It’s all fun and games until…

…You don’t plan appropriately.

• Know the environment.
  • Who – audience Not just age but tone of particular group (Are there certain challenges?)
    This applies to adults as well. Use past experience to enable future experiment.
  • What – conditions, equipment Look for dangerous elements–natural/otherwise.
    Make sure space and equipment is safe and sufficient. (ex: dodgeball)
    Pay attention to the dictates of weather. (Does wet grass affect your game play?)
  • When – timing of day, place in the program Will there be low energy? Do the kids need a break from physical activity (time of day or week)?
    Does program lend itself to type of game? Will it transition well?
• Make games/activities age appropriate.
  • Know skill levels needed. Don’t sabotage yourself by planning for failure. Take into account manual dexterity, capacity for strategy, etc.
  • Know physical limitations. How much running involved? (ex: Duracell kickball)
    How strenuous is the activity? (ex: tube tug variations combined with conditions)
    Take into account common sense sometimes.
  • Prioritize safety. This expands beyond conditions to game choice and participants.
    Think ahead – potentially dangerous situations in game, out of control players (especially when staff involved).
• Use variety of game types.
  • Enhance interest. This factors in visually as well as actively. (ex: WOW factor)
  • Round out your program. Be intentional but flexible (kickball, capture flag, strategy, end scoring, water, dodgeball, tag, relay, strength, iconic traditions)
• Develop a philosophy of competition.
  • Know why you are really doing this. This includes the what, why and how YOU do it – specific to your program.
  • Stay on mission. Communicate this consistently in word and deed to staff and campers through daily meetings and expected opportunities (games – character).

…You are boring.

• Use pre-game hype effectively. Don’t destroy the mood before you even begin.
  • Be energetic. From introduction through instruction, convince them of fun. (It won’t happen if you don’t believe it yourself. Don’t settle on game choices.)
  • Be entertaining. Use humorous elements to keep interest.
    Use humorous people to illustrate play/rules.
• Include thematic elements. Why? Theme is the vehicle that helps drive the week.
  • Weave theme throughout program, even in game title. (ex: Slip n slide…same game – different name every year)
  • Continue theme in the game introduction, plot, and lingo. These take effort and can be challenging, but it is a way to gain and maintain intentional involvement.
• Communicate simple rules. (especially pertinent to volunteer staff situation)
  • Make sure they are easily understood. Counselors are key. Give basics and then rely upon extended communication.
  • Know how to adapt the rules and instructions to move through the game.
    Incremental adaptation promotes natural progression of game, can maintain excitement and keep camper interest.
    Instructions must be easily adaptable, sensible, communicative and quick.
    This does require a bit of forethought to be most effective. (This can be done on the spot but takes a lot of experience)
• Be creative.
  • Develop games unique to the camp experience. Generally, avoid games that can be played anywhere. Seek for a special experience (if necessary, make different).
    Put a spin on common games (ex: kickball variations).
    Change game settings – board/table to field (ex: Ticket to Ride, Scrabble Slam).
    Use unique props (ex: tires from road barrels, vortex cannon, pvc ring for water, glow balls) or vary usage of typical equipment (ex: water balloon launcher, #10 cans, rubber ducks, cardboard, noodles, bowling pins)
  • Foster excitement with unique scoring, reveals, and possibly rewards. This can be done with objects (pins, tokens) or by judging.
    Results can be hidden and revealed with hype at the end.
    Game can be split into multiple sites with results relayed or gathered in.
• Be willing (within reason) to engage in friendly banter. Be careful! (And use sparingly.) Consistently apply a thought-out philosophy of humor.
  • Laugh at yourself. Do this first and most often.
  • Provide an opportunity to break down barriers. This can be a valuable tool to assist counselors in seeming real, transparent, and approachable.

…You lose control.

• Watch for non-participation.
  • Don’t feel like everyone needs to participate. However, there are already planned times to be non-participatory. You can set an expectation but easier if participation is actually fun. (attainable goal – at least 50%)
  • Change things up to include a larger or different target group. Utilize, for example, more balls or different demographic or cabin participation/tasks.
• Plan for different types of participation.
  • Use different games and differences within games. See previous categories of games for the week but also highlight variations of tasks within a single game. (ex: offense, defense, supply, solve, build)
  • Involve various skill sets. Cater to the athletic, intellectual, and artistic by implementing puzzles, problems to solve, words, building and judging, etc.
    Leave no excuse for a lack of participation.
  • Plan a progression of rounds or innings. There should be an overall, continuous rise in the excitement and energy of a game.
    Make sure it actually builds throughout and doesn’t confuse. Keep it simple.
    Use this opportunity to add an element to each level of the game – can be as simple as a change in tactics or scoring but can be very unique.
    This is not easy if it is not planned.
• Deal with overly-competitive and attention-seeking individuals. May or may not require different courses of action.
  • Do this as quietly and unassuming as possible. Take competition away (change rules or participants) or attention away (re-direct physically) from individual.
  • If not feasible, handle it quickly and effectively. Directness is sometimes called for, but again rely on counselors/staff to assess and handle appropriately. (There is benefit in follow-up with both staff and individual.)
    *Consider: The overly-competitive one might actually be a safety issue.
• Make sure you are not the problem.
  • Be a fair referee. Along with simple rules, be specific.
    Apply rules consistently, and change, if needed, at proper time.
  • Be positive in your communication. Exemplify what you expect. You can be corrective without being confrontational.
  • Be proactive by enlisting the help of counselors. They can/should assist in communicating and enforcing rules.
    When lacking program staff, they can referee and keep score.

…You don’t know when to quit.

• Know when things are not working. Learn how to read the energy and gauge interest.
  • Have an honest view of failure vs success. Don’t be afraid to seek out feedback.
  • File it away for future reference. Don’t be stubborn and insist on doing it again. At same time, don’t totally abandon if tweaks ae possible.
• Know when interest is decreasing.
  • Look for the climax. Includes max energy, max participation (active and non-active) and max excitement.
  • Give it some forethought. What would you consider the ideal pinnacle of game?
• Know how to wrap it up.
  • Have a plan to quickly conclude if time is an issue. This would also include a slight variation of the last inning (ex: counselors kicking, all running). Another idea is some sort of blitz round with a high scoring conclusion (ex: relay of balls in cans or Frisbee through hoops – simple but energetic and frenetic).
  • Have a plan to quickly modify the end of the game to finish with excitement.
    This could look totally different (but related) if there is not enough time for a complete round (speed relays, etc.).