Hello to all of my fellow camp counselors!
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves, it's been snowing here, and I can't wait for this summer. I've been very busy applying to day camps, and am so excited for my new adventure.
Occasionally, I'll do "What To Expect" posts. These will usually be age specific, but maybe if I come across some other demographic that seems unique I'll talk about those too! Let me know if you have any suggestions!
I typically work with some of our oldest campers, the 13-15 year olds. While some camps do have older campers, typically 15 or 16 is the oldest before they do some sort of leadership program. I absolutely love this age group. I'm biased towards them, so I'm writing about them first. As a side note, as a female counselor, I have female campers. The camp I work at has very few boys, and even fewer older boys. If anyone has experience working with older male campers, I would love to hear about it! However, for the most part, this post will relate to female campers.
The first thing to realize about the older campers is that they are all different. While there are some generalizations that can be made, two girls that are the same age can be so far apart in physical, emotional and cognitive development that they seem years apart. This happens especially with the 13 year olds. You may have campers who look and act extremely mature, and others who seem very young. And this can be a hard gap to bridge. But part of the beauty of camp is that it is a place where kids can really be kids. Encourage your campers to be silly and have fun. Laughing is universal, and it doesn't matter how old we look or feel, it brings people together.
It's not uncommon for teenage girls to want to be older and more mature then they are. They may come with a "too cool" attitude, but if you have fun being silly, you might just encourage them to do the same. With that being said, understand that there is a time and place. Show them that you can let loose and have a good time, and still be serious later. This can help show them that they too can be both. Girls at this age can be in a hurry to grow up, and camp can be a great way to help them enjoy being a kid.
The most common problem experienced with this age group is drama. Yes, they can be mean. Yes, they all want to be cool. Yes, it can make camp very difficult. But this can be avoided. One of my favorite things about this age group is that they are reasonable. Usually, they can be talked to, and you can get to the bottom of the drama. Can you force two girls to become best friends? No, but you could get them to see from each others perspectives and get along for the week.
As I said, this age group is my favorite. That is because they all have their own personalities, and that makes them hillarious. They're still figuring out who they are, and they usually end up loving camp. They love to laugh, make new friends, and start to be leaders at camp. There is nothing better then watching a camper grow up at camp, and see them become a positive roll model. The oldest campers are also usually the most passionate about camp, because many of them have been going for so long. They know just how great camp is, and love it more than they often let on.
Not to mention, they go all out for dress up stuff, and love to rock crazy hair and makeup.
Let me know what you think!
You are amazing!
Samantha
