To have a summer of fun and happiness as a counselor, you need to ensure that your campers are having just as much fun and are just as happy. The best way to make sure both you and your campers are having an amazing summer is to connect with them. Here are ten ways to connect with campers that will help everyone have a summer to remember.
- Get To Know Them: Find out what your camper is passionate about or what makes them excited to be at Camp Starlight. Figuring out who they are and what they want out of their summer experience will help you ensure they have a great summer.
- Attend Their Activities: When you see them participate in sports and activities you see them achieve goals or you see how you can help them overcome a challenge. Watching your campers have fun shows that you’re interested in their happiness.
- Laugh With Them: Laughing with your campers at a joke or funny event helps you connect with them and make memories. Always finding a time in your day to laugh with your campers shows them you want to be with them.
- Use Your Imagination: Don’t be afraid to be silly with your campers or use your imagination to make a day more fun with them. Using your imagination allows your campers to see how much fun you can have together.
- Eat Meals Together: Meal time is an important time of the day that allows for campers to talk about their day, what made them happy or what made them not so happy. Spending that quality time together ensures a deeper connection as the summer goes on.
- Smile: When you smile more it is proven to improve your mood and therefore you are more approachable to your camper. Smiling helps you show to your campers that you are happy to be at camp with them.
- Ask Questions: Sometimes campers aren’t so vocal about their feelings or experiences so make sure you always ask them lots of questions and get to know how they are doing. Asking questions shows you’re interested in their wellbeing and your happiness at camp.
- Participate in Activities: Show your enthusiasm by participating in an evening activity with them or getting involved in their daily activities. Your participation shows you care and allows you to bond together.
- Show Support: Always cheer them on during games, celebrate their success and help them when they’ve fallen down. Showing support is how you connect with your camper and help them have an amazing summer.
- Take a Challenge Together: Whether it’s helping them overcome their fear of the water or helping them choreograph an amazing dance for an evening activity, taking a challenge with your camper allows you to bond with them whether you succeed or not.
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and think about all the amazing opportunities and qualities in your life you are grateful for and appreciate. A time spent with family, Thanksgiving reminds everyone to say what they are thankful for and to thank others for positively impacting their life. To celebrate this holiday, here are a few reasons campers are thankful for Camp Starlight.
7 years ago, I started attending Camp Starlight. Coming from Florida, I didn’t know anyone here, and I was definitely scared and nervous about making friends. I remember my first day so vividly. I was on the last bus to get to camp, and when I stepped foot on the clinic field, I was surrounded by the group of girls in my bunk who all already knew each other. They had been here lower junior, and I was a new camper in their bunk. I wondered how I would ever get close to these 7 girls who didn’t know how to even pronounce my name correctly, and were already the best of friends. Looking back on this now, I should have noticed that if the rest of my bunk were so close from only spending 7 weeks together, there had to be something truly magical about Camp Starlight.
There is something about spending the summer at a sleepaway camp that allows kids and teens to connect in a way they just can’t at school. Maybe it’s the extended time they spend together or the fact that selfies and Instagram and the social media comparison epidemic is taken out of the equation at camp. Whatever the reason, campers are able to interact and build relationships on a deeper level at camp than they can at school or on sports teams at home.
When you go to camp it’s basically Halloween all the time! At Camp Starlight, there are so many opportunities where campers can express themselves by wearing a costume! We encourage our campers to be silly, the sillier the costume the better! Whether it’s wearing a crazy outfit on your birthday or your bunk just deciding to all wear your hair in a crazy style for the day, dressing up is just a normal part of everyday camp life. A tutu has become an acceptable outfit no matter who you are. Some of the most favorite special events and evening activities involve dressing up. Campers love themed dance parties, camp plays, getting decked out in blue or white for 5 days of Olympics. Camp reminds us that you’re never too old or too cool to dress in a costume. We wish we didn’t have to wait 8 more months to dress in costumes again!
When asked the question, “What’s your favorite part of camp,” I am sure many campers would say everything. Personally when I get asked the same question my response is everything as well. But what does everything really mean? Is it the sunsets on the lake every night? Is it the reveille that wakes me up every morning? Is it the laughter that I share with my friends every day? Or is it all of the small moments that count just as much as the big ones? Over the previous summers here at camp I have finally found the meaning of everything, which is a combination of each and every laugh, smile and memory made at this place. Sometimes small moments can go unnoticed, however appreciating special moments here can go a long way. When I was younger the walk to alumni field from my bunk was a long and tiring experience. The struggle of putting on shin guards then the socks and finally the cleats was a difficult process as an 8 year old. Now, as an upper senior the time spent putting on the equipment and walking to the field is all worth it. Searching for my shin guards, doing cartwheels to alumni, and the little thrill you get when you walk down the steep hill leading you to the rocks or being greeted by Whatley greeting us on the field are all the little things at camp that I appreciate. So, the next time you are asked about your favorite part about camp, take a moment to think about the times you’ve cherished and appreciated no matter how big or small the memory may be because, the underestimated moments are what make you appreciate everything that this camp has to offer.
Spending a summer at a sleepaway camp is a fun way for campers to gain a new sense of responsibility and independence. For many campers, their first summer camp experience is their first experience away from home. As they learn to navigate a new place, adhere to a new schedule and new rules, and adapt to many new personalities, they gain a sense of independence that will help them mature and grow in new ways. However, the kids aren’t the only ones who do some growing over the summer. When parents say goodbye to their kids for the summer, they get to see the result of all of their hard work, modeling, and teaching as their children go off without them. Although it’s a bittersweet moment, it’s a milestone for both parents and kids.
It’s easy for children to think of their entire lives in the context of their “nucleus,”’ their home, their community, their school, their family, their friends. They typically have no need to seek beyond their immediate surroundings, and their perspective of the world is seen through a restrictive lens based on where they live and the things they’ve experienced. Attending a sleepaway camp gives children and teens a way to broaden their worldview, to see themselves as a small (yet important) part of the bigger picture. Camp Starlight gets campers out of their comfort zones and allow them to catch a glimpse of how much world they have to explore.
Team sports like baseball, basketball, flag football lacrosse, soccer, and softball bring campers together towards a common goal. These sports encourage campers to work together on the field or court, which then translates to working together in other areas of camp life too. Playing a team sport allows campers to connect with other campers whom they may not have met otherwise.
Sixteen is not an age you would associate with a summer camp. When you think of a sixteen year old, words like “rock n roll,” “rebellion,” and “sleep in extremely late” flash like snapshots of your own teen years into your head. Teenagers typically want to get away from it all and live in the moment, but at Camp Starlight, sixteen year olds break these stereotypes as Counselor Assistants. Pushing the limits of responsibilities and taking the initiative to embrace upcoming adulthood, Counselor Assistants spend another summer at Camp Starlight in the in between stage of camper and counselor. Not yet counselor, not entirely camper, these kids enter a role entirely their own on campus and even though it is a unique role, these kids enter this sphere for a reason.