Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 181
L
LukeBK Offline OP
150 to 200 posts
OP Offline
150 to 200 posts
L
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 181
What would you rather work at a Over Night or Day Camp?

Would You rather work at a camp that goes week by week or a camp that is 3, 4, 8, ect?

I started out in a camp that was only a over night camp that went for 4 or 8 weeks. I loved that camp but I wanted to move up so had to switch camps.

I ended up at a YMCA camp running a day camp at a camp that also had a weekly over night camp.

For me personally I love the 4+ week camps because I really got to know the campers.

With that said I did really love being the director of a day camp. Having the night off was great but it was also harder work than running a over night camp.

What do you love? Day camp or over night? Weekly camps or longer?

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
Well, I've only experienced 4 day-11 day overnight camps. I've worked day camp in a camp that also had overnight camp and we shared the staff so we went to dinner with all the kids then had 2 hours off and then had to be in our living units to help out if needed.

I work primarily with the younger kids so while some could do it, I think that anything more than 7 days is too much for them to be away from home. I'm sure it works out for some of them, but for many a week is just long enough or for some too long. Another benefit for week longs is that it's more affordable so you get a lot of kids who couldn't go all summer.

I think whatever length the session is, they should be separate of the others. So have all the campers in camp (or at least in a unit) there for the same amount of time. I worked at a camp where we had a 7 day and then a 4 day but you could also choose to stay for the full 11. Any more than that and you had to go home in between the next session. It gets confusing and possibly a little disasterous when you've got some kids in a group there the whole time and someone new comes in.

Next week will be the first time I will work day camp and then go home in the evenings so I'll let you know how that goes! It's a spring break day camp but there are no resident campers so I go home each evening. Granted, there's only about 14 campers and 1 other counselor so it will be different for sure.

So I love resident camp as a counselor, but I guess it's also nice to have nights off to go home or do whatever. But it's also crazy time while the kids are there with not as much down time for rest hour or anything since they can rest when they go home.

Ever since I saw Parent Trap I've wanted to go to a longer session camp and looked into working at one but it's just never been in the cards for me.


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
M
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
M
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
Personally I would love to work at a overnight camp.

I worked at a varierty of camps with different lengths, I would say my favorite would be either 10 days or 2 weeks long-- because it is long enough to get to know your campers but enough where everyone gets a few days off

I voluntered for a camp that was one week long and its too short in time-- you only get 4.5 days of camp activities before you have to clean the whole site up for the next weeks camp


PM me if you want to sign up for the camp buddies for this summmer.
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Offline
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
I have very much enjoyed working at an 8 week overnight camp. I have worked at my current camp for seven summers now, and I cannot imagine going back to the week long sessions. Parts of an 8 week camp are more stressful, though I still have found the experience rewarding.

I started out in GS camps. We had week long sessions of overnight and day camp. I got the chance to work in both settings.

One thing that has stayed the same for me is the all girls atmosphere. When I changed over from GS, I made sure that that aspect stayed the same. I think that campers get more out of camp in the single sex culture than in the coed culture.

Overall, camps, no matter what type, are great for kids and rewarding for the adults who work there.

- Teenster


ISU PRIDE!

Caring - Competent - Confident
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 217
C
200 to 300 posts
Offline
200 to 300 posts
C
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 217
This year I am taking a break from resident camp. I love res camp but I decided to stay at home this summer. My friends are really excited and we have planned a lot of fun events for the summer. I'm working at a day camp near my house teaching ASL and Art. After camp is done, I will go and care for two 7 year old twins that is my regular job during the year.
I've also decided to return to school (even at my age) and finish my degree. So I will be taking two online classes during the summer.

I haven't done day camp in years so it'll e interesting.

C
campingqueen
Unregistered
campingqueen
Unregistered
C
I've only done overnight camp and I've loved every minute of it. I have done 8-week camp and 1-week camp. I like both for different reasons. The 8-week camp was nice because you really got to know your campers and all of the campers at camp really well. The 1-week camp is nice because you get to help lots of different kids grow and learn. You also can repeat things more than once without having to worry that the campers won't like doing it since you get new campers every week.
I can say without a doubt that I'm an overnight camp person. I don't think I could do day camp at all.

Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
M
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
M
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
When I worked as a activity instructor, I preferred to do a 10 to 14 day session because I would have enough variety where I dont feel like I am doing the same activities over and over again, and with longer sessions it would get hard to come up with enough activities to keep my campers interested. I basically did Nature.


