ACA Home Forums Day Camp vs. Overnight Camp

Well here is what I want to know. Having worked at a overnight camp all my camp career I want to know how well day camp counselors get to know there campers. Personally I think you arn't a counselor till you do overnight and have to be "mother, father, brother etc." for a week or more. I was curious on what others thought about the difference between day camp vs. overnight camp and in my opinion overnight camp being ten times more challangeing and ten times more rewarding then day camp. Isn't day camp just a different form of babysitting... please prove me wrong I am curious about day camp counselors giving ideas on this board.

Hey, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Overnight camp allows you to gain more leadership skills and be a great role model. It also helps you develop skills for your future as a parent or teacher or etc..... I don't think I could ever work at a day camp after having been at my overnight camp. I don't think you would be able to get to know the kids as well.

I agree with both of you especially since I volunteered at a day camp before I worked at an overnight camp.
And I felt like I was basically babysitting, but maybe I was wrong.
With overnight camps, you get to know each and everyone of your campers and how they are when they came and how they have grown through a week or so of camp. I would never go back to my daycamp after my experiences at overnight camps. I learned a lot of leadership through my overnight camp as well as many more skills that will be very useful throughout the years.
And day campers dont get to experience a real campfire, unless they have a sleepover for a night or something. At camp you get to experience so much more - camp songs, camp food, camp life, etc.
Correct me if I am wrong about some of this, but this is my opinion.

I disagree, but then, I've worked both. I can see how most day camps might seem like babysitting, but that is a generalization. The day camp I work at currently is a very good one, and the campers in my group last year I got to know just as well as the campers I had at my overnight camp.

The reason behind this is that I spent the entire time at the day camp with the one group of kids, from when they arrived to when they left. At overnight camp, I spent less overall time daily with the kids in my cabin than I did with the kids in my day camp group. I suppose you could say at overnight camp I got to know more kids equally well, but at day camp I got to know fewer kids very well. Then again, that is just how my day camp is structured- it really does depend.

Also for me this camp I work at now is just a better fit- I like the philosophy better, I like the staff better, and I like the facilities better overall. I won't deny that overnight camps take more out of a counselor and are more challenging to work at overall, and I still miss mine at times, but I'm quite happy where I've ended up now.

I will say the before I did experience the day camp I work at this past summer I very much believed that a day camp never could measure up. Being wrong was a pleasant surprise for me. A day camp can never give you the same type of experience as an overnight camp really, but it can prove to be equally rewarding if you find the right one and go in with the right attitude.

Okay I think I've figured out what you all are getting at.

Most of you have not heard of "real" day camps. These are day camps that offer much the same things as resident camps.

I think what you all are talking about are these things that call themselves day camps but are actually just childcare services that go to like The Mall on Monday, the Pool on Tuesday, the Movies on Wednesday, etc. The counselors are only there to supervise the kids. They don't get involved with them, don't really have much of a challenge, etc. That's not real camp. That's glorified babysitting.

"Real" day camps are much like resident camps from what I've read in various places. Really, a lot of day camps offer basically everything that resident camps offer, except for staying overnight. For instance, at my camp, our older groups (7-12) don't go inside at all during the day. They have forts they stay in. We also have a climbing tower and woods and other stuff much like a resident camp, and our program is excellent! We even have 3 overnights during the summer. You get to know the kids just as well as you would if you were at a resident camp. It's just as rewarding and just as difficult too. Instead of having a week to work on a recurring problem with a camper such as at a resident camp, you only have until the parent arrives at the end of the day to fix the problem, making it that much more difficult.

Now I'm not saying that you can have the same experience of an overnight camp at a day camp. Nothing can replace the experience of an overnight camp. However, a day camp can be equally fun and rewarding in it's own way, and the staff at both types of camp work equally hard. That's my take on it!

Well, not saying that you made a wrong assumption, but the daycamp that I volunteered at was run similar to an overnight camp. They did activities the same as an overnight camp and they had swimlessons the same as an overnight camp and so on, but I still felt like I was just babysitting the campers for the week - probably mainly because they didnt spend the night, but that is how I felt.

So we have discussed which is better to work and now what do you think is better for the kids?

I beleive the overnight experiance is unmatchable for kids independence, confidence, and a million other things. Having to be away from mommy and daddy and to do things on your own and wake up to a new situation is amazing. I have had many homesick campers early and the change in them through out the time at camp is amazing and I don't see that happening at day camps.

I don't even know if you can compare the two types of camp experiences. Of course they are going to be different. Staying overnight is one of the biggest parts of of rez camp. I don't equate day camp with babysitting (at least not real day camps) because they may be doing the exact same thing during the day that I am doing at my camp. I don't think that you can say that one of them is better than the other for the kids because it totally depends on the kids. Yes, rez camp breeds independence and teaches new skills but I'm sure that day camp can do these things too. Every child is different and some kids are not cut out for rez camp. All that said... I love my rez camp way too much to ever leave for any camp (day or rez) but I know that there are great day camps out there (as well as some not so great rez camps.)

I think it really depends on the camper. Some kids just don't do well away from home before a certain age. My brother came to my resident camp for a week when he was 9 and cried pretty much non-stop until my mom came to get him. He was just not good to be away from home overnight like that.

I think on the whole overnight camp is a place for bigger growth. It gives kids time to separate from their parents and start to figure out who they are and what they like for themselves. But for kids like my brother (who did very well in day camp) only being away half the day may be all they need.

Regardless of your situation Jake it sounds to me like you never really bonded with the kids at your day camp. If you go in with the attitude that you are babysitting, and not to be an actual camp counselor, well, then maybe that is what will happen. I really think for any good program, camp is what YOU make of it, regardless to what type of camp it is.

