Keep Camp Weird

I swear to god it's real. (This blog runs on submissions- sacrifice your stories to me.)

[campstories]

As a camp counselor with 20 other college students

Camp staff: "the kids will take a swimming test and if they get a yellow band they can swim by themselves but if they get an orange band they need to be within an arms reach of an adult at all times."

Us:

Camp staff: "which is you all."

Us: *uproarious laughter*

[camp-counselor-life]

Helping the Homesick Camper

Many campers experience homesickness. This article will advise summer camp counselors how to help their campers overcome homesickness.

Help the homesick camper by:

Do your research - find out about your camper from fellow staff

Walk and Talk - have your conversation as you stroll around camp

Give options - offer location options (a stroll vs under a tree)

Try an “Up and Out” - offer up a silly question

Overcome the mantras - help the camper avoid the mantras such as “I want to go home”

Buy time - ask the camper to give camp a chance

Continue to show interest - keep up your interest in the conversation

Tell a story

Encourage participation

Stay connected - continue to check in on the camper

[campcounselorlife]

Easy ways to put others first at camp: Take the smallest brownie at dinner Hold doors open Ask the lifeguards if they need more water Walk with your slowest camper Take a shower last, even if that means cold Smile at everyone Write nice notes and hide them under pillows Offer to braid hair Hang out with the unathletic kids during capture the flag and make silly distractions Ask “how are you” with the time and intention to really listen to the answer

[ddienw]

As a Girl Scout camp counselor, everytime I see this go by I think “where are you taking your Brownies at dinner? Why are you picking on the smallest one? What is happening at your camps??”

[campstories]

So at my camp we don’t really do camp names since almost all of the counselors are teachers, but this one younger counselor’s name was Rhino for some reason, and he was one of the wildly chaotic counselors that only got the job cause his sister worked there and everyone liked him. anyways, one time we were out tubing on the lake- only CITs and counselors cause the kids had already gone home- and we have this one tube that’s shaped like a guitar pick, but it’s super old, overinflated, and trying to tube on it is like riding a bull. So of course Rhino decided he just had to ride on it, and the counselors were placing bets on how long he would stay on. He lasted two minutes. The tube flipped and instead of immediately slowing down the captain turned the boat around to go find him, but no one could see him. It’s a pretty small lake, so people started kinda panicking. Turns out the idiot never fell off the tube, when it flipped he actually stayed holding on, and was just dragged underneath until we stopped the boat.

[campstories]

My camp name is Tray and I've had it back since I was like a 12 year old camper (now 19 year old counselor) because my name's Ray and one year I left my lunch tray behind so my counselor just yelled "Tray" so I would go back to get it but I thought she thought my name was Tray but when I went to tell her I meant to say you know my name's Ray right but my brains dumb and I said you know my names tray right and she called me it the rest of the week and it stuck and I still have it years later smh

[camp-counselor-life]

Discord Server

Hello camp friends!

@nothorses created a Discord server for the camp community. So if you would like to meet some other camp people, here’s the link: https://discord.gg/AYpgt5n. 

[campstories]

Discord Server

I know I haven’t posted here in a while, but!

Camp Folks is a discord server just for camp people- we’re here for counselors, supervisors, directors, outdoor education instructors, and everyone else with any connection to camps of all types & seasons. 

You can use this server to connect to other camp people, share ideas, advice, and resources, and cultivate a richer and more unified community for camp folks as a whole. 

We’ve got roles for your position, and your camp’s specialty, type, and affiliation- plus channels for larger camp organizations. Plus some for sharing camp stories, memes, songs, games, and traditions!

Join here: https://discord.gg/AYpgt5n

Please reblog & pass the word around!

[campstories]

Discord Server

I know I haven’t posted here in a while, but!

Camp Folks is a discord server just for camp people- we're here for counselors, supervisors, directors, outdoor education instructors, and everyone else with any connection to camps of all types & seasons. 

You can use this server to connect to other camp people, share ideas, advice, and resources, and cultivate a richer and more unified community for camp folks as a whole. 

We’ve got roles for your position, and your camp’s specialty, type, and affiliation- plus channels for larger camp organizations. Plus some for sharing camp stories, memes, songs, games, and traditions!

Join here: https://discord.gg/AYpgt5n

Please reblog & pass the word around!

[campstories]

bad camp name idea:

OP

[camp-is-my-life]

I had a camper chose for herself: Pirahna

Another wanted to be: Royal Highness

[campstories]

A child once made everyone call her "hamsters" for the entire week. she refused to respond to anything else

[campstories]

bad camp name idea:

OP

[camp-counselor-life]

Outcomes of Camp

“Indeed, experiential learning in summer camp environments can dramatically improve individual learning and personal growth. According to the American Camp Association, gains for youth attending camp include the following (ACA, 2018):

Friendship skills (i.e., make friends and maintain relationships)

Independence (i.e., rely less on adults and other people for solving problems and for their day-to-day activities)

Teamwork (i.e., become more effective when working in groups of their peers)

Family citizenship (i.e., encourage attributes important to being a member of a family)

Perceived competence (i.e., believe that they can be successful in the things they do)

Interest in exploration (i.e., be more curious, inquisitive, eager to learn new things)

Responsibility (i.e., learn to be accountable for their own actions and mistakes)

Affinity for nature (i.e., develop feelings of emotional attraction toward nature)

Problem-solving confidence (i.e., believe they have abilities to resolve problems)

Camp connectedness (i.e., feeling welcomed and supported at camp)

Spiritual well-being (i.e., having purpose and meaning in life, transcendence)”

- ACA, “Internship, Test Prep — or Camp? Summer Planning amid the Noise and Haste”

[whenatcamp]

When there's a long line for the water fountain and one camper is taking forever

[campstories]

Hysterical 10 yr old

My camp goes in week sessions, and so every week we have closing campfire where we sing bittersweet songs and the kids get their year pins and whatnot. So one week, on that Friday night, the kids come back in hysterics, and camper M lays on the ground sobbing. She looked up while wailing “are we gonna get MAIIIL?!” Then, 30 minutes later, M is still crying, but there are 3 of them on her top bunk(not allowed at my camp) so we call to them that they can’t all be up there and she yells out “but… IM CRYING!” and a little bit later she’s shaking herself on her bunk railing going “I can’t take it anymore!!” It was Frickin hilarious if you ask me but awful at the time because 25 kids in hysterics is impossible to handle.

[campstories]

Snake

I used to have to go to church camp. One night after showers, a girl comes running out of the restroom screaming about having seen a snake in one of the showers. Immediately, the counselors went to check it out. Upon further investigation, they concluded it was a large, stringy piece of shit. Someone pooped in the shower and left it there for the next person.

[campstories]

kid: haha it looks kinda like you did have a beard once but it got ripped off

me: it's called acne kids, welcome to hormones

[campstories]

I knew a man who could recite Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven in its entirety, all from memory.

He would do it at random and cause half of any room to leave immediately when he did.

[campstories]

I always love to hear how people got their camp names. So, if you don’t mind me asking, where did Face come from? My camp name is Green Bean and it’s because my first name is Kellie and a co-counselor make a Kelly-Green joke and it just sort of happened.

my friend was trying to get my attention once, so they called “hey, you with the FACE!” down the hall. I only heard “face” and responded to it, so she called me “face” as like a nickname after that. 

I started using it online, replacing “fedora” with it since it was gaining a bad connotation, and since “fedora” had also been my camp name the previous summer as a CIT & I already responded to “face” at that point, I replaced my camp name with it too. 

but when kids ask i just gesture vaguely to my face and say, “cause I have one”. 

which i think is a much more fun reason.