Parents want confident kids.

So they sign those same kids up for activities, praise effort, and celebrate small wins.

But confidence isn’t built through praise. Confidence comes from knowing you matter. From feeling needed. From contributing something real.

Kids are struggling with confidence because they’re missing purpose.

This is part 2 in our series on what camp does better than the alternatives consuming family calendars and budgets.

Part 1 covered leadership development [Link]. Leadership and purpose are connected. You can’t lead if you don’t know why you matter. You can’t build confidence without contribution.

Camp creates both.

No Grand Purpose

Adults think about giving kids purpose in life and they often imagine service trips, building houses, or large-scale charity work. Which are all great, by the way.

But camp builds purpose through smaller, daily moments:

Being responsible for cleaning tables after meals. Helping keep a group organized. Supporting peers during activities. Being a role model for younger campers. Contributing fully to team competitions, even the silly ones.

The contribution matters. The size doesn’t.

Responsibility Creates Confidence

The chain is clear:

Responsibility signals trust. Trust builds self-worth. Self-worth builds confidence. Confidence improves behavior and engagement.

Kids feel powerful when they’re responsible for something real.

When a child acts out or struggles, the default sports response is removal.

Timeout. Benching. Exclusion.

But misbehavior is often boredom or disconnection, not defiance.

Camp does something different. When a kid struggles, camp gives more responsibility, not less.

The child acting up in the cabin? Give them a job. Put them in charge of organizing equipment or helping a younger camper.

The kid disengaged during an activity? Make them essential to the team. Give them a role that matters.

This is all about reconnecting kids to purpose rather than isolating them from it.

The Contrast With Year-Round Sports

Year-round competitive sports often remove responsibility when kids struggle.

Struggle in practice? Sit on the bench. Act out? Lose playing time. Not performing? Travel long distances only to play briefly or not at all.

Purpose becomes tied to performance. Only the top players feel essential.

Camp distributes responsibility differently. Every child contributes. Purpose isn’t tied to being the best. Kids feel ownership regardless of skill level.

When a camper struggles, they don’t lose their role. They get support to fulfill it.

Everyday Purpose at Camp

Purpose shows up constantly:

A camper trusted with their first real job feels capable. A camper supporting another camper emotionally becomes a role model. A camper helping maintain routines feels needed.

During Color War, even the least athletic camper knows their effort matters. During a water trampoline activity, everyone’s participation makes the moment work.

Hard work becomes rewarding because kids see how they’ve contributed.

These aren’t occasional moments. They’re daily experiences.

Why This Matters for Confidence

Confidence doesn’t come from being told you’re great. It comes from knowing you’re needed.

When kids understand why they matter, behavior changes. Engagement improves. Connection deepens.

Camp creates this through small, meaningful responsibilities that add up to something larger: a sense that you belong and contribute.

Making It Explicit

Camps know this instinctively but don’t say it clearly enough.

And they should be positioning purpose as a core outcome, not some hidden benefit. Parents need (and definitely want) to understand that camp builds confidence by giving kids real responsibility. And believe me, they are fine when it’s messy or imperfect.

Leadership. Purpose. Two things camp does better than the alternatives.

And trust me, there are more.

Sincerely,
Dan Weir

Senior Consultant at Immersive1st

dan@immersive1st.com