PM me if you want to sign up for the camp buddies for this summmer.
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 232
D
DTP Offline
200 to 300 posts
Offline
200 to 300 posts
D
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 232
My first three summers, I worked at a camp that had one and two week sessions. It's fun you get to work with so many kids throughout the summer but after three years of it, doing the same thing every week got really boring. I now work at a camp with 2, 4, 6, & 8 weekers, which I really like. The schedule isn't too repetitive, you get to know the kids much better, and the overall schedule isn't rushed or anything like my previous camp. Plus it's really fun watching the progression of some kids from week 1 to week 4 or 8.

C
campingqueen
Unregistered
campingqueen
Unregistered
C
Does anybody have a combined overnight and day camp program occurring at the same time during the summer? We are thinking about trying this out and was wondering if anyone can offer any advice or alleviate some of my anxiety about doing this?? Thanks!

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
I've worked at a couple camps that do both day and overnight camps, and they shared counselors and program areas though the day campers brought their own sack lunch (the staff put their sack lunch sandwich requests into the kitchen so the person who put together the cookout food reqs just put theirs together) and they didn't interact much with each other, just kind of coexisted (the day campers and res campers, the staff were just in DC for a week or two and then back in res camp, though the day camp unit coordinator was in DC all summer)

The only thing that I found that really doesn't work well with having both combined so much but not is that the DC and RC staff didn't ever really interact throughout the day because the DC staff ate breakfast before the RC kids and staff, ate sack lunches around camp somewhere with the kids, and were busy with their groups until dinner time when the DC kids were at home so the staff came to eat dinner with the kids and head tables and such, and then went on their 2 hr TO from 7-9. So the beginning weeks of the summer I'd be in RC and see a DC staff at the end of the week and think to myself that I'd forgotten that that person existed. I think that there are ways around this, especially if the DC kids eat lunch in the dining hall with the RCers or if there is a way to do an all camp activity or something with the DC and RCers of the same age group together. The other minor concern with the DC was that they ate sandwiches, an easy fruit (apple, banana, orange) and some chips for lunch every day. The sandwich type could be switched up a bit but was basically the same thing every day.

However, other than that, I think that it works great! The RC kids come on Sunday afternoon, scheduling happens Sunday evening for 1 time for each activity area. Monday morning the DC groups plan what they want to do and the DC coordinator schedules that for them, and then Monday afternoon it's open to any counselor from either R or D to come to the office to schedule any extra times their group wants to go to an activity. Day Camp runs similar to a regular resident camp unit so it really just happens quite well. The DC staff go down to the parking lot from 7:30-9 to be there for the kids who come for extended hours, at 9 they go to their covered "unit" area where there is space for their backpacks, picnic tables, a little stage and fire place, bathrooms, an area to play games and such. They do a welcome with some songs and excitement and announcements about our day, some time to play games with other groups or to get straight to any activities they need to go to. The groups go to the activities they scheduled for that is all within the same schedule as the res campers (arts and crafts at the craft house with the craft specialist that the res campers use) and all. The day camp groups pick a place to eat their sack lunch, do more activities, do the kapers assigned to their group (cleaning their "unit"s bathrooms, picking up litter on the ground, sweeping their unit space) and having snack. Then they do a closing where we sing some songs, do any reminders for the next day, get the kids who travel by the camp bus to the bus, and the parent pick up kids to the bus or to the parking lot (we have an undercover welcome pavillion with some picnic tables, games, balls, and an area that is blocked off for no car traffic so we can play there) for extended hours from 4-5:30. The DC staff are sent to do any finishing up cleaning or prep work as the kids start to head home, and then the staff get ready for dinner with res camp, go on their 2 hour TO, and then help out in their living units with bedtime if needed. Then they join in on the nights in an out with the res staff, sometimes covering in a different unit than they live since typically all the DC staff live in one cabin.

On Sunday and Saturday the DC staff help by doing things like parking lot duty, luggage runs, and camp store jobs to help get the res campers in and out smoothly.

Feel free to ask any questions you've got! You can always PM me too. I haven't done the directing side of it all, but I have seen it in action for many many years as a Day Camp Assistant (13-17 year old volunteer assistants who can lead games, help with crafts, help with behavior, etc, but aren't staff or even CITs with level of responsibility) which I can tell you how that works too! and as a CIT and a counselor.


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Offline
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
From 2002-2005 I worked at a camp that had a combined over night and day camp program. I worked at a Girl Scout camp.

