Dear Camp Director,

In the past I have emailed you on a monthly basis offering entertainment and interactive events for your camp.

This year, I’m adding something new, that I think you’ll like: In each email, I’ll also include a program idea that you can use, no charge, no strings attached. I’ll provide you with a complete plan to implement the program, along with tips and (when appropriate) files you can download to help you put it all together.

As a former Program Director at a large overnight camp in New York, and former Director/Owner of a successful day camp in South Florida, I’ll also offer my expertise by answering a camp programming question each month. Got a question? Need advice on something you’re working on? Reply with your question and I’ll answer it in a future email.

So, moving forward, here’s what you can expect from these monthly emails:

• Camp Program Idea of the Month
• A spotlight on one service offered by SummerCampEntertainment
• “Ask Avi Anything” – your camp programming questions answered

As you plan for summer 2019, I hope that these emails will help you make your camp program even more fun and exciting for your campers and staff.

Avi Frier
SummerCampEntertainment.com

This month’s program idea: Hawaiian Theme Day

Hawaiian Day is a fun theme day that I have run with great success in both day and overnight camps. In this article, I’ll offer Hawaiian-themed program ideas that can be incorporated throughout the entire day.

Article contents:

• Choosing a Date
• What to Wear?
• “Aloha” Name Tags
• The Luau: Menu, Ambiance, and Activities
• Hawaiian Day Events

Click here for the full article.

This month’s activity spotlight: ESCAPE THE BUNK

Escape The Bunk was by far the most popular activity we offered our camp clients in 2018. Without fail, at every camp where we ran this exciting program, several campers told us it was the best activity of the summer.

Here’s how it works:

• About an hour before the program is scheduled to begin, all campers and staff are cleared from their bunks.
• Under the supervision of a staff person you designate, we go from bunk to bunk and place items inside. These items include:
  • A locked bin
  • Some written instructions
  • 5 or 6 items that are “hidden in plain sight”: items that look like they belong but actually contain clues (i.e. an article of clothing, a book, a picture on the wall, etc.)
  • A letter “written home from camp” which outlines the scenario, and also includes the first clue
• At the start of the activity, everyone gathers in a central place where we explain the rules and offer some tips.
• Campers return to their bunks and wait outside for the signal to begin.
• Once they enter their bunks, they have one hour to solve the puzzles that await them.
• They will know that they have solved the last puzzle when they have found the map that directs them to the finish line and the password they will need to provide when they get there.

This activity is usually conducted as a bunk vs. bunk race, and prizes are often awarded to the winners. However, we have found that the prizes are not needed, as the excitement of solving the puzzle is reward enough. At one camp, I sat with the director in the courtyard surrounded by all of their bunks while the activity was going on. Since everyone was inside their bunks working on solving the Escape, the camp was eerily quiet. But the silence was broken by loud cheers from within the bunks each time a difficult clue was solved.

At another camp, a head counselor burst into the office while the activity was going on, exclaiming, “I have never seen these kids work together like this!!!”

NEW FOR 2019:

This year we are adding multiple escape scenarios to choose from. This will avoid repetition for those who booked in 2018, as well as those who would like to book more than one activity in 2019.

Also, due to the activity’s popularity, we are assembling a team that will be dedicated solely to running this program on a daily basis. This will open up our summer calendar, allowing us to run the activity in twice as many camps as before.

If you’d like to learn more about this program, please reply to this email with your questions, or call 954-483-3654.

Keith Schoch of Lakeview Day Camp (East Brunswick, NJ) asks: How can directors make the best use of veteran staffers during camp staff training?

This question takes me back to the days when I was a Junior Counselor at Camp Hilbert in Richmond, VA. One of the most memorable sessions during staff orientation was titled “Deviating From The Norm” and was given by a counselor named David Cohen. David was, as I said, a counselor, not a head counselor or other administrator (yet). The heads of the camp had identified David as someone who was good at improvising and changing things up to ensure a great time for his campers, and asked him to give that session.

Read the rest of the article here…