The Summer Camp Society Blog
Ideas to Bring the Fun Indoors
With super high temps in parts impacting some camps and air quality issues impacting others, many camps across the US and Canada are moving activities indoors this week. Moving things indoors can be really hard, and it can create REALLY cool moments if we’re intentional. Below, I’ve got some basic ideas to get the indoor fun started.
CARNIVALS & STATION GAMES
Bring all your carnival games inside, do create-a-carnival (where each group creates their own booth), or shrink your existing station games to indoor size. Instead of running across camp, have them travel from corner to corner, space to space, or cabin to cabin (if your cabins are close).
Instead of station games, you can also just offer stations—the bracelet station, the fix-it station, the learn to sew station, the help the kitchen station, the paper football station—whatever you (or your campers and staff) can think of!
CAMPER DESIGN
Planning indoor days can be hard. And it can be stressful. And it might be a little less hard and stressful if we just ask kids what they want to do and do our best to make it happen.
Have campers come up with ideas and ask everyone at camp to help come up with ways to make these activities work indoors. They make work, and they may not, but they'll probably lead to campers learning a lot and making a lot of memories.
INNOVATION GAMES
Invention Convention and Shark Tank are great, easy games to play indoors.
Give campers (either individually or in groups) the chance to come up with inventions and make them (or models of them) using things found in the space. Let them take turns presenting to celebrity judges, emceed by an awesome host. Add dramatic music in, decorations, whatever you want to make it even more awesome.
CUPCAKE WARS
Based on the show Cake Wars
Grab un-iced cupcakes. You can usually call and get these from a local store, your kitchen could make them, your CITs could make them, OR you could get really wild and let the kids make them.
Provide each group with icing, sprinkles, and other cake-decorating supplies. Have groups pick a theme that they use to decorate a presentation area (a table or booth), decorate the cupcakes, make costumes, and come up with pitches or presentations. Pick an incredible host and let them go!
TALENTS & SKITS
Some of these activities might include:
Talent Show
Lip Sync
Air Band
Skits
Karaoke
All of these level up from "meh" indoor activities to super memorable moments when you add costumes, great music, lighting effects (even turning the lights on and off counts), props (like a broom microphone?), a cool emcee, and an excited staff. If your staff lean in and become gigantic fans, the energy will be off the charts.
GROUP THEMES & DECOR
Have each group pick a theme for their cabin and decorate it accordingly. I'll never forget the spaghetti cabin—complete with real strainers and fake noodles hanging from the ceiling.
If you already have theme weeks, they can pick a theme inside your theme. Add to the fun (and time it takes) by having them come up with chants, costumes, etc.!
Tailor this for day camps without cabins by giving them their own areas to decorate.
SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES & GAMES
Take standard teambuilders and icebreakers indoors!
Play radio trivia or SINGO: Ask questions or play songs over the radios, and have groups record their answers (or mark their SINGO cards). Yes, this clogs up radios - make sure everyone knows an alternate channel at least one leadership member will be monitoring.
Have a sockball tournament: Use socks to make a ball, and play basketball, baseball, soccer, dodgeball, or any other type of ball.
Do skits, talents, fashion shows, etc. in the cabin (or group area).
GET CREATIVE
Listen. I think you can bring almost any activity inside if you get creative, and I have faith in you. Finding ways to make things happen (even when it’s hard) will create unforgettable moments and remind you that you’re damn good at what you do. Have fun!
Want to grab this and give it to staff?
Looking for other ideas?
I was inspired by Jack’s blog about the Thunderdome, so be sure to check it out!
Want a community of people who can help with GREAT IDEAS?
TSCS membership is a safe place to fail. We get to know each other and each other’s camps, we listen to each other, and we help each other out.
ALLISON KRABILL
TSCS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
BABY JACK MOM
STRONG TYPE 3
Allison can be reached out allison@thesummercampsociety.com.
When Change Fails
We’ve been talking a lot about free choice and restorative justice lately, and I have to admit something: I failed at implementing both. Two different summers. Two different camps. Both failed.
