Amplifying Kindness at Camp
July 17, 2024
In our world of heavy social media influence, divisive news, and ever-shortening attention spans, kindness can sometimes fade into the background of the adult world. Even so, most adults will go out of their way to give children a little extra kindness—a hug, a high-five or fist bump, a “good job,” an “it’s okay, you tried your best,” or some celebratory ice cream. Kids know that this special treatment feels good. However, they may not instinctively know how to show the same type of intentional kindness to others to keep those warm, fuzzy feelings going.
Camps across America are making a point of teaching children how to be kind in simple, high-impact ways at camp and beyond. Below are a few ideas about how to incorporate more intentional kindness into the camp experience all summer long!
Incorporating Kindness for Campers
If you’re looking for ideas on how to incorporate kindness into camp activities, here are a few to get you started:
Camper Kindness Challenge
Create a challenge that encourages campers and staff to perform small acts of kindness and report any acts of kindness they witness around camp. Track individual, team, or cabin progress and issue rewards such as a badge, trophy, or special privileges.
Camp-wide Kindness Initiatives
Organize projects that focus on community service or environmental stewardship, such as cleaning up a local space, planting trees, growing a garden to donate the harvest, or sending crafts or making regular visits to a nearby nursing home.
Try Role-Playing with Kind Responses
Role-playing can be an excellent way to explore common scenarios at home, school, or camp and help children learn how to respond in healthy, kind ways. By acting it out, you can challenge kids to find a way to end a disagreement or uncomfortable situation by addressing it calmly with kindness.
Mindful Journaling
Encourage children to actively write down how they feel (or how they suspect they made others feel) each day. This practice can teach children to be mindful about their daily interactions with others.
Build a Camp Wall of Kindness
Dedicate a wall in a public area where campers can write and post notes about acts of kindness they’ve witnessed or experienced. This visual representation of kindness can inspire and motivate campers to continue spreading positivity.
Incorporating Kindness for Staff:
Campers aren’t the only ones who can benefit by incorporating kindness into their daily camp life and learning initiatives. Here are a few tips on how to incorporate kindness into your camp culture and training for staff members:
Include Kindness-Oriented Camp Policies
Develop and enforce policies that promote a culture of kindness, respect, and inclusivity. Ensure that all staff understand and are committed to these values and provide training on how to implement them in daily interactions.
Create Staff Recognition Programs
Regularly recognize and reward staff members who demonstrate exceptional kindness and compassion. Whether through formal awards, public acknowledgment, or small tokens of appreciation, these gestures show that kindness is valued at all levels of the camp.
Incorporate Kindness into Professional Development
Offer workshops and training sessions focused on kindness, empathy, effective communication, and conflict resolution. Providing staff with the tools and knowledge to foster a kind environment can enhance their professional growth and improve the overall camp atmosphere.
Demonstrate Kindness with Inclusive Programming
Encourage all camp activities and programming ideas to be planned so that they are as inclusive and considerate of various campers’ needs or abilities as possible. By ensuring that everyone can participate —and feel seen, valued, and cared for at camp—you can naturally promote an environment of kindness and acceptance.
Start Peer Support Groups
Create small peer support groups where staff and counselors can share experiences, offer advice, and support each other. These groups can help team members manage stress and foster a supportive work environment where kindness is a core value.
Incorporating Kindness for Camp Families and the Community:
Even camp families and the community around your camp can benefit from a little extra kindness. Find tips on building a culture of kindness with camp families and community members with the tips below:
Share Kindness with a Camp Community
Build a community online or in-person with open communications, regular updates, and feedback opportunities. This shows that a camp truly cares for its families and the community at large. Together you can generate new ideas to give back and amplify kindness surrounding your camp operations.
Camp Family Appreciation Activities
A kind gesture such as a mailer or handwritten note to donors, camp families, staff, and other members of your camp community for their contributions can go a long way! Or if you have facilities and the budget, you could host picnics, open houses, and special family-oriented events.
Give Back by Forging Local Partnerships
Collaborate with local businesses to offer discounts for families around drop-off or pick-up dates or to secure resources for your camp. If the cost of working with someone local is the same or comparable to a big supplier, it can be a wise decision to stay local. If your camp faces future hardships, those relationships with other local businesses can be real lifesavers.
Send an Unexpected Gift from Your Camp
We often encourage campers to do random acts of kindness. Camps can do the same by sending a small gift to camp families, donors, or local businesses. A $5 gift card for coffee or a small freebie like candies, stickers, decals, or activity sheets can be an unexpected treat that makes an impression.
Introduce Camp Scholarship Programs
Despite your best efforts to keep costs low, not all families can afford the cost of camp. You can help keep the camp experience more attainable by working with business partners and donors to establish scholarships or financial aid for families that need assistance.
By incorporating these types of initiatives, you can create a kinder and more compassionate camp environment, enriching the experience for campers, counselors, staff, donors, and your local community.
Camp Kindness Day
Camp Kindness Day is a special day organized in mid-July by the American Camp Association (ACA) and its affiliates to encourage camps to band together and emphasize kindness through programming, social media, and most importantly—action!
Each year in mid-July, camps flood social media using #CampKindnessDay to show how they are celebrating with acts of kindness – such as volunteer work, writing kind letters to seniors or veterans, showing appreciation, and more. It’s truly inspirational!
