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The American Camping Association posted an article titled “What Parents Want to Know that Camp Counselors Should Know”. The article focuses on five major areas of camp that parents have questions about. I have been walking through each section of ACA’s post and answering the questions for Shepherd’s Fold. The first three posts go over SFR’s Staff Qualifications, Camper Health and Safety, and Communication and Technology with Campers.

Section 4: Camper Expectations and Behaviors

This section in the ACA article has quite a few questions to answer, so I’m going to break it down into several different parts. Today I will cover the most frequently asked questions concerning cabin assignments and work into how SFR handles participation in games. Following posts will go over dress code, homesickness, and discipline.

Section 4, Part 1: Cabin Assignments and Game Participation

Cabin assignments are pretty simple—campers are assigned to their cabins by gender and grade. If there are one or two people your child would like to bunk with, just let us know. We love to honor cabin mate requests! 🙂 During camp, boys are not allowed in the girls’ cabins and girls are not allowed in the boys’ cabins for any reason—this goes for campers and staff alike.

Cabins are for sleeping and regaining energy for playing super awesome summer camp games and activities. We research games for each age group to ensure that the campers will have fun and enjoy each day of activities. We even test some of the new games out at our retreats before camp! We encourage every camper to participate in the activities, however, if a camper decides they do not want to play a game, whenever possible, we will have the campers keep score or assist in running the game to keep them engaged. If the campers do not want to play or be an assistant to the leader, we will allow them to sit on the sidelines, but they do have to remain in the area of the game so that they will be in sight of the staff. Often, we will have a counselor sit on the sidelines with them to keep them company.

In playing games, the camp staff play by the rule “Camp is for the Campers”—they fully participate in the games, but their goal is to make sure the campers are enjoying each activity. This involves playing so that the campers have a little challenge, but still win the games. It also involves showing the campers what good sportsmanship looks like, with fair play and encouraging words to all players—your team and the opposing team.

If you have any questions concerning cabin assignments or participation in activities, or if you would like to request cabin mates for your camper, please call the office at 918.263.3622. (Please limit cabin mates to no more than two.)

Blessings, Hope Chitwood/ Camp Director/ Shepherd’s Fold Ranch