How to Beat Summer Camp Burnout
It’s spring! And in the museum education world, that means one thing: It’s almost time for summer programs!
Whether your institution does full-on summer camp, drop-in programs for visiting families, or uses another programming model, one thing is certain: Summer programs are super important to our revenue goals. As it turns out, they are also super exhausting.
Since I work at a historic house museum, we have the advantage of lots of land to use for camp. And (up until 2020), we also had the disadvantage of no indoor space to call our own. Which meant that, for years, my summers were filled with sunscreen, bug spray, little kid snot, lots of dirt, falling in the creek, and tons of fun.
There’s no doubt about it: camp is H.A.R.D. There's a reason why most camp counselors are somewhere between “just got my driver’s license” and “just got carded on my birthday.” Working camp means lots of walking, lots of hauling program supplies, lots of high energy output to keep kids happy, lots of tears (sometimes the kids’, sometimes ours), and lots of time in the sun. All of this adds up to a physically and emotionally exhausting time.
Surviving Summer Camp
When I was running camps daily as the Assistant Director of Education, I would wake up each morning and literally roll out of bed, land in my camp clothes, run a brush through my hair and over my teeth, grab some coffee and a bagel and get in the car. It took me all of 15 minutes from bed to driveway. And then, when I got home, I’d head straight for the shower, put on pajamas, eat some dinner like a robot and fall sound asleep before my head hit the pillow - usually before 9:00 pm.
(And if you think that teenagers can handle the camp exhaustion better than adults, let me tell you about the time one of my 17-year-old camp staffers arrived to work without her shoes! Her dad had to bring them to her and he was not amused.)
Over the last few years, I’ve been experimenting with different types of summer programming, but what I’ve found is that ALL summer programming is hot, tiring, and hard.
3 Steps to Avoid Summer Camp Burnout
Step 1: Create detailed camp plans
When it comes to summer programming, there’s no such thing as plans that are too detailed.
I learned this from my former director, and she was 100% right. Summer Camp Plans must be highly detailed. You should be able to articulate the exact number of craft sticks you need ahead of time, because the middle of a camp day is not the time to realize you need to make a run to the store. Our camp plans, at a minimum, have the following sections:
Learning Objectives
Weekly Overview/Schedule
Full list of materials used
Shopping list for craft supplies
Inventory list of where prepared craft supplies and teaching tools are located
Detailed daily plans, including specific activity instructions and materials list
Templates for crafts
Policies and procedures for bathroom breaks, lunch time, and accidents/incidents
Step 2: Create a landing area at home
Before the summer starts, I always create a “landing area” in my home, where I specifically plan to put my hat, my sunglasses, my name tag, my water bottle, and my backpack (filled with sunscreen, tissues, hand sanitizer, and snacks) when I arrive home. This way, when I wake up feeling like a zombie, I can quickly grab everything each morning without requiring any mental energy.
The absolute worst thing is to forget your water bottle or sunscreen on a camp day. And I’ve learned that I cannot be trusted on a camp morning to remember all the things. So, I make it easy on myself and consciously leave everything in a particular place.
Step 3: Watch out for your mental health
Nothing drains a museum educator like summer programs. Although they can be so fun, sometimes it seems like the combination of sun, sweat, and screaming kids just kind of sucks your soul away. Guard against burnout by preplanning your off time with fun, relaxing things that you enjoy. Go ahead and do that hard work of decision making, so that your exhausted brain doesn’t have to do that after a long, hot day.
For example, reading fiction is one of my go-to relaxing activities. But choosing what to read next can be mentally taxing, especially if I’m already tires. So, I pick out fun “beach reads” at the beginning of the summer, and have them ready and waiting on my bookshelf. Having a pile of books ready to go means I don’t have to stare at my bookshelf and try to make a decision when it feels like my brain is melted.
If you’re more extroverted and hanging out with friends who aren’t constantly singing the most recent Disney chart-topper is what your post-camp self needs, then go ahead and plan gatherings before the summer starts. Tell your friends what you need and see if you can get on their calendar. Then, at the end of long week of rain-plan alternative activities, you don’t have to track down an available friend; all you have to do is show up.
Make Summer Camp Easier with Tried and Tested Tips
I started leading summer camps in 2010 and over the last decade, I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks to make running camps so much easier on myself and my team.
To make it easy for you, too, I’ve taken what I’ve learned and put together a 20-page resource, The Secrets to Surviving Summer Camp. It’s full of specific action items you can take now to plan for your best and breeziest summer ever! These ideas aren’t rocket science, but if you aren’t putting them into action, you’re definitely making things harder for summer staff. I promise that Tip #7 has been a “make or break” idea for my camp staff for a decade!
This e-book is now available in the Educator Resource Library. Getting access is simple; just sign up to join my community of like-minded, hope-filled museum educators.