To be honest, I’ve been really embarrassed about this for a long time, and I struggle to really reflect on failures (enneagram 3 much?). BUT, now that I’ve had some time to step back from the day-to-day of camp and I’ve been working with more people to make free choice and restorative justice happen at other camps, I decided it was time to really think about it, and I’m hoping you can learn with me.
Looking back, I think my two biggest mistakes were:
Telling staff about the change rather than bringing them in on the change
Changing a tree and forgetting the forest
So now that I have some ideas of where I went wrong, how would I do it differently?
TELLING STAFF RATHER THAN BRINGING THEM IN
There’s a big disconnect between year-round camp staff and seasonal camp staff, and I think that’s really easy to lose sight of. For year-round staff, so much time has passed since campers and staff have been there. We have worked so hard, planned so much, had ups and downs, and we are SO ready for them to be back. For seasonal staff, they pick camp up where they left it. The coffee is still in the same spot. The one shower still has low pressure. It feels like returning home. So when we have a pretty big change—especially one that deviates from the camp culture we currently have—even though we’ve spent so much time learning, planning, and getting exciting, it can feel jarring and even a little threatening to returning staff.
What’d I do wrong?
I presented both of these ideas to staff by scheduling one-hour training sessions during staff training, and pretty much only talking to them about them during that hour. Ooof. With a pretty high number of returning staff (and especially returning staff who had been there longer than me and some who had been there longer than me and the last director combined…), no wonder it didn’t stick.
So what would I do now?
I’d start way earlier. Way before staff training, I’d talk to some returning staff to get feedback about camp, and I’d ask their thoughts about implementing the changes. Probably, they’re going to feel on board just because I asked them, but if not, their feedback could also be so valuable. If I wanted to level this up, I’d maybe ask them to help plan and/or facilitate part of rolling this out to staff.
A lot earlier in staff training, I’d do some kind of State of Camp session where I gave more of an overview of where we are and where we’re going. I’d share my vision and I’d ask for their opinion. Then I’d talk together about how we can get there, and as part of that, I’d mention what we’re implementing this summer.
A few years after these failed attempts, I created and used this session to talk through some other changes. It felt like we made changes together (partnering with staff) AND it gave me an opportunity to explain what I was changing in a collaborative environment. Those changes went WAY more smoothly.
CHANGING THE TREE & FORGETTING THE FOREST
“But, Allison, those changes are really not that big of a deal. They’re easy.” - Jack Schott (okay, he didn’t say this exactly, but I can hear him saying it, and I’m sure some of you are)
And he’s right. Saying, “This will now be free choice period, and here’s how you supervise it,” is easy. Saying, “We’re now going to do circles,” is also easy. Staff will probably nod their heads and maybe even be totally on board. BUT I think that forgets the bigger picture (aka the forest).
Both free choice and restorative justice take a good amount of commitment to partnering with campers instead of having power over them. Both give campers more of a voice and help them have more ownership of their time at camp. I think that is absolutely amazing, and I think, in my cases, it was absolutely inauthentic.
What’d I do wrong?
I planned, I learned, I trained, and I got the staff to understand. So why didn’t it stick? Because no other part of our program partnered with campers. I threw free choice in most of our activity periods, but I didn’t create choices for our evening activities, our meals, our group time, or really any other part of our program. I said we would do circles for conflict (forgetting the community building part, which was another part of the problem…), but I didn’t give campers a voice in any other way or hold staff accountable for having circles of their own.
So what would I do now?
Personally, I’d probably change things a little more slowly. I’d spend a summer finding ways to give campers and staff more of a voice in the little things - the meals, the cabin/group bonding, the activities, etc. Then, when campers and staff trusted that camp (and I) truly wanted to hear from them and truly wanted them to have a voice, it’d seem more authentic.
And if I just couldn’t wait to implement, I’d maybe do a version of the Culture Shifts activities with our older campers and CITs. I’d definitely do a better job of modeling these things during staff training, using all kinds of circles throughout the week, building more choice into staff training, and debriefing how these things feel (through even more circles).
I would find more ways to change the forest, not just the tree.
OKAY, NOW DO IT!