How it worked: We got new over night campers each week. Those campers would come to camp on Sunday evening. We would run a basic opening night with them. Then the day camp program didn't start until Monday, and those campers got to camp at 9AM each day and left at 4PM. Fridays were tricky because that was also the last day of over night camp. Over night camp ended at 5PM on Friday. Many times we would run into problems with over night parents coming too early and getting mixed up with the day camp parents. Or the day camp parents would come too late and get mixed up with the over night parents. To help fix this was we split the parking lot into two zones, one for each type of camp. The parents were then directed to the zone they needed to be in. It helped a bit, but you can never really fix the problem with parents coming too early or too late.

During the day, the schedules would work itself out. We had a fairly large camp, so there were many places to go for both day and resident camp. The day camp was assigned an unused unit to keep their things, and the day camp was always scheduled for swimming during the resident camp rest hour. On Wednesday afternoons we would do a joint all camp activity with the day camp and resident camp. That was hit and miss, sometimes it worked great... other times not so much.

Staffing for this type of camp can be very tricky. We didn't hire a separate staff for day camp and resident camp. Our staff was told on Friday night before their weekend off what group they would be with. Each staff member would do day camp at least once during the summer. For some reason, day camp was not as cool as over night camp. In the evenings when the day camp staff didn't have campers, they were assigned to an over night group for evening activity and also where to sleep. This became stressful for the day camp staff because they really had two groups of campers to keep track of. After I left the camp in 2005, it was changed where the day camp staff slept in a unit on their own, without campers. This helped with the stress level, but it also created a type of anomosity between the two groups of staff.

Like I said the camp space was fairly large, and we did have a lot of campers. I believe one week I worked we had about 200 resident campers and 100 day campers. When we had larger numbers of campers, we would get volunteers to work the day camp side of camp. Overall, I loved it. It turned into a great experience for me that has helped me with my organizational skills. In 2005 (my last summer) I stayed in day camp, and it was great because I got the best of both worlds.

- Teenster


ISU PRIDE!

Caring - Competent - Confident
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
I see how the close closing times would make everything crazy. Our parking lot barely accomodates the res camp parents at drop off and pick up so there's no way. However, the res campers get out on Saturday morning so that eliminates that trickiness.

We too have DC swim time during RC rest hour. The DC staff at my camp are assigned a unit to help in during the hours that they are working but their campers are at home. However, it's dinner in the dining hall, their TO during evening activties, and then bedtime. I know there is an hour between our DC TO ending and our nights in and out duty where the DC staff are supposed to offer help. In the little kid units it's rarely used because their groups are self-contained in a cabin with a bathroom and there are few enough kids I never needed help as a res counselor except when i had the occasional kid with bedtime meds that we hadn't already gotten or that needed a little grown-up supervision getting to and from...

I find that Day Camp is super high activity since there is no real rest times, but that I rest better once my kids are off camp even though I'm still eating in the dining hall and have duties. Their counselor is still in charge of them and I'm an assistant. As a RC counselor I'm never really "off" in my mind. Sure I might be at Target or showing or napping but my mind is always thinking about what's next or a conflict between two campers because I will see them again in 2 hours and because they are still camp's responsibility and therefore mine. But there is more rest time throughout the day where I can read my own books or work on friendship bracelets and still be with my campers while they are playing quietly together or having me time.

The GS camp I worked at that had combined RC and DC did it similar to Teensters camp in that the staff were off once they had finished their responsibilities with DC, usually about 5:30. We could eat in the dining hall or we could do our own thing. However, we got paid the same as we did when we worked RC. That's one reason my current camp does it the way they do, everyone is working all but 2 hours of the day. Well, except the RC are "on call" while sleeping if their campers wet the bed or are sick or scared and the DC staff are usually in a staff cabin in a camper unit so they are never really on call at night except in extremely rare emergencies. I think this is a nice balance between the hectic DC schedule with no rest hour while still working most of the waking hours so they aren't getting a whole lot more time off than the RC staff.


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Offline
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
The day camp staff was not off once the day campers left. When the day campers left at 4, the day camp staff would clean up the day camp area, and then go straight to their assigned unit. The only exception was on their night off. In that case, the day camp staff would clean up the day camp area, and then they were free for the evening.

Many times staff did think that day camp staff got more time off than resident camp staff, though that wasn't true. In resident camp you got two hours off each day, then a night off. In day camp, you only got the night off. I think that's why the staff was on a rotating schedule on who worked what type of camp. The directors wanted to make it as fair as possible. We did have some staff and volunteers who worked day camp only, and they were allowed to leave after clean up, but that was the only exception.

- Teenster


ISU PRIDE!

Caring - Competent - Confident
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
Oh, ooops, I don't know where I messed that one up!

