Our Four-Point Philosophy of Play
Play Takes Center Stage at Camp Keff. Here’s Why!
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Play Supports Physical, Social, & Emotional Development
We are dedicated play enthusiasts because we know the importance of purposeful play can’t be underestimated in healthy human development.
Play is a healthy workout for the brain! Scientific research shows that play “exercises” your brain by stimulating the development of your frontal cortex, the area responsible for cognition.
Through play, we also flex our friendship muscles, developing important life skills like cooperation, positive communication, empathy, and emotional resilience.
And of course, when our playtime involves movement—swimming, dancing, running, kicking a ball—we work out our bodies as well.
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Play Catalyzes Creativity
Play invites children of all ages and at all developmental stages to use their creativity while developing their imagination and dexterity.
Through play, we learn to think creatively about overcoming challenges, and we lose ourselves in the pure joy of the activities that spark our interests.
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Play Invites Honest Self-Discovery
Play fulfills a vital role in our lifelong journey of self-discovery and self-confidence. When we play, we explore our potential and experience new ways of being in the world. Play is experimental in healthy and positive ways.
We firmly believe that providing a secure, caring, thoughtfully and professionally designed context for play makes all the difference. Play within structured boundaries and under responsible supervision supports children and teens with the freedom to safely experience personal agency and creativity.
Every program we offer has been skillfully developed by our KEFF experts to set every camper up for positive, healthy outcomes (including, of course, an absolutely FUN summer!).
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Play Creates Connection & Belonging
Our diverse slate of programs and activities—from STEAM to sports, to uniquely KEFF experiences they won’t have elsewhere—allow kids to join in, feel welcome, and even try out something new… thereby opening new horizons of possibility.
Through engaging activities, team building, field trips, parties, overnights, and endless games, campers make valuable friendships—and also learn valuable skills such as compassion, collaboration, and problem solving.
What’s more, our well-trained staff is here to make sure your child is safe, heard, and loved from the moment they walk onto our campus—so you can feel confident that your kids are in good hands every day they spend with us.
CAMP KEFF MANIFESTO
We are Camp KEFF and we believe that each of us is inherently valuable, and we deserve to learn more about our value through joyful, inclusive, play-based living we know as camp.
We embrace the power of silliness, weirdness, doing things differently because those are the courageous gateways to authentic self-expression, creativity, and self-paced learning. They are also FUN.
Camp for us holds the best of the past and the promise of the future—we are campers who understand our experience as an evolution of tradition and an experiment in what is coming next.
We are grateful that camp invites us to exercise personal choice, develop confidence and empathy, and learn that there is rarely one right way to do anything. Camp KEFF teaches us to be brave explorers, excited adventurers, caring, connected players who look out for their friends.
For those of us who identify as Jewish, camp is a profound cultural connection to our American Jewish experience.
We know that laughter heals, fun is fundamental to our development as humans, and play opens our minds to learning and strengthens our bodies.
We celebrate life by: singing, running, crafting, swimming, napping, imagining, snacking, watching clouds, sharing secrets (and glitter) with friends, riding the bus, trying – failing – trying some more, hugging our counselors, cooking, building, problem-solving, creating, dancing, pretending. We do all this because these are the activities of a healthy childhood – and no one is ever too old to play like a child.
We are Camp KEFF. We love nature, we value play, and we celebrate kindness, friendship, and belonging. We always make room for more friends – join us!