What Activities Should Your Club’s Youth Camp Offer?

Paul Shockley from Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va., says clubs should do their best to offer a variety of games and activities during their youth camps to fit the needs and interests of the children attending.

A successful youth camp should offer activities and programs that try to fit the needs and interests of the kids attending. While you aren’t going to be able to please every child, offering a diverse range of games, crafts, activities, sports, and programs will enable the summer camp to be successful.

At Farmington Country Club, we offer a different craft each day to our younger campers and limit activity duration times to keep children constantly entertained. If a game or activity isn’t working, the staff will improvise and move on to something else to make sure the kids are having fun. For our older campers, we do more complex and competitive activities. In the summertime, we like to add a water slide or water balloons for all age groups to increase the fun and cool everyone down! Bringing in outside vendors for entertainment is also helpful, especially if you have kids who frequently attend camp. Some camp locations offer a lot of outdoor space but have no indoor options, while others have a lake or river on site where you can do water activities and exploration.

It really comes down to the creativity and attitudes of the staff. If they are energetic and engaged, they will inspire campers and allow them to have a fun summer camp experience.