For generations of American kids, summer camp has been a familiar rite of passage. They’d get some exercise, maybe learn a new skill, and hopefully build a few new friendships before the lazy days of summer ended. Whatever the camp’s focus might be, kids could mostly count on a predictable ritual of sunny days and nights around the campfire.
But the pandemic-disrupted summers of 2020 and 2021 turned the camping experience, like most every other part of American life, upside down. Some camps closed, while others attempted to host kids and adopted safety precautions. For many parents of kids too young to get vaccinated, camp just wasn’t an option.