Don’t let my failure scare you. 1) You’re better equipped and 2) While it stung at the time, it didn’t actually hurt anything.
In the words of my friend Chris Rehs-Dupin, “Every summer at camp is an experiment.” So get out there, and experiment away!
Want a community of people who can help with your failuRes?
TSCS membership is a safe place to fail. We get to know each other and each other’s camps, we listen to each other, and we help each other out.
ALLISON KRABILL
TSCS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
BABY JACK MOM
STRONG TYPE 3
Allison can be reached out allison@thesummercampsociety.com.
The Power of Boredom
Why are we afraid of boredom at camp? One could say that the job of a summer camp counselor is to entertain kids, so are we bad at our jobs if our campers are bored? My answer would be absolutely not. Boredom paired with the opportunity for exploration brings some of the most creative play and impactful personal growth I’ve ever seen.
When kids have the time and space to be bored and the opportunity to decide what to do about it, they often have big, powerful, and imaginative experiences. Maybe they decide to make a life-size dragon out of cardboard or interact with someone they haven’t met before or they just try something new at camp. Boredom is uncomfortable, but it often pushes us to grow and explore in ways we don’t have time for or may not have thought of when we’re constantly busy or being entertained.
Boredom is a skill. Learning how to be bored means you have to figure out how to be with yourself and identify what you actually want to do, not what someone else tells you that you should be doing. Boredom is uncomfortable; it challenges us to seek out what we truly enjoy and value. Camp is the perfect environment for kids to learn how to sit in the discomfort of boredom and find excitement and connection through it.
But… Conflict?
I often hear that the most conflict happens during down time. Conflict isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact I would argue it’s necessary and actually builds deeper connection, but that is for another blog post. Times that are less programmed at camp mean that there is a higher chance that kids will get bored, so then conflict gets linked to boredom. However, just like conflict, boredom at camp isn’t necessarily an issue; when paired with choice and tools for exploration boredom can be used to promote intrinsic motivation, highly creative play, connection, self-awareness, and so much more.
Free play
Free play and boredom are interwoven. At Stomping Ground we have an area called Downtown. It’s a place where campers are free to roam and get up to whatever they want. It consists of spaces like the makerspace, the library, gaga ball, and the adventure playground. It's a mixed age space where kids can play freely, and it’s filled to the brim with loose parts. An architect named Simon Nicholson developed the theory of loose parts; he says that “an environment which is rich in open-ended materials and real materials, invokes children to experiment, engage, construct and invent; invites them to tinker, to manipulate and to play.” Downtown feels like the heart of camp and is arguably where much of the magic of camp comes from; it’s a camper-led space that encourages kids to lead with their curiosity and to play and invent, but it also holds a lot of boredom.
When we give kids opportunities for free play we’re also opening up the door to boredom. We are showing campers that we trust them to spend their time in a way that feels fulfilling and fun, this can feel like a big decision for some campers. There is so much structure in kids' lives; unstructured time can sometimes be confusing, we're so used to being kept busy that when we are expected to entertain ourselves we aren’t always sure what to do. Every person is different, some thrive in more structured ridgid environments and some in completely free and open spaces, which is why choice is important.
When we give campers the option to be bored in a space full of tools for exploration (loose parts) we’re helping them learn how to find what makes them truly happy. We aren’t taking away the exciting and fun activities that keep campers engaged and create lifelong memories, but we’re pairing them with an invitation for exploration through boredom. It’s important to also offer spaces with more structured activities, giving campers choice creates a space where all kids can thrive.
the challenge
I want to challenge you to look at your daily schedule or overall camp structure and see how much space there is for boredom. I’m not saying that you should throw away the fun games, silly skits, and all of the engaging and exciting spaces we create for kids, but my hope is that you see the power and opportunity in also creating time that allows for boredom and exploration.
but how do I supervise this?!
Jack has you covered in this blog.
Want to connect with other camps who believe in the power of free play?
We’re constantly talking about this and so much more with our TSCS members. Join a community of camp professionals who believe that kids learn to make decisions by making decisions.
maddy linder
Blog contributor
Camp director
Stomping Ground
Maddy can be reached at maddy@campstompingground.org.