That's interesting that the res counselors got their 2 hours off but day camp staff didn't since it would seem like it would be easier to schedule DC staff TOs with their campers not being at camp for part of the day. But hey, whatever works and it can certainly be helpful to have extra staff at evening activities!


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Offline
2,000 to 2,500 posts
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,223
The rationale was that the day camp staff got a longer night off than the resident camp staff. The day camp staff could leave as soon as their day camp area was clean, which could be as soon as 4:30. Resident camp staff had to stay through dinner, and couldn't technically leave for the night until 6:30 or there abouts. In addition, the day camp staff usually had about a half hour free before their campers got to camp. Breakfast was at 8AM, and day camp didn't start until 9AM. So, day camp staff could collect themselves, so to speak, before the rush started.

It worked for that camp. There were some staff who were upset and didn't think it was fair, but you'll find that at every camp with every situation.

- Teenster


ISU PRIDE!

Caring - Competent - Confident
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
Yeah, it's true. There will always be people who don't think something is fair. Just cool to hear how different camps do it differently! It was certainly different between the first and second camps I worked at that ran both at the same time and place. :)


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
C
campingqueen
Unregistered
campingqueen
Unregistered
C
Thanks so much for the info on Day camp and Resident camp combined. This has made me feel much better about the possibility of this happening at my camp. We are only looking at doing it for a few weeks this summer that haven't filled with resident campers. We are going to try it week 3 and see how it goes and then might possibly do it the last 2 weeks of camp as well. We will be using our resident camp staff as day camp staff as well. The day campers are going to have a similar schedule to resident campers, they'll just be going home every evening. I think it will be ok, just a bit stressed since day camp is not my forte.

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
You're welcome! It's alright to be nervous about new things, especially big things, but I do think it will turn out just fine! Whether or not you and your camp decide to continue it, kids will come to camp, have fun, and possibly like it so much they come back next summer for resident camp or DC if you decide to continue the program. You and your staff know camp, so even if DC isn't your thing, camp and campers, and your camp specifically are, so it will work out!


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 23
T
10 to 25 posts
Offline
10 to 25 posts
T
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 23
I have worked at a few different types of camps.

My "home" camp is a 7 weeks of one week sessions. The great thing about it is that each session is different. Any given week there can be multiple sessions going on. We have pretty much everything - elementary, jr. high, sr. high, special needs, music, fishing, and a whole bunch more. So counselors never really get bored! The camp does a really great job of keeping consistency session to session, while keeping things new and exciting.

I have also worked at a camp that was a 3 or 6 week session. It was great getting to know the kids so well, but I will admit it got boring being use to doing so many different things. (I was activity specialist - so I was just doing my activity over and over)

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 181
L
LukeBK Offline OP
150 to 200 posts
OP Offline
150 to 200 posts
L
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 181
Campingqueen the camp I was a director of had day and over night camps. It worked well and here is how we did it.

Over night kids got to pick their activities and go from activity to activity by themselves. Day camp was broken up into groups by grade and moved as a group. Each day camp group had 2 staff to guide them.

Over night staff ran the activities. So a few over night kids and a group of 4th graders could be at the lake together with the day camp staff helping. Over night staff running the event as life guards or sports staff ect.

Over night would eat lunch first as day camp had a snack to hold them over and group time. When over night when to bunk time day camp would eat lunch.

It worked very well and helped build our over night. Many kids start as day camp and would sign up again that same year as over night.

I was the Day Camp Director at the YMCA camp. If you have any questions please let me know.

C
campingqueen
Unregistered
campingqueen
Unregistered
C
Well, we didn't actually end up with day camp/overnight camp combo after all. The day camp didn't bring in enough interest so we ended up with just overnight camp. I appreciate all of your insights and help in making it easier to think about the combination occurring. It truly made me feel better about the possibility of it happening.

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,995
That's too bad, but I'm glad that you feel more confident in the possibility. :)


"I'm always pretty happy when I'm at camp with you!"
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
M
More than 3,000 posts
Offline
More than 3,000 posts
M
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,279
Campingqueen-- Here is a possibility, if your camp only has a few campers wanting day camp, why not have the few campers who want a day camp experience, join a cabin for the activities during the day. My first camp I worked at, we had at most 5 campers a week signed up for day camp, and each camper joined a cabin for all their activities from 9 am until about 5 pm.


PM me if you want to sign up for the camp buddies for this summmer.

Moderated by  tom 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.027s Queries: 63 (0.013s) Memory: 0.7227 MB (Peak: 0.8863 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 10:50:17 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS