Luke- It is part of how our system works- those who work in day camp do the day camp thing from 7:30am-5:30 pm (extended hours, cleaning up, etc) and then at 5:45 show up for flag lowering and dinner so that we can be heads and feet of the tables (and also so that camp makes sure we eat too!) and then from 7-9 we get out 2 hours TO like res camp staff have. From 9-10 we are expected to be in our units offering our help to resident camp as the kids get ready for bed, though to be honest some don't offer and most of the time when we do there's still nothing to do except maybe run to grab a kids sleeping bag from the laundry room or take a couple kids to the nurse for bedtime meds especially since the unit coordinator of that unit is also in unit helping out. Sometimes we help with some homesickness, but the VAST majority of time we can take time in our staff cabin to shower, read or work on our end of the week notes to our campers or paperwork. As the DC coordinator I might spend some of this time in the office working on paperwork or prep work for an all-camp activity, but I'd love to help my littles and campers with special needs who share a unit with their bedtime. It's one way they sweetened the deal for me to accept DC coordinator- I will get to live in my unit from last year so that's the unit I get to help (plus, they know that really it's the best place for me to be of use. Middle/high school is not where I do my best work!)
Yeah, I volunteered as a teen for 4 years in our DC and then worked 1-3 weeks per summer in it as a counselor for 4 years. That's one thing I know- kid loses a coat at res camp you have 3 more days to find it, day camp you have 3 more hours. Kids in res camp have more time to forget the little things they didn't like or arguments they had with a fellow camper. Day camp they go home and tell mom or dad that day.
Our swimming is set schedule that the directors decide. We swim 3 days a week, maybe 4. Mondays we don't because parents don't always send the kids with swim stuff and we send home a newsletter that first day with all those minor details. We need the majority of kids who will swim at all that week to have their stuff the first day because we do swim checks and can't do swim time and swim checks in the same part of the lake together so if we have to take 2 days to test, no one else swims. I haven't heard of much problem with this (then again, it's more likely that parents will be upset that we are swimming because they deem it too cold or raining- we do take precautions to ensure that no one gets too cold and gets out if they get close to that especially if it's a colder day)
Our activities are progression based so our littlest ones don't do things like climbing wall or archery. We have some sort of boating for every age and swim level so they get to boat at least once a week and we DEFINITELY make sure that if a group of kids is old enough that they get to that activity that week unless every one of the kids says they don't want to do it. We do special themed activities each week to help with the fun and mix it up for those kids who spend nearly every week at day camp. Even those who were gung ho about archery or climbing wall can get sick of it by the 8th week (or we mix it up so that there is extra challenge or just a fun twist for them.) We also make sure to find special activities for the little ones like Pooh Parties (read a book with honey and graham crackers for Winnie the Pooh) and rowboat lunches- take your sack lunch on the rowboat! We also do tie-dye every single week with every group and that is a necessity for parents and kids alike.
I haven't been involved in day camp when the fire department comes in YEARS so I don't honestly know whether it's something that is loved by kids and parents or just kinda ok. We try to get it in with the week that the theme fits the most.
A lot of these things have already been decided by our directors or have been operating this way for years (because it works for us) like our pick-up and drop off time. We have extended hours so for an hour and a half before and after camp those who need to be here for that time, or part of it, hang in the parking lot (sectioned off from cars, and it has an undercovered area with a lot of picnic tables) where we have board games, card games, soccer balls, books, puzzles, etc. We also have our counselors there to play those games, talk, or get some camp games going, sing songs, etc. Though it's a struggle I hear, to get the counselors to interact with the kids sometimes, especially at 7:30 am, it's a neccessity so that when parents come to drop their kid off they see our good work! We also have teen volunteers who come in and they will interact with the kids too. It's almost too helpful because they end up getting all the work of that while the counselors clump together a little. This will be my struggle and I'll talk with my friend who used to do the job as to how she managed to get everyone involved in that. I am primarily involved in making sure that sign in and out are going smoothly and the kids go home with the right people, but have some time to play with the kids too and set that example. With the exception of the staff motivation issue I think we do a good job of that and sometimes kids just want to read their own books that they brought and wake up (some of our kids are middle schoolers!)
Yes, day camp absolutely is the priority! I'm sure I'll be running around crazy most of the evening getting ready for it, especially the first few weeks, but I'm lucky that I have been around in both day and res camp for so long so the learning curve won't be as steep!
I know we do talk about overnight camp with the kids primarily just casually as they ask, and one of the things I've been brought into this position to do is merge the two back together again so that the day campers get to interact more with the res campers and that will help with showing the kids about res camp.
I hadn't thought about bringing in one of the directors, or even just a unit coordinator from res camp to talk with them about it. I can tell them all the info, but sometimes having someone else do it just makes it that much better. Even if she just went around to the different tables as they were eating lunch and talked with them about it. Or if I couldn't sneak one of them away I could pick a specific time to do that too.
One other big thing we do is that once a week DC does a cookout and makes their food over the fire. While the kids are doing camper planning on Monday morning they also plan what they would like to cook. it's a big deal and a lot of fun. I plan on going on a lot of those cookouts because I love cookouts, but need to remember that the directors even say that I don't have to go on all of them! Many weeks that would mean a cookout 4 days out of the week, which is great for variety of foods (hopefully... unless they all end up with pie-iron pizzas...) and a great way to see the counselors work so I can do a better job on their evaluations and check-ins. Cookouts are A LOT of work, especially with the little ones, though they are still one of my favorite camp activities ever! Especially with the little ones!