Dearest Fellow Straight White Dudes
Dearest Fellow Straight White Dudes,
We need to talk.
In the past several years we’ve seen an explosion of new voices speaking out to educate us and our industry about how we can be more just, inclusive, and welcoming to all people. Amazing organizations like OAAARS, Transplaining for Camps, S’more Melanin, and others are helping the industry become aware of the harms that our spaces have caused and how to grow into a place of welcoming and belonging for more people. Camps are beginning to take a hard look at old traditions and thoughtless assumptions about how and why we do the things we do. Many of us as individuals are trying to learn and grow by doing the painful work of reflecting on the injustices that we have helped perpetuate by our words and actions. This is incredible, important work, and it’s uplifting to see the industry beginning to confront it head on.
Zooming out and taking a look at all this in the big picture, I would argue that all of this growth and education comes in response to the framework that our society has been built on – namely, a society that values straight cisgender white men and those who choose to operate within and uphold that system. All of these individual causes - whether racial justice, gender equity, queer and trans inclusion, and others – are responses to a society that for far too long has ignored their voices and devalued their personhood. Every one of these voices is vitally important. But among all these courageous voices speaking to us about a better way, there is one group whose voice is noticeably silent.
It’s us, my guys.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me – as a group we’ve had the microphone for way, way too long. I’m not suggesting that our point of view needs to be heard, or that our voice is as important as those discussed above. The voices of marginalized people who are deeply affected by this work are the ones we need to listen to and learn from right now. (To that point, I had Chris, Simone, and others look over this essay for feedback!) What I am saying is that we need to start using our voices as active allies to speak up in situations where members of our own identity group (straight cis white men) continue to perpetuate harm. As leaders in our industry (whether we earned that leadership or not) and role models for boys and young men, it’s imperative that they see us actively demonstrating a healthier version of masculinity. It’s uncomfortable to speak up in those situations, to invite unwanted usually hostile attention on ourselves. But, I’d like to point out, we’re the only group who has that choice. We can choose to keep our heads down, avoid conflict, and continue to benefit from the system that does real harm to people, or we can use that privilege to choose to speak out on their behalf. As Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” We shouldn’t leave the work of undoing harm to those most victimized by them while nodding our heads and proclaiming support. It’s time we started choosing to be uncomfortable.
The good news in the camp world is that for the most part, most of us are already on our way towards this goal. Because of the nature of camp, to be a good leader we’ve needed to practice empathy, patience, active listening, deferring to others expertise, and seeking to create a place of belonging for everyone. It’s a great start, but it’s not enough. We need to start being vocal about healthier expressions of masculinity like affirming and experiencing a full range of emotions beyond only anger, listening more than we talk, or abandoning the “I’m in charge” mentality many of us have been socialized to uphold. If we don’t, we run the risk of losing the young men and boys who look up to us to the online presence of creators who are pushing a dark, harmful, archaic notion of masculinity that lionizes dominance, violence, and overt misogyny. By ignoring this responsibility or being satisfied with our individual efforts at growth and change we’re allowing the long-standing structures of inequity to continue to exist. Our neutrality and silence will only perpetuate the harms that so many people have been subject to for far, far, too long.
So I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. I intend for this to be the first in an ongoing series looking at the ways we harm, are harmed, and benefit from the status quo. I encourage those of you who have made it to the end to do the same. What better avenue, what better industry to take up the mantle of a healthier humanity than ours? We already care about the work. We already care about people. We already have the power within this system, all we need is the courage to speak, and the will to change.
In closing, I’d like to share this excerpt from the book The Will to Change by bell hooks. It’s a great first step on the journey of education about our responsibility as men.
For both men and women, Good Men can be somewhat disturbing to be around because they usually do not act in ways associated with typical men; they listen more than they talk; they self-reflect on their behavior and motives, they actively educate themselves about women’s reality by seeking out women’s culture and listening to women…. They avoid using women for vicarious emotional expression…. When they err—and they do err—they look to women for guidance, and receive criticism with gratitude. They practice enduring uncertainty while waiting for a new way of being to reveal previously unconsidered alternatives to controlling and abusive behavior. They intervene in other men’s misogynist behavior, even when women are not present, and they work hard to recognize and challenge their own. Perhaps most amazingly, Good Men perceive the value of a feminist practice for themselves, and they advocate it not because it’s politically correct, or because they want women to like them, or even because they want women to have equality, but because they understand that male privilege prevents them not only from becoming whole, authentic human beings but also from knowing the truth about the world…. They offer proof that men can change.
