I Have $24 To Last Me Til Friday, What Should I Buy With It?

Camp staff discussion

What strategies do you use to manage your mental health at camp? Reblog with comments/tags or reply to start the discussion.

I like to talk things over with people, have a good cry, take breaks when I need them, and try to relax on days off.

Ways to teach a skill

Just as there are many ways to learn, there are many ways to teach. Here are some ways to teach skills at camp:

Say it. Tell the kids what the skill is, describe it.

Show it. Show pictures, diagrams, or other visual aids.

Model it. Do the activity yourself, such as tying a knot.

Learn by doing. Have the kids do the skill, alongside you or after you (or both). This is a great way to engage kids on multiple levels, as you often also need to incorporate some of the earlier techniques (say, show, etc) and this engages multiple learning styles.

Learn through play. An example of this is a simulation game, such as that deer game where you simulate resources (called Deer, Deer, Deer in Ultimate Camp Resource). This can be existing games, or one you made up. Another example is that I made up a simulation of holding hands in different formations to explain how colligative properties work in ice cream in a bag.

Engages the senses. This works well in conjunction with other techniques, but basically bringing in as many of the senses as you can, especially touch/kinestetic.

Since kids learn differently, ideally teach with multiple methods. Teaching is a learned skill that you develop as a camp staff, and everyone does it with their own flair. But these are some suggestions to get you started as you develop your own way of teaching.

What I want to teach my CITs

This is the earliest post in my drafts, started way back in September of 2015, when I first started this blog. And I wanted to share it with you now, with some new additions. 

There are some things I want to teach my leadership girls while they’re at camp.

1. Camp is where girls go to escape the real world. Let them.

2. It’s ok if you are at camp to escape the real world too.

3. It’s ok to be overwhelmed. Just try not to let your girls see.

4. It’s ok to be confused, to need to ask questions. You will learn something everyday, no matter how long you have been at camp. 

5. You will wonder what you are sending your kids home to. Is it the same love and acceptance of camp? Is it ambivalence? Is it something else entirely?

6. You will wonder because children say things. They trust you and so they tell you things. And because you see things, you watch how they act. And you will wonder.

7. You will never forget your campers. I remember campers from when I was a program aid, ten years ago, and I remember the name of every CIT from this summer (2015). 

8. You will want to share life lessons with your campers, things you wish someone would have told you at their age. But then you realize that it’s camp and you can’t tell them. And so you hope they will learn on their own.

9. You will make mistakes, at camp and in life. I’ve made mistakes, I still make them. You just have to learn from them. 

10. You will change while you are at camp. It is our experiences that shape us and camp is an experience with a shape that isn’t found anywhere else in the world.

11. Camp songs will be stuck in your head forever. 

12. You will work with girls from all walks of life, all different experiences. Learn compassion.

13. You are loved and you are valid. Being a teenager is hard. Being a young adult is hard. But you’re not alone in this world. 

14. Camp is an amazing place. Cherish it while you can because one day, not as far in the future as you may think, it won’t be in your life but will instead be a memory.

A Complete Guide for Packing for Camp

Step 1: Figure out your camp. At my camp, counselors move cabins every week, so we try not to bring TOO much stuff. If this is similar to your camp, plan on packing in something you are able to carry/roll/etc. 

Step 2: Clear you schedule for at least a couple hours. This is gonna take longer than you thought. You might want to bring a snack and some water to your room too. 

Step 3: Clean up your room and clear some space. You’re gonna have stuff laying around all over as you try to sort through what you are bringing and attempt to organize it all. 

Step 4: Have a organization plan. I personally pack my big backpacking pack with bedding, sleeping bag, cabin junk, shoes, toiletries and other random things. Then I have a duffel bag for clothes, and towels. And I pack my day pack in advance too. (I also keep a backpack with my laptop that will rotate between staff lounge and my car). 

Step 5: Make a list. Not necessarily for specific clothes, but rather for all the other little things that are lying around your room and house that you may have to go searching for. 

Step 6: Pack. 

Step 7: Double check your list. Put everything in a pile or in your car. Don’t leave anything unpacked lying around your room/car so you don’t forget it and not realize it until later. 

TIPS: 

a. Bring lots of tampons/pads. Campers may need them. 

b. If you are going to want a comforting item (blanket, stuffed animal, boyfriend’s sweatshirt, etc.) BRING IT. You will not regret it. Find a way to fit it into your luggage. 

c. I don’t care what your camp’s generic packing list says, bring A BILLION PAIRS OF SOCKS.

d. Bring a cute outfit or two. It’s nice to shower after campers leave and look cute for if only a few hours. 

e. Have a shower/bathhouse bag. 

f. Tie shoes to the straps of bags if you are running out of space. 

g. You’re probably gonna wear the same few pairs of shoes all summer. (I have 2 pairs of sneakers, a pair of chacos (we can’t wear them when campers are here) and my barn boots. Don’t overestimate how many pairs you will wear. 

h. I like to keep my car clean and organized as well, so I can keep extra stuff in there instead of the cabin. 

i. Pack some silly clothes. Pack some big t-shirts. Pack a baggy sweater. 

What to pack for camp: backpack/daypack

*These are things that I carry with me everywhere. Some of these things might overlap with stuff from previous posts, but that is because I have two of those items, one for the cabin and one for when I’m not in the cabin

*FYI I use a North Face Recon backpack. It has a nice mesh front pocket and large mesh side pockets.

water bottle

sunscreen

bugspray

after bite

first aid kit

schedule

2 extra pairs of socks

flashlight/ headlamp

lighter

paper for fires

hairties

feminine hygiene products (small opaque bag i.e. pencil case size, with a couple of what you need)

sunglasses

playing cards

pens and pencils

hand sanitizer

travel pack of clorox wipes

cell phone (i keep mine in a life proof case)

scissors

friendship string

duct tape (optional)

face paint for team games (optional)

portable speaker (optional)

small, lightweight towel (optional)

DO NOT keep things like your wallet, or keys in your backpack. they could get lost or stolen. Instead, keep these things tucked away in your cabin. I tend to bury them in my clothing drawers, so nobody can find them.

Hey y’all!

What are your favorite CIT programs/ideas/memories/whatever!

I have very little experience with the CIT program but I believe I’m supposed to help out with that this summer and as always I like hearing people personal opinions!

~Flame

Connecting with Campers in the Age of Screens, Social Media, and Fortnite

Connecting with campers can be difficult for summer camp counselors now that campers have more screen time than ever.

“Having seen firsthand the way some counselors struggle to connect with their campers — to create money in the bank with them — I have put together the following list of practices that can help you do just that.

Take turns sitting next to different campers at each meal. Change it up so you get to hang out with all of your campers.

Make a point of walking and talking with one, two, or three of your campers together while going from one activity to another. This downtime is often when you hear more from your campers about what is going on among them as a group. It gives you the opportunity to connect with them more like a peer (even though we know you are not their peer). If you tend to walk alone or with other counselors, you are missing an important opportunity to connect with your kids.

Sit with different groups of your campers during rest hour and either talk, play a card game, or engage with them in some other quiet-time activity. Again, especially in the first few days of a new session, this is a terrific chance to connect more informally with your kids. If you tend to sleep during rest hour, once again you are missing a key opportunity to create money in the bank with them.

Make a checklist of things that you know about your campers. For example, do you know the favorite camp activity of each of them? Do you know if they have a pet at home and what their pet’s name is? (Talking about pets, who occupy a special place in many kids’ hearts, is an especially great way to make a more personal connection with most any camper.) Do you know what they are most looking forward to doing while at camp? Did they read an especially terrific book during the school year? What about a movie? A new hobby? A place they went on vacation? All of these are “keys” to connecting with your campers.

After a few days, check your list of “keys” (if you email me, I can send you my version of this handy bunk or cabin group list) to see which kids you seem to know well and which ones you still don’t have much of a connection with. Sometimes, seeing it written out on paper helps to focus where you may need to place more of your attention as a way of getting to know certain campers better.”

What is your favorite thing to do with campers to pass time?

10 tricks you didn’t know you could do with your food.

By Blossom

Camp Playlist

Every camp staff knows the struggle of finding camp-appropriate music to jam to. So here’s my playlist of camp-appropriate songs (which I play while driving).

“Best Day of My Life” by American Authors

“Pompeii” by Bastille

“All American Girl” by Carrie Underwood

“Bubbly” by Colbie Calliat

“Bright” by Echosmith

“Immortals” by Fall Out Boy

“On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons

“Don’t Stop Believin’“ by Journey

“Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall

“Ho Hey” by the Lumineers

“Whole Wide World” by Mindy Gledhill

“Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield

“Home” by Phillip Phillips

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten

“Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts

“Brave” by Sara Bareilles

“Geronimo” by Sheppard

“Anthem” by Superchick

“One Girl Revolution” by Superchick

“Shake it off” by Taylor Swift

“Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon

“Firework” by Katy Perry

“Story of My Life” by One Direction

“Renegades” by X Ambassadors

(various Disney songs)

Alright camp people of Tumblr, add on your favorite camp-appropriate songs.