Now as to campalot's question, I think it depends on the age. For younger kids (under 10), day camp is probably better because it is a good first step and lets them experience camp before leaving for an entire summer.

For kids 10 and over, overnight camp is probably the best experience in terms of teaching them independence and social skills. I encouraged my campers (who were 9 this past summer) to attend overnight camp the next year and was able to give them a firsthand (if admittedly biased) opinion on the ones they were considering.

Of course that's just my opinion I formed from my own experiences- what does everybody else think?

Well, I was really babysitting. I said that I VOLUNTEERED and in Volunteering I was put to BABYSIT some of the counselors and other staff's kids - so thats how I had the attitude that I was just babysitting. I never really said that I worked at a day camp, I just said that I volunteered, and the campers or littlier kids that I had werent allowed to do all of the activities because they werent "officially" susposed to be there. I guess I should have said this earlier, but I didnt. Therefore, I was basically babysitting, but the other campers did do activities as they would in an ordinary camp and the other staff felt like they were babysitting becasue it was from 8:30 or 9 til about 3:30ish and they never got to spend quality time wtih the campers because there was so much to do and so little time to do it in.

I'm with everyone else here. It depends on the personality of the camper. Some kids can't stand to be away from home. Some kids can't stand to be AT home.

Honestly, I can't say a whole lot about resident camps since I've never worked at one. However, I believe anything taught at resident camps can be taught at day camps as well. It may take more or less time, as well as different methods, but it can be done. That's my personal opinion anyway.

Jake, I'm not quite sure what happened that made your day camp experience more like babysitting that camping, but I can tell you not all day camps are like that. The campers seem to bond really well at my camp with the counselors. We have full schedules during the day, but there's also free time built in to counselor's schedules so they can do what they want. This helps the counselors tremendously because they can use this free time to get to know their campers.

Hey, I think overnight camp is a great experience for any age kids. I had the youngest kids(aged anywhere from 6-9) in my cabin this past summer and the overnights helped them llearn responsibility, independence and many other skills that will help them grow and develop. It is true that some got homesick but they were able to overcome this and become a little more independent. The homesickness leaves and they are truly happy they were able to overcome this problem

As a day camp counselor I think day camps are great. You spend your entire day with your own group, you eat lunch in your own group, sit in the bus together with your own group when going on a field trip, you do all activities together, and believe me, you get to know your kids very well.
The days are absolutely packed at the day camp I work at...you don't have the afternoon nap...you go from activity to activity and do a maximum of activities during the day.
I think it's better for the younger kids to go to a day camp. In my personal view a 1st grader, and even some 2nd graders are not ready for overnight camp at all. Why would you want to force a 6-year-old to overcome homesickness...that's a battle you can start to fight later, just let the kids do all the fun activities a camp can offer and sleep safely in their own bed.
I think that from an older age on it depends on the child which kind of camp he or she'd enjoy the best and would get the most out of. You can't say only an overnight camp gives the ultimate camp experience. What if you hate overnight camps?
I remember that as a girl I hated overnight camps from the pits of my soul...I wasn't the brave kind of person. But in the country I'm from we don't have day-camps, but I think I would have loved it.....

I was thinking about all that has been said about day camps and rez camps. I do think that sometimes day camps are better for younger kids but then I was thinking that I had a cabin of five year olds this summer and none of them got homesick. In fact very young children are more likely to just have fun and not miss their parents in my experience. In cabins of 7-10 year olds you often get cases of homesickness. Anyway, it was just a thought.

I do agree with you all but at the same time I don't. As a day camp counselor, you do get to know the kids personally even if you are not with them 24 hours a day. Working as a day camp counselor has been extremely rewarding and to me it has been life changing. What I tell people when they ask about what it is like working as a day camp counselor, all I can say is that you have to experience it for yourself. Personally, I love every minute of it. I feel if you are starting out working at a camp for the first time I highly recommend to start at a day camp. By doing this, you are getting the camp experience but you get a nice break in between which is really nice and those breaks in between camp days is time for you to get even more excited about what is going to be happening the next day. For me, no matter what mood I am in, when I get home from camp, I am always in a great mood and I always go right to bed so I can wake up for the next day (I don't care if it is 4:30pm). However, I do plan to work for an overnight camp. As a camper, I never attended a day camp, I always attended overnight camps, or those cheap camps they run in almost every town where you pay somewhere around $100 and go on bowling trips or movie theater trips everyday. I hope that by working at an overnight camp, I can get to know my campers more, which as you all have mentioned day camp workers being deprived of this, getting to know the campers is always the best part of camp. While working at a day camp, it is always hectic and it is extremely rare to have those moments when you're sitting around the camp fire sharing stories of past experiences which is the reason I want to work at an overnight camp. The 30 minute lunch period is not enough time for me to get to know my campers, there sure isn't any other time with all the chaos of an average day camp schedule.

I have worked at both resident and day camps. There are pros and cons to both. As to which one I prefer? I really couldn't choose.

As far as bonding with your campers, it really is up to you. Yeah, you get more opportunities to bond with campers at a resident camp. Though in both situations, you have to make the time to do the bonding. As a staff member, you have to show interest in the campers and the program.

I have now been working at the same resident camp for eight summers, and I've seen staff members to a poor job at bonding with their campers. I worked at a day camp for four summers, and I've seen staff members to an excellent job at bonding with their campers.

- Teenster

I agree with you teenster-- I have only worked at a resident camp myself. As far as bonding with the campers it depends on the staff member.