Multiple raters (children, parents, and camp counselors), using parallel forms all reported significant growth in the domains of positive identity, social skills, physical and thinking skills, and positive values and spirituality for children between 8 and 14 years old who were spending a week or more at camp. Analysis with a nonrandom constructed comparison group confirmed that growth at camp significantly exceeded growth attributable to maturation alone. Some of the growth reported from precamp to postcamp was also reported by parents and children 6 months after camp, suggesting that camp may spark and perhaps even accelerate growth in certain domains long after the memories of camp have faded. This longitudinal convergence of opinion from a large representative national sample strongly supports the conventional wisdom, anecdotal reports, single-camp studies, and multisite retrospective studies that have all found camp to be a positive developmental experience. Parents, children, and camp staff completed customized questionnaires that measured growth from precamp to postcamp in four domains: positive identity, social skills, physical and thinking skills, and positive values and spirituality. The camps selected for the study were derived from a representative sample of camps accredited by the American Camp Association that served normally developing children ages 8 to 14. 7 tables and 50 references