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Let Tough Love Prevail
Let Tough Love Prevail We all knew about it and had been hearing about the possibility of it for years. It was the 1970s and our school system was putting together a cooperative agreement between...
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Send Your Child To Summer Camp
Send Your Child To Summer Camp Their development depends on it. Sleep under the stars. Catch a fish. Learn how to play guitar. Paddle a canoe. Go waterskiing. Play ball. Make friends. Build a fire....
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Create An Emergency Response Team
Create An Emergency Response Team Winter break means Mission Trips for many youth serving organizations throughout the country. Unfortunately, lack of planning results in poor responses from many...
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A New Year
A New Year Fresh ideas for programming in 2016 Each year, we scour the industry looking for inventive, new programming ideas to share with readers. The best part is that these ideas are contributed by...
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Forget The Forks
Forget The Forks Meal themes that entertain without being distracting Whether it’s out of fear of the chaos they can cause, or the havoc that prevents kids from eating, theme meals have been slowly...
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Change of Direction
Change of Direction I looked up from my laptop screen and noticed something unsettling. Arranged around me on the couch and floor were all five of my kids on their phones or tablets—texting, watching...
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When Nature Calls
When Nature Calls Children at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center answer Decades before environmental education became “vogue,” the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) in Mystic, Conn., was...
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Woven Programs
Woven Programs A better way to make lessons “stick” “Underwater Basket Weaving” is routinely maligned as the ultimate gut course. Yes, rattan vine reeds need to be soaked in water before they are...
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Justify Choosing Your Camp
Justify Choosing Your Camp How much text is appropriate on a camp website? Here’s a common question from camp owners and directors: “How much text should I put on my camp website? I’ve heard that too...
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Timing Is Everything
Timing Is Everything Determining how long a child should spend at camp For camps that offer multiple enrollment options, a solid understanding of camper tenure lengths is an essential tool when...
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Travel Information
Travel Information Whether you're driving or flying into town, here is a look at the distances to major cities in the surrounding area: Akron: 40 miles Cambridge: 80 miles Canton: 27 miles...
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2016 Featured Presentations
2016 Featured Presentations Presentation Abstracts 1. Watersports Today: Trends, Equipment & How To Start A Watersports Program Ashley Mowen 4-H Extension Educator OSU Extension This session will...
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An Uncalculated Career Move
An Uncalculated Career Move As a kid, I learned to swim at camp, make new friends at camp, even kissed my first girl at camp! Looking back, the many years I attended summer camp had such a positive...
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Be Our Example
Be Our Example Week-Ender readers, I need your help. Many of you already know that Parks and Rec Business and Camp Business will host the 2nd annual Fall Festival on September 29 at the Shisler...
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Seven Pathways To Spiritual Connectivity
Seven Pathways To Spiritual Connectivity I have been in Christian camping now for 15 years. Summer after summer, I have seen God do miraculous things in the lives of many, many youth. While the power...
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Nature-Based Arts And Crafts
Nature-Based Arts And Crafts Let the environment be the inspiration for your next project One of the most magical aspects of summer camp is that it opens a child’s eyes to a world of nature filled...
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Eat Your Vegetables
Eat Your Vegetables Hawthorne Valley Farm gives campers a taste of growing and preparing their own meals “Farm to table,” “locally grown,” and “know your farmer” are phrases that ring especially true...
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Rules To Blob By
Rules To Blob By Making the most of a popular water activity—safely We camp people are a strange lot. We involve ourselves in discussions using terms such as blob, blobbing, blobber, blobbee, and then...
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Feel The Vibe
Feel The Vibe Attract more campers by establishing a sense of trust on your website Why do parents and kids really choose one camp over another? Is it because one has an Olympic-sized swimming pool,...
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Jumping Wakes Or Puttering Around
Jumping Wakes Or Puttering Around How to choose the best boat for your summer camp Boating has been an essential and much-loved part of summer camp for decades, and continues to be a popular offering...
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Smooth Sailing At The Beach
Smooth Sailing At The Beach Creating a safe waterfront for lifeguarding staff and campers It's another spectacular New Hampshire afternoon at Camp Birchmont as I sit alongside Lake Wentworth, enjoying...
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Call Me Mike
Call Me Mike For more than 20 years, I’ve waited patiently in line for my turn to receive communion from Father Ron at Holy Name of Mary in Ellicottville, N.Y. And for 20 years, when I get to the...
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Getting Down And Dirty
Getting Down And Dirty But never germy Sometime between kindergarten and moving into my first apartment, I lost the puckish love of dirt. Reviving our camp’s nature program and dining services helped...
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Rethinking Service
Rethinking Service Incorporating a camp-based volunteer experience into a CIT/LIT program “One, two, three, GO!” The whistle blew and the first round of campers was off. Half-walking, half-running,...
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From Camper To Counselor
From Camper To Counselor Ongoing training for first-year staff members One of our greatest strengths as a camp—a large number of “home grown” staff members—also presents one of the greatest...
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When Lightning Strikes
When Lightning Strikes Help staff members to determine “Should I stay or should I go?” Lightning is truly an awesome display and a wonder to behold! But, like most of nature’s elements, it has both...
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Substitute Without Sacrificing
Substitute Without Sacrificing Accommodating food allergies easily and deliciously Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp is a leadership camp for teens who want to change the world, with week-long,...
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Addressing Anxiety
Addressing Anxiety Assure parents that being nervous or uncomfortable is just a part of growing up It seems widely accepted that people who work with children professionally are infinitely better at...
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The Importance of Being YOU!
The Importance of Being YOU! I was on the road with my oldest daughter—chasing the elusive soccer scholarship—when my phone rang. On the other end, my second-oldest daughter was in tears. She had just...
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Liked For The Right Reasons
Liked For The Right Reasons Earning the long-term thumbs up in the age of hyperliking Curious children ask “why”—especially after adults set limits. “Why can’t I stay up later?” “Why do I have to eat...
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