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Mike O’Brien
TSCS Member
Blog contributor
Camp Coordinator
Camp AJ
Christian Appalachian Project
Mike can be reached at mobrien@chrisapp.org.
Cookie Jar Communities
Raise your hand if you like cookies. If you know me you know that I have a giant sweet tooth, I love pretty much any baked good or ice cream flavor ever invented.
So when we decided to send some gifts out to a couple camper parents my first thought was, cookie jars! But before we get too deep into how much I love sweets, let’s talk about building community.
The relationships we have with caregivers and campers are the foundation that camp is built on. What are concrete ways that we build, maintain, and strengthen these relationships?
A couple ideas:
Sending fun presents throughout the year
Random calls to ask how their year is going
Keeping a list of camper birthdays and sending them a card
Sending handwritten notes
Maintaining consistency with who is reaching out to families
Sharing specific memories you have with campers
Sending a favorite photo from the summer
Sending memes or Tiktoks that remind you of a moment or memory with a camper
Hosting meetups
What else?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Recently we decided to send a little extra love to some camper parents who have gone above and beyond in supporting camp, we call them super parents. Supporting camp does not always mean donating money, these parents are invested members of our community; that can look like helping us recruit new campers, sharing their love of camp on social media, coming to volunteer events, and so much more.
It’s often easy to get wrapped up in the million other things we have to do throughout the year and things like sending ten parents a gift just because we think they’re awesome can easily get pushed to the side. This is me reminding you that this kind of stuff is important. Even if it may not seem like a priority, it’s going to pay off in the long run.
Okay now back to the cookie jars! I spent a couple days thinking about what these parents would actually like to receive; It's easy to send a camp shirt or a knick knack but I was sure these parents had plenty of both. I didn’t want to send something that would just collect dust. I’m not the most crafty person either but I love to bake, so I figured cookie jars would be perfect; you get an activity to do with your family and a delicious treat at the end of it. I got my ingredients and started assembly.
Here’s the recipe I used:
In the jar (put them in in this order to make pretty layers):
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
RECIPE TO ATTACH:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine, 1 large egg and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
PACKAGING
I packaged them up and sent them off with a handwritten note. All of this took me maybe four hours total, and now those parents are going to feel more connected to camp and hopefully inspired to continue helping us build our community.
SHOWING WE CARE
There are so many ways we can show people we care. It’s easy to focus on the things that need to happen or only reach out when people donate money, but I think part of building a strong and committed community is making people feel valued and appreciated for simply just being a part of it. I want to continue to find more small and big ways to express gratitude and show everyone in our community that they belong.
looking for more cookie-jar-like ideas?
We’re constantly talking about this and so much more with our TSCS members. Join a community of camp professionals who are doing the work when it comes to social justice, innovation, and so much more.
maddy linder
Blog contributor
Camp director
Stomping Ground
Maddy can be reached at maddy@campstompingground.org.
We Need to Reprioritize Paper Applications.
We arrived late to the online registration game at Camp AJ. Beginning in 2016, we switched from an entirely paper-based registration system to a nice, shiny CampBrain site. I know I don’t have to tell any of you just what a game changer that can be for the amount of administrative work we have to do. Of course, we still made paper applications available for folks, but that first year we saw nearly 60% of our families choosing online registration. In the following years, that number of course grew, until summer 2022 nearly all our registrations happened online.
the issue with paper applications
As convenient as online registration has been for us, however, we’ve noticed a concerning trend in our camper population in that time. Camp AJ exists to serve kids from families who may not otherwise be able to afford summer camp. Our goal is always to serve the largest number of kids who need camp the most. We use several metrics to evaluate whether we are serving the kids we hope to, including whether families qualify for the National Summer Food Service Program. Before we transitioned to offering online registration, we typically saw 80-90% of families meet these criteria. Last summer, less than half our campers did. After reviewing how and why this is happening, we’ve come to an important decision: we need to reprioritize paper applications.
