Being a summer camp counselor is incredibly rewarding. On top of getting a job for the summer, you can inspire children to pursue a healthy body and a healthy mind.
Whether you’re teaching hockey at a sports camp or becoming a counselor at a Jewish sleepaway summer camp, you’ll develop valuable skills and make memories to last a lifetime.
At the same time, it isn’t a walk in the park. Before you pack your bag, you should know these ten things.
1. No Summer Camp Counselor Gets Enough Sleep
If you’re becoming a summer camp counselor, you may be a health-oriented person. You probably know that humans should get eight hours of sleep each night.
What you don’t know is that this won’t happen while you’re working. While summer camp will eventually end, there is a period of time where you will be exhausted and probably getting six hours of sleep each night or less.
Be ready to be tired. And embrace it as part of the experience.
2. Write Ice Breakers for Campers
Sleepaway camp can be scary for children. One of the most intimidating parts of it is requiring children to be away from home for the first time, forcing them to make new friends.
Camp friends can last a lifetime. But if the ice is never broken, they won’t even last an event. So make sure that you write icebreakers for the kids: it can go a long way towards helping them make new friends.
3. Break Up Camper Cliques
As a summer camp counselor, you want the kids to make friends. But you also want them to broaden their horizons.
When cliques form at camp, you need to break them up. Of course, we don’t mean coercively: kids should be able to have friends. But you don’t want the same groups to dominate every event.
Mix up the groupings at camp events. In the long run, people will make a lot of awesome new friends.
4. Check the Weather Forecast Constantly
The weather can change everything at camp. If you’re planning a canoe day and it rains, you should have a movie to watch or an indoor event that can be done.
Children need to prepare for sleepaway camp. As a summer camp counselor, you also do. Be aware of potential indoor events, and check the weather forecast each night.
5. Memorize Your Campers’ Names
Adults don’t like to have their names forgotten. When children have their names forgotten by an authority figure, it can be heartbreaking.
That’s why it’s absolutely vital for you to memorize the names and faces of your campers. If you aren’t good with names, you just need to put twice as much effort into it.
A failure to memorize can make your groups feel unimportant. Speak to the kids so they know they matter.
6. Remember the Plan
Flexibility is an important part of being a summer camp counselor. You should be able to cancel an outdoor event because it rains, for instance.
But while you shouldn’t want to be rigid, you should want to function from a place of order. Knowing the schedule and plan will actually help you adjust to any potential deviations that happen.
Camp counselors have a lot to deal with. Don’t make it worse by spending a day wondering what comes next.
7. Enforce Discipline And Keep Your Campers Safe and Healthy
Discipline is an important part of summer camp. While camp is supposed to be a fun event, if you fail to have a disciplined group things can get dangerous.
Have rules and stick to them. This is particularly true if your campers are doing something unsafe.
Children often make the wrong choices. As a counselor, it’s your job to be the adult in the room and make sure things don’t get out of hand. It may not be easy, but enforcing discipline is a part of keeping the children as safe as they can be.
8. Memorize the Allergies and Needs of Your Campers
Different allergies can have different consequences. If somebody has a minor allergy that just causes bloating, it’s still important to prevent it. But some of them can be far worse.
If you have a camper with a nut allergy, for instance, you need to memorize this information. If this person comes into contact with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they can go into anaphylactic shock and need a trip to the hospital.
Make sure you know who has them if you want to keep the campers safe.
9. Be a Role Model
The most important thing that you can do as a summer camp counselor is be a role model. For a period of several weeks or even months, you will be the primary adult these kids interact with.
This puts your role somewhere between that of parent, teacher, and police officer! If you want to use it wisely, you should act with respect, honor, and dignity.
Being a counselor is important. Treat it that way when you’re with the kids.
10. Be Friends with Other Counselors
Everybody needs friends. As a summer camp counselor, it can be easy to get burnt out. Luckily, there will be plenty of others at the camp in the same boat as you.
Make friends with the other counselors on your trip. In the long run, this will help you become a better counselor and person. Plus, these friendships will last a lifetime.
Get More Camp Tips
We love helping people make the right choices about summer camps. That’s because we understand how essential it is to the development of counselors and the kids who go alike.
Whether you’re becoming a counselor or picking a camp for our child, our camp can help you make the right choice. We want to help, so read our sleepaway camp blog for all the tips you need.
