Maine Camps Prepare To Welcome Kids Back This Summer With Renewed Focus On Social Skills

Last summer, Maine’s summer camp industry skidded to a halt because of the pandemic. Eighty percent of overnight camps in Maine suspended operations. But this summer, the vast majority will reopen. Operators will not only have to make adjustments for COVID-19 – they’ll also have to prepare for kids who are anxious or need a tune-up on social skills after being isolated for more than a year.

Eight-year old Lowy Fairfield of Kennebunkport remembers getting the news last year that summer sleepaway camp was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“When I found out, I was heartbroken,” Lowy says.

It would have been Lowy’s second year at Hidden Valley Camp in Montville, and year number 8 for her 16-year old sister Finley, who says the return to camp this summer feels more important than ever after living under the realities of a pandemic.

Read the rest of the story at Maine Public’s website.