There are many reasons why online registration systems are a barrier to kids attending camp. For us, one of the biggest is the increasing number of children who are living with a grandparent as a primary caregiver. According to a PBS News Hour report, in 2016 more than 2.7 million grandparents find themselves as the primary guardian of their grandchildren, a number that is increasing at about 7% each year. More than 1/5 of these households live at or below the federal poverty line. Tech literacy among these folks presents a daunting challenge to things like signing a child up for camp. Other barriers include ease of access to information or an internet-connected device, low confidence with navigating complex systems, and the stress and fear that comes from trying to accomplish a complicated task on an unfamiliar platform. Recent studies show that even members of Gen Z struggle with digital literacy beyond entertainment platforms.
why it matters at camp
So here’s my pitch: camps care deeply about justice, equity, and inclusion. Camps are doing the hard work of making spaces available, accessible, and welcoming to the most kids from the most families. If we truly care about equity at camp, that means doing everything we can to make participation in camp as easy as possible for the broadest number of folks. In order to do this, paper applications should be given the same effort, thought, and priority as online. We should be thinking intentionally about these barriers to attending camp and addressing them on our end, rather than expecting families and caregivers to acquiesce to the things that make our jobs easier.
strategies we’re trying
Back to Camp AJ, here’s some strategies we’re implementing for 2023 that we hope take some significant steps in the right direction:
No more “first come, first served” applications: Online is infinitely faster than a paper application. We’re moving to a rolling review process for all applications and launching paper applications earlier than online to provide sufficient lead time for the time needed for paper applications
Simplicity is paramount. We’re making our paper application as short as possible. We’ve asked ourselves, “What is the information that is absolutely necessary to have written down by a caregiver, and what information can we get later over the phone, in an email, or as a second mailing?”
“Registration” is out. “Application” is in. We’ve tweaked our wording to remove the suggestion that completing a camper’s paperwork is a guarantee of attendance. Instead, we’re taking a beat to review each application to ensure we’re serving the population we intend to.
Proactive relationship matter. We’re building a communication network with our local school systems, support groups, foster agencies, and other non-profits in order to get information about our camp out to folks who don’t have access or confidence online. In order to get offline kids to camp, we have to have offline systems to disseminate information and provide support to offline caregivers.
paper applications in action
Several summers ago, we received a call from one of the family resource officers at a local elementary school. Because they knew about our mission and because we had a good working relationship with them, she was reaching out to refer a child to us. Her grandmother had recently been given custody, and she had no resources for social interaction over the summer. There was no cell phone or computer in the home, and even though they lived less than five miles from the camp the grandmother had not heard of us. We were able to call to talk with her about camp, drop by her house with a paper application, and get her signed up for camp in just a few days. She’s been an annual camper every summer since then, and her grandmother has talked several other grandparents into sending their grandkids to camp as well. Without those relationships, and without our old paper application, we would’ve missed out on serving that camper who desperately needed it. This summer with our renewed focus, I hope we’ll have many more stories like that to tell. I hope you do too.
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Mike O’Brien
TSCS Member
Blog contributor
Camp Coordinator
Camp AJ
Christian Appalachian Project
Mike can be reached at mobrien@chrisapp.org.
Creating a Year-Round Camper Board
Kids learn how to make decisions by making them.
I had the chance to attend The Summer Camp Society retreat this past November and I loved it. One night after a day full of brainstorming, networking, and building community with some truly incredible camp professionals, I could not fall asleep. I was tossing and turning, reflecting on everything we had learned. We had spent the day talking about partnership, power, and choice; I knew Stomping Ground was already implementing these concepts but I started wondering how we could push ourselves even further. Then an idea popped into my head:
What if Stomping Ground had a camper board?
At Stomping Ground we are very used to making space for kids to feel powerful and to have an abundance of choice during the summer, but what about the rest of the year? I brought the idea of a year-round camper board to the rest of the team and everyone was excited about the potential. Here are some of the reasons I think it’s important and some possibilities of what it could look like.
