Summer Camp Jobs

What does a Camp Counselor do?

As a summer camp counselor, much of your time will be taken up with organizing and planning activities for the children. You'll be working closely with the other counselors as well as the head counselors and the camp directors to make sure the children have a busy, safe and enjoyable daily experience. In addition to planning their activities, a camp counselor might also assist in organizing the children for mealtimes, enforcing curfews, organizing equipment and any number of other activities that are essential to the daily running of the camp. Flexibility and a willingness to get stuck in and help out where needed is an essential character trait of a good counselor.

A camp counselor’s day starts early and finishes late, and you will basically be on-call the whole time unless you specifically have time off (generally one day a week, and some hours during the evening). Depending on the camp and the terms of your employment you’ll be bunking down in a cabin with any number of the campers, so you’ll be expected to deal with any issues that arise during the night also. Personal space and privacy will be hard to come by for the duration of the camp although some camps offer counselors separate rooms.

During the day your responsibilities will largely depend on what type of counselor position you hold. Each camp has its own structure in terms of employees and their individual responsibilities, but generally speaking there are three different types of camp counselor – General, Specialized and Special Needs. While each of the three roles is largely similar, they each have their own special characteristics and each role will attract a different type of person.

General Camp Counselor

A general camp counselor is someone who assists throughout the day in a variety of areas although it is more usual for this counselor to be assigned to a specific group of children who goes with them from activity to activity throughout the day, assisting them in all the activities that they do. More often than not, general camp counselors will share a cabin with the children they are assigned to, and will be involved heavily in the planning and preparation of the daily activities for the children.

Special expertise in any given area is of course helpful but not generally required as each activity will have a specialized camp counselor who instructs the children. Having said that, skills such as first aid, water safety, lifesaving etc are always sought after so camp owners will generally give preference to applicants seeking general camp counselor positions who have these skills.

Specialized Camp Counselor

Specialised camp counselors are people who have a specific skill (or skills) in a field such as sports or the arts. This type of camp counselor will predominantly be involved in teaching that skill (or skills) to various groups of children each day although they will also be expected to be involved in the general organizing and daily routines of the children as a whole. Whereas general camp counselors tend to work with the same group of children, specialized camp counselors will be involved with many different groups throughout the day.

Skills that are looked for will vary greatly from camp to camp depending on the niche the camp caters for, but typically any water activity skills, sports, music/dance/theatre, art, science or similar skills will be sought after, although if you have any skills that you feel would benefit children then there’s probably a good chance you’ll find work as a camp counselor. Many camps cater to specific niches, for example, a science camp or a hockey camp, so you might find work as a camp counselor in a camp that perfectly matches the skill sets that you have. 

Special Needs Camp Counselors

Camp counselors for special needs children are a breed apart. Like general and specialized counselors, you will need to have endless energy and enthusiasm for the job as well as being able to take on the extra challenge of helping children with special needs – be it learning difficulties or physical impairments.

Generally speaking, special needs counselors look after smaller groups of children than their general counselor counterparts and, in some cases, even one-to-one care is the norm. While previous experience working with special needs children is not always a specified requirement (this may change from camp to camp), it would obviously help. Like general and specialized camp counselors, special needs camp counselors will be involved in the daily planning of activities and events for those in their charge, as well as general camp organization duties.

Taking care of special needs children will bring its own rewards but it is also a very demanding job. At times, the care and attention needed by special needs children can be quite personal in nature, such as washing and toiletry needs, so those working in such roles should be aware of all that the job entails and be comfortable with what is expected of them. As such, if you acquire your camp counselor position through an agency or similar outfit, it is unlikely that you will be given a position as a special needs counselor without prior consent and a full briefing of what to expect.