Thomas Hiram Holding was considered as the father of modern
camping in the UK. The form of camping promoted by Thomas was
something that he has experienced in the wild from his youth, when he
had spent much time with his parents travelling across the American
prairies. He later embarked on a cycling as camping tour with some his
friends across Ireland, he wrote a book on his Ireland experience Cycle
and Camp in Connemara which led to the formation of the first camping
group in 1901, the Association of Cycle Campers, later known as the
Camping and Caravanning Club. The Association later merged into the
National Camping Club.

Q3. Explain camping.

Ans. Camping is an outdoor recreational activity, which involves an
individual to stay outdoors and away from the comforts of his home in a
shelter such as a tent, a caravan or a motorhome. The general idea is to
take a leave from the developed areas to spend time outdoors in more
natural ones in pursuit of activities providing the thrill and enjoyment.
For an activity to be considered to be camping it is an essential
characteristic that a minimum of one night is spent outdoors, and this
feature distinguishes it from activities such as day-tripping, picnics and
all other similarly short-term recreational activities.

Q4. Explain leadership.

Ans. Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill
encompassing the ability of an individual or organization to ‘lead’ or
guide other individuals, teams, organization or an entire country. It is the
ability to build up confidence and zeal among people and to create an
urge in them to be led. Leadership is an important element in directing
the functions of a group, an organization or management.

Q5. What does a good leader do?

Ans. A good leader stimulates the best qualities in a group, unites and
concentrates scattering. A leader provides a direction or channel for the
unused potential to be utilized, thereby increasing the creativity and
productivity of the group.

Q6. List the factors that need to be considered before organizing a

camp.
Ans. In order to make camping an experience of a lifetime and that they
keep coming back for more there are certain aspects that need to be
considered. Before organizing a camp the following general things needs
consideration:

 An adequate and competent camp personnel

 Budgeting
 Target group
 Camp site
 Food and refreshments
 Equipment supply
 Program/activities/contents
  Daily program/activity schedule
 Duration of the camp
 Transportation of the campers
 Plan of the camp site
 Pitching and allotment of tents
 Grouping of students
 Health
 Sanitation and safety
 Records
 Fees
 Rules of the camp
 Problems of the camp

Q7. What is the aim of a camping?

Ans. Camping being a recreational and educational activity has a
common aim as both. Camping aims at development of the camper
developing his or connection with the natural environment, development
of personal aspirations, psychological behaviours and social skills;
provide opportunities to be independent thus developing their decision
making abilities and exercise self-discipline; develop team spirit and
harness leadership skills.

The camper’s aim in attending camps is to have ‘fun’. A camper

judges every activity on the basis of pleasure and interest. To fail to
satisfy the camper’s aim will defeat the central aim of the camp.

Q8. List any five objectives of camping.

Ans. Objectives act as the means for the achievement of the aim of
camping. The following are the most important and common objectives
of a camp or camping:

1. To further the welfare of campers and its leaders, through

camping/outdoor education.
2. To extend the recreational and educational benefits of outdoor living.
3. To give emphasis to spiritual opportunities through camping.
4. To give more opportunities for developing fellowship among the
campers.
5. To give stress in camping on leadership and citizenship training in
keeping with the principles and traditions of democracy.

Q9. List the importance of camping.

Ans. Following are the importance of camping:
 Camping helps in problem solving
 Camping is great for children’s education
 Camping helps you sleep better
 Camping increases vitamin D intake
 Camping leads to increased exercise
 Camping makes you happier.

Q10. What are the types of camping?

Ans. There are various types of camping some of them are:

 Adventure Camping
 Dry Camping
 Backpacking
 Canoe Camping
 Bicycle Camping
 Car, Off-Road and RV
 Glamorous Camping or Glamping
 Reenactment Camping
 Social Camping
 Urban Camping
 Winter Camping
 Work Camping.