Summer Camp Secrets

Inspired by a recent post by The Camp Nerd, I thought I’d do my own list of summer camp websites, blogs and resources that have inspired and helped me over the last few weeks, months and years, not only with ideas for whilst actually at camp, but also with this blog and in the run up to camp. All of these websites vary in style and content, some are designed as blogs purely to help camp counselors, while others are more professional sites, with camp directors in mind.

1. Summer Camp Program Director Run by an extremely experienced camping professional, this website is packed to the brim full of awesome programming tips and ideas. From suggestions about theme days to tips on being a great counselor, this site really does have it all!

2. Go Camp Pro This is a site you do need to subscribe to (and I’m thinking about taking the leap fairly soon), but I’ve heard that it’s totally worth it. It is full of amazing resources, courses, interviews and even discussion forums that can help you make your camp even better! And if the blog is anything to go by, it’s totally worth the subscription!

3. Camp Hacker Not only do Camp hacker provide a marketing service for your camp, but they also have a pretty sweet blog, detailing a bunch of ideas on how to make your camp grown. One of the best things about Camp hacker though, are their videos and podcasts…you need to check them out!

4. Summer 365 While this site is more of a search and advice tool for parents looking to send their kids to camp, their blog is actually pretty awesome, with heaps on interviews and information about how summer camp can help kids grow.

5. Summer Camp Culture This is a super fun website with loads of camp related lists and “pop cultural artifacts depicting and celebrating the life and culture of the summer camp“. Think funny things about camp related movies or music and you’ve pretty much got it. They’ve even got a bunch of great new s’more ideas.

6. Ultimate Camp Resource This is site I’ve been using for years (as has pretty much every camp counselor) – it’s bursting with ideas for games, songs, skits and initiatives you may not have thought of before, broken down by theme and activity. Honestly, there are hundreds of different ideas on here, you’d be mad not to have a look!

7. The Camp Nerd I mentioned this blog earlier, and it’s one I found fairly recently but absolutely love . It’s run by a camp director who is a self confessed ‘camp nerd’ and posts about topics ranging from how best to support your staff to how to stay healthy at camp…some great advice on here.

8. S’more Summer Camp This is a great new blog written by a guy who works for CCUSA, so he’s definitely the right guy to ask for advice. The blog details things such as how to have a great interview with a camp director and talks about why camp life is better than real life! He’ll even help you with your summer camp application by going through it and giving you some tips on how to make it better!

9. Camp Advice 101 Run by a couple of camp counselors, this is a brand new and fun blog, full of stories from camp and advice for new counselors, ranging from how to deal with different campers, to a brilliant instructional post on tie dying.

10. Secret Diary of a Camp Counselor A lot like this site, Secret Diary aims to provide camp counselors (or people thinking about working at summer camp) with a whole heap of help and advice with regards to applying for camp and what happens once you get there. There’s even a book that details the daily life of a camp counselor!