If you’ve ever seen kids soft sword dueling at parks around the foothills of Colorado, you’ve likely gotten a glimpse of what Renaissance Adventures looks like in action.
For 30 years now, Renaissance Adventures has been providing Colorado children, teens, and their families with opportunities to come together to engage in interactive, live-action, role-playing journeys of discovery, creativity and responsible empowerment — all while practicing social/emotional skills and having an incredibly fun time.
Well known for its flagship Adventure Quest program, filled with fun and dynamic quests, children and teens become heroes, working together in a mythical and magical world to overcome interesting challenges, solve riddles, brainstorm unique solutions to puzzling dilemmas, and swashbuckle with foes. Unique in their small group size of about six campers, Adventure Quest camp experiences are not what you expect from your average summer camp. Quests are tailored to fit the goals and needs of the group. Individual kids receive a lot of attention. And, every camper is celebrated and given their chance to shine and be the hero of a mythic quest.
“Small groups allow for the children to express themselves and be heard. Our Quest Leaders are teachers, actors, and storytellers who customize the adventure to challenge and inspire each individual and the group,” says founder Mark Hoge of their Adventure Quest program. “For our youngest questers, for instance, the quest story may involve talking squirrels, fairies, and treasure maps to follow. For older children, there are more mysteries to solve, negotiations, and sword dueling with our safe foam Swasher swords. The teens’ adventures have more complex plots and ethical decisions to make.”
Summer camp and after-school session participants at Renaissance Adventures can expect to:
- Wield safe foam Swasher swords
- Play dueling games
- Act out challenges, such as fending off a bullying ogre or a thieving band of pirates
- Learn good sportsmanship, fair play and respect for others
- Exercise their minds while piecing together clues in a riddle
- Follow a map to buried treasure
- End the program feeling empowered, excited and full of stories to tell
One mom whose children have been attending the camps for three years said, “Our children have gained more opportunities to learn about self-regulation and conflict resolution than I would have expected from a camp that is so much fun. The camp provides opportunities for nurturing relationships by engaging questers in low-stress, socially relevant situations. At home, we see our children applying skills that they unknowingly learned while questing. Opportunities in this super fun environment enhance their abilities to manage individual goals, show empathy for others, and make caring choices.”
Why choose Renaissance Adventures?
- Renaissance Adventures offers safe, mentally and physically stimulating fun for kids and teens of all abilities.
- Beneath the surface of fun games, questers gain valuable social and emotional skills that aren’t always taught at school.
- The dynamic role-playing adventures and riddles inspire creative thinkers and active kids.
- All Renaissance Adventure programs support social and emotional learning (SEL) goals, such as responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship-building skills.
- The small group format encourages inclusivity and serves as a space for kids to feel safe being their true, authentic selves.
- Twice-exceptional (2E) and gifted and talented students also often thrive at Renaissance Adventures, whereas in other, more traditional camps they may get bored.
“We deeply value creativity, authenticity, responsible empowerment, and self-expression,” says Hoge. “What we have discovered over the last three decades is that a heart-centered live-action role playing game for kids can spontaneously create a strong community where kids get to truly experience what it is like to make important decisions, succeed as a ‘whole person’ — overcoming physical, mental, and social challenges — and, in the process, have an incredibly fun time.”
ABOUT RENAISSANCE ADVENTURES
The adventure began in 1995 when Mark Hoge, an Eagle Scout with years of experience in the summer camp industry, started an after-school enrichment program in Boulder, Colorado that encouraged kids to foster their creativity and sense of adventure through live-action role-playing games.
Over the last 30 years, that small after-school program has evolved to also offer adventure-themed birthday parties, private events, homeschool groups, and their most loved and popular summer camp programs. Summer camps, geared for children and teens ages 6-17, are now the cornerstone of Renaissance Adventures and have provided exciting adventures for more than 20 thousand children and teens since the first camp experience at the People’s Crossing (formally called Settler’s Park) in 1995.
Given the success of Renaissance Adventures in the Denver Metro area, founder Hoge and Aaron Pirnack, who joined the team in 2000, are about to launch a licensing program to help others take Adventure Quest throughout Colorado and eventually across the country to reach more kids. For more information, contact Renaissance Adventures directly.
For more information about summer camps and other fun and exciting kid, teen and family Renaissance Adventures, visit the website or connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
