Why “Real Fun” Is More Important Than Ever
These past few months, our camp director team has been busy traveling across the country to join thousands of other camp directors at annual conferences. When we were in Atlantic City for the Tri-States Camp conference, we had the pleasure to listen to bestselling author and scientific journalist Catherine Price.
Catherine Price was co-author of the book, The Anxious Generation and The Amazing Generation with Jonathan Haidt and the author of How to Break Up with Your Phone and The Power of Fun.
During the camp conferences, there are hundreds of presentations from presenters who share their knowledge on a wide variety of increasingly complex topics. During Catherine’s keynote presentation, she focused us back on such a simple but crucially important topic: fun.
Many of us try our best to incorporate fun into our lives but we’ve lost sight of the difference between “real fun” and “fake fun.”
Catherine’s research reminds us that “real fun” has three components:
- Playfulness
- Connection
- Flow (that feeling of being completely immersed in something)
In today’s world, people have more access to entertainment than ever—but much of it is passive. Watching, scrolling, tapping. It fills time, but it doesn’t always leave us feeling fulfilled.
Real fun is what makes time at camp so special.
At North Star, fun looks like:
- Campers laughing as they build a fort made out of sticks
- Cabin groups playing card games
- Campers so focused on hitting a target that they forget everything else
These are moments of true engagement. Real connection. Real joy.
One of our biggest takeaways from the conference was a renewed appreciation for how important these experiences are—not just for happiness, but for development, confidence, and well-being.
As camp directors, to prepare for the next season, we are constantly working behind the scenes to learn, grow, and bring the best ideas back to camp. But sometimes, the most powerful reminder is also the simplest: Kids don’t need more distractions. They need more opportunities to truly connect, play, and be present.
We can’t wait for your son to join us and experience more real fun and the magic of camp.
