Camp Administration 101: Staying Organized At Camp
Make short work out of small tasks
By Jason Schaitz
With so many moving parts at camp, staying organized is its own task. You have to constantly engage with campers and parents, supervise staff members, manage schedules, coordinate activities, keep track of equipment, worry about facilities and maintenance, and much more. Don’t get too overwhelmed there are several things you can do to stay organized to make those things much easier. Make staying organized a priority by doing the following:
Make sure to have a plan for everything! Putting the work in ahead of time will free up more time to enjoy camp.
Communicate with staff members daily while delegating tasks. Give staff members more responsibility and empower them to do great things at camp. Taking on too much on your own is a recipe for disaster.
Get feedback from staff members daily to get ahead of any concerns or potential incidents. Keep daily logs to communicate incidents and reminders to parents.
Ensure all areas of facilities are clean before and after every activity. Get campers in the habit of cleaning up after themselves throughout the day to save staff members from constantly having to follow up behind each group.
Put equipment back in the proper location at the end of each day. It does not take long for things to start to pile up and will take more time to fix later.
Have clear and concise daily opening and closing procedures for the facility that includes clean up, taking out trash, and putting away equipment.
Keep essential paperwork centralized in one area or in one camp binder.
Make to-do lists regularly to stay on track with what needs to be accomplished.
Stay on schedule for activities and limit time transitioning from one activity to another.
Be responsive to parents and resolve any incidents that occur to make sure there are no lingering issues that will detract from other important tasks.
Be forward thinking. Once an activity or task has been started, let staff members take over so you can start getting ready for whatever is next; make sure to always be one step ahead of the daily schedule.
Give yourself plenty of time ahead of an activity or trip to organize campers to make sure to stay on track. Organizing large groups of kids always takes longer than expected. Trying to squeeze it in too quickly will always make it feel like you are rushing or falling behind.
Set aside office hours to keep up with paperwork and administrative duties. If these things are pushed aside, they will pile up and take more time to do later.
During down times, make sure campers are seated or in a line. Minimize down time as much as possible. Getting the kids organized and where you need them will free up counselors to start whatever is next.
Having plans, thinking ahead, empowering staff, and staying on task are just a few things you can do to keep camp operations organized. Keeping yourself and your operation organized will provide more free time and allow you to enjoy camp even more than you do now.
Jason Schaitz is a Parks and Recreation Director with 15 years’ experience managing camps and recreation programs. He also created and manages www.thesummercampsource.com with the goal of providing free resources for any type of camp, afterschool, or childcare program. Take your camp to the next level by visiting The Summer Camp Source and check out the Camp App, Camp Resources, Camp News, and Camp Administration 101 educational series.