Photo Credit: Red Bank Recreation Department
Many parks and recreation professionals have a love-hate relationship with day camps. We love them because they give us a chance to provide children with safe, fun, and memorable experiences that will last a lifetime. If we do our jobs correctly, campers will experience a summer with amazing trips and new programs, while learning skills, sports, and tons more. The better day camps yield a high percentage of returning campers excited for other wonderful adventures.
However, the challenge is to dedicate the necessary time each month for a camp to be successful. While camp is strictly a summer endeavor for the kids, it’s a 12-month responsibility for the professionals in charge of organizing it. Even a small day camp requires endless planning.
Step Back To Move Forward
Many parks and rec professionals subscribe to the principle of Kaizen—constant improvement over time. This philosophy calls on studying every aspect of an organization and striving to improve it. Therefore, the most valuable component of the camp life-cycle is the analysis phase. We spend a tremendous amount of time after each camp season using surveys from parents, staff members, and children to learn which events need improvement and which events have that special sizzle. “Geeking out” on the data, we review all of the revenue and expenditures to make sure we are operating as efficiently as possible.