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July 28, 2010

Gary Forster's Camping Newsletter: Continuous Improvement for Great Camp Leaders

Talking to your kids about their camp experience can lead to one-word answers. Here are a few questions to get the conversation started.

YMCA camps have been providing "Memories to last a lifetime" for over one hundred years.

Camp experiences are intense and compelling for most campers. It can be difficult sometimes to really understand their experience, though. To find out what they did and how they feel about it, set time aside time to ask questions. To avoid getting one-word answers (like "Yeah" and "Nope"), use open-ended questions that require them to think about the answer and put it into their own words. Depending on age, you could try . . .

• "I heard you started each day with Inspiration with a 'thought for the day.' Could you tell me about one of them?"

• "Did your cabin get to sleep out and cook your own dinner one night? What jobs did you have at the campsite? How did you cook dinner? What did you do after dark?"

• "Which Elements did you like best? What did you get to do? What did you get better at? (Elements are the morning four-day classes the Questor campers take each week).

• "Can you teach me some of the songs you sang at camp?"

• "What kinds of chores did you have to do to keep your cabin clean each day? Did your cabin ever win a "cabin clean-up award"? Did your cabin do KP in the dining hall?"

• "Who was your best friend at camp? What did you do together? Would you like to write a letter?"

• "Who was your favorite counselor? What did you like about her/him?"

Your interest in the positive things that happened to your child will help insure lifelong memories. Asking your kids about their experiences can help them evaluate their own experiences and learn to make value judgments.

If you've got any questions, please don't hesitate to call or write. We hope to see your family up at camp again soon.

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