The Why of camper boards
Because we trust kids to exercise their inherent power. Organizations serving youth often talk about all the things they do for the kids, but rarely involve those kids in actual decision-making. Adults in our society hold most of the decision-making power over young people and are often scared of relinquishing it. We can talk about trusting kids all we want, but if we aren’t giving them any actual capacity to make change then we don’t fully trust them.
Stomping Ground is based on the idea that campers have choice and freedom to spend their time at camp however they want; we do this through things like Downtown Stomping Ground, mixed-age play, and a myriad of different activity options. What if we involved kids in creating the structure, or the sandbox, that holds all of those choices? The year-round camper board is an opportunity to collaborate with kids to design the sandbox. It's a space for campers to be involved all year round in the bigger-picture decision-making of camp.
the what of camper boards
The main job of the camper board is to think critically and creatively about camp and how we can be better; and to hold the year-round team accountable for making sure our work aligns with campers’ values.
Having actual decision-making power is very important; without that, the whole thing just feels like it’s for show. The board could be involved in things like hiring, facilities plans, event planning, menu options, budget management, visioning, or so much more.
We decided that the best way to choose what decisions they are a part of is to let them design the structure. What are they interested in having influence over? What is most important to them? Are decisions made democratically or through consensus? Are they more interested in advising or having power to decide? What parts of camp excite them? Where do they want to see growth?
The founding members are going to shape the capacities and potential of the camper board. The goal is to create the space and inspire them to practice making radically empathetic decisions.
Initial Challenges creating a camper board
One challenge upfront is that we are forming the initial board composition during winter. Ideally, there would be some sort of democratic process to elect campers to the board where all campers have a vote; but because we didn’t want to wait until the summer to get this up and running, the founding members will be chosen by the current year-round team. Just as we intentionally create the Stomping Ground community to be diverse in a variety of ways, we should make sure the board reflects that. The goal of the board is to represent camper values, so the problem with founding members being chosen by staff and not campers is that those values may be skewed toward what we (the adults) think is best. As folks age out or decide to leave new members will hopefully be chosen through a democratic process where all campers have a vote.
next steps for a camper board
Set up a Zoom visioning meeting with founding members. Give them space to develop a structure. Offer suggestions and help them build a proposal to bring to the board of directors.
reflections
I’m beyond excited to see what the campers think of this and what kind of sandbox they want to create for this camper board. I knew I didn’t want it to be fully developed before bringing it to them, because the point is for it to be a space that is as camper-directed as possible. This is all an experiment. I have no idea what direction it will take us or how interested the campers will be, but it feels very important to try. At Stomping Ground we’re always striving to create a community that feels like we want the rest of the world to feel. For me that means trusting kids' capability to make real and important decisions.
Kids learn how to make decisions by making them. Without actual power to change or redirect systems and processes of camp the camper board becomes for display only. It all centers around trust. Creating space for kids to make decisions that could have a large impact shows them that we trust them and it strengthens our community through shared power. Summer camp is about fun but it’s also about learning how to live in a community, figuring out how to remain curious and thoughtful, and examining how your actions impact others.
When power is shared this lens of community-oriented thinking becomes even more important; how do we make decisions that uplift and celebrate everyone in our space? When do we compromise? How do we navigate having opposite viewpoints? These are all things that I am sure the camper board is going to have to navigate around, but as Spider Man says, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
How can you reimagine and restructure who holds power at your camp? How much do you trust kids to make big decisions? Who has a say in the future direction of your camp? What happens when people disagree? Is giving campers decision-making power important to you? Why? The camper board is just one possible answer to these questions, but there are many other ways to inspire our campers to be powerful and empathetic decision-makers. What sort of systems or structures can you dream up that entrust campers with more leadership and decision-making power?
See the latest update on Stomping Ground's blog
There’s a blog and video here.
want to dig in more about having power over vs partnering with?
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maddy linder
Blog contributor
Camp director
Stomping Ground
Maddy can be reached at maddy@campstompingground.org.