Find A Way To “YES!”
Twenty years ago, as a new challenge-course facilitator, I was asked to take a group with special needs through some initiatives and low-course elements. I remember being stumped on choosing the activity line-up since there was limited information about the participants and an understanding of what they could do.
Mental Preparation
If the past two summers have taught us anything, it’s the need for flexible and attentive plans. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened our eyes to many different societal and existential failures across the country and the world, but it also has allowed for a stronger emphasis on health and safety protocols that many businesses, schools, and camps may not have focused on previously.
Build Momentum
If your camp is like most camps, there isn’t enough money to go around for all of the facility and maintenance projects. On top of that, donor support is needed to accomplish both repairs and upgrades, which means you need buy-in for projects.
What’s Next?
“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” -Sir Winston Churchill
Predicting the future isn’t in my job description, but then neither was converting everything I knew about real-world facilitation and transferring it to virtual space.
Teaching Mental Imagery
Mental imagery is a tool that is best known when athletes close their eyes to rehearse a complex movement, often just before they perform a high dive, a soccer penalty kick, or a foul shot. But mental imagery can also be used to help campers and staff members build resilience, manage their stress, and have much more fun at camp—especially when they master a challenging skill.
50 Games Every Camp Counselor Should Know
Each person on a team throws a Frisbee, one at a time, to knock over all eight cones in a pyramid formation. The next person in line cannot throw until the previous Frisbee is retrieved.
COVID-19 Testing
Running a summer camp is very rewarding. That said, it’s also a worry-inducing, energy-draining, survive-each-day grind of ensuring each child is happy and healthy from the moment of arrival until the last high-five of the season.
Camp With Purpose
“I’ve learned that you can’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.” --Maya Angelou
Top 10 Rainy-Day Activities
1. Movie Motif
Whether it’s a hurricane, rain, snow or even a pajama party night, a great way to while away the hours is to have a theme movie day. We use The Bear Factory for stuffed animal toys and
Spirituality At Camp
The first camp directors were iconoclasts, a description that seems rather unspiritual. But nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of shying away from the spiritual aspects of camp,
The Ideal Workplace
Camps have an opportunity to create the “ideal workplace,” a place where every employee is a valued member of the team. While I always felt this to be true, spending a week at the Clifton Strengths Summit last June caused me to see just how ideal it really can be.
Talking Points
This past year has been challenging, unexpected, and explosive in many ways. During the pandemic, the United States experienced a global-health crisis while still reckoning with racial, social, and political unrest, social isolation, and anxieties that will remain for decades.
Reacting, Adapting, Creating
“We live in a time of transition, an uneasy era which is likely to endure for the rest of this century. During this period, we may be tempted to abandon some of the time-honored principles and commitments which have been proven during the difficult times of past generations
Drive-Through Drop-Off
Just rip off the Band-Aid. Even saying those words is enough to make most people cringe, and yet, there are times when it's best to grimace and go for it. The reality of running a traditional summer camp during a global pandemic challenged my team to devise new and creative solutions, and yes, to rip off some Band-Aids.
Implementing A Junior Lifeguard Program
Long Island, N.Y., is known for its beautiful beaches, freshwater lakes, and miles of scenic waterfront. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that most local parents prioritize “learning to swim” as a critical skill for their kids.
Safe Sailing
Sailing-related injuries at camp—and in junior sailing in general—are rare; however, when accidents do occur, the results can be serious and even deadly. Too often, camps invest heavily in lifeguard training for sailing staff members, but neglect the type of training needed to prepare instructors to operate powerboats in close quarters to kids in sailboats.
The Case For Aluminum
For many camps, the signature element of the campus is the waterfront. And the heart of the waterfront is the dock system. The dock design determines where people can swim, how lifeguards will supervise, and how other elements of the waterfront (e.g., access to boats or location of slides, diving boards, or inflatables) are managed.
Camp COVID
Black Rocket is a technology-education company that has been partnering with camps for 20 years to provide STEM programs. It works with 225 different camps around the country to teach children coding, game design, virtual reality, drones, and robotics.
Start The Day Right
Admiral William H. McRaven, who now serves as the University of Texas System Chancellor, is well-known for saying, “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.
Get Out Of Your Seat And On Your Feet
For decades, parents have been concerned about the amount of time their children spend in front of the television, but now it is the parents who are watching a screen for hours each day as they work from home, visit with family, and adapt to life during a global pandemic.