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Young Siblings & Day Camp


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Curious to know what everyone's summer camp does to accommodate (if anything) for the younger siblings of the cub scouts attending day/twilight camp. Since we had absolutely no volunteers for our 'tot lot' - I will end up being there during camp tending to the 4 siblings tagging along with their older brothers. I have some crafts and activities lined up, just wanted to know what others do for the 3-5 year olds.

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This is covered in National Camp School training required of your camp director and program director. Operation of your "tot lot" program is included in the camp standards you are required to meet.

I just did two weeks across two camps (our District and a neighboring one). One program had a tot lot (run by a Girl Scout Volunteer), the other just had the volunteers bring their other children aro

Curious to know what everyone's summer camp does to accommodate (if anything) for the younger siblings of the cub scouts attending day/twilight camp. Since we had absolutely no volunteers for our 'tot lot' - I will end up being there during camp tending to the 4 siblings tagging along with their older brothers. I have some crafts and activities lined up' date=' just wanted to know what others do for the 3-5 year olds.[/quote']

 

We have a tot lot that is managed by the local Girl Scout troop. The Seniors are all high school aged, we YPT train them and they get service hours for it. We have the tots do the stations but each station scales for the age. Also put in extra break times for them with fisher price toys.

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This is covered in National Camp School training required of your camp director and program director. Operation of your "tot lot" program is included in the camp standards you are required to meet. Most notably you have to have two-deep leadership assigned to the tots, one of whom is 21+. Talk to your camp director or program director. They should be helping you develop the program, not just saying, "here watch these four kids for us."

 

But to answer your question, with four kids 3-5, just do the stuff you would do if you were watching a friend's kids -- crafts, snacks, a wading pool, squirt guns, playing ball, playground time if one is available, etc.

 

When I was a camp director we had as many as 85 siblings in the tot lot program and sometimes 20 or more adults on that program staff. We had a great volunteer who ran the program for several years. She developed a program appropriate for the age of the tots. When it worked, we would slide the tots I into the regular program rotation with the Cubs, although not everything the Cubs are doing is age-appropriate for them. We also had Cub-aged sisters who are just as interested in the regular camp programs as their brothers. For them, we found a couple moms who were year-round GSUSA leaders, put all the girls in a den slotted them in the camp rotation just like the boys. The ladies in charge adapted the Cub program to the Girls Scouts so the girls could work on GS requirements.

 

We also had girls serving as junior staff members just like the Boy Scouts (ages 11+). Many of them volunteered for the tot lot, although some of them were insulted at the suggestion, too.

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Thanks for the input y'all :)

 

I know both directors attended NCS training. They put me with another parent from my den to watch the tot lot (we have to be together at all times with them, both of us are 25 and I'm a registered den leader.) I went to a training session last week for camp where we went over all the rules, descriptions of each area, leaders for each, various 'events' that could occur (health, weather, etc.), had our health forms evaluated and got some other materials for camp. However, when tot lot was 'briefed', it was just that. Who would be over it, how many kids and I was given bins from storage with various things in them. She told me before training they'd have an area for the tots and we were to come up with activities/crafts to do with them each day (which I recently picked out.) I wasn't given any specifics as to what to do crafts wise but since the youngest kid in tot lot is my son, I know what is and isn't age appropriate and went from there. I was posting this mainly because of curiosity, to see if there were any ideas I could incorporate as backups.

 

As for the older sisters, we don't have any girl scout troops in our town but we have someone come in who is over the sisters at the camp while they form their own den and participate along side their brothers and fellow scouts (I was told there was training involved in that position as well, I never inquired more on it but thought it was great they did that as there are 6-7 older sisters I believe.)

 

We have quite a few boy scouts as junior staff members but none wanted to be over tot lot. Neither did any of the adults asked until she got to me, lol. I said I'd help no matter where it was needed.

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Well then, I'll definitely be looking for some backups for sure now. Got rained out yesterday. So almost all of the crafts I had planned we ended up going through yesterday with still 4 days to go! Little ones were looking so forward to the tiny pool we had set up and ball games we planned to play with them and then out of no where the bottom fell out. Hopefully today we can get outside and make up for yesterday's awful weather!

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Assuming you get outside, this is popular with the tot lot boys, use sidewalk chalk and draw a town with roads, buildings, etc. and give them HotWheels. This keeps them busy for quite a while. You can do it inside with large pieces of paper or with large chunks of cardboard from boxes. Also, inside, if you have a Costco or somewhere you can get boxes, bring a ton and they will find a way to use them....

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Thanks Jasper! I saw a TON of sidewalk chalk in one of the art bins last night we can use. We're out in a big field (good ways away from the elks lodge that's our charter) so I might have to do the cardboard idea out there (but I know we have some in storage.) I also have a good bit of boxes left over from the archery targets we made! Our tot lot grew last night so we now have 4 boys and 2 girls :)

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Boxes are also good for stacking into tall towers or making little hideouts. When I did Tot Lot we also painted rocks, made nature bracelets, painted sticks to look like snakes, made rain paintings (paint on stiff paper, put in rain and see what happens), strung pony beads on ribbons and cords for bracelets, colored a LOT on paper with crayons and on the sidewalks with chalk. Things I had planned but didn't finish were God's eye wrappings with sticks and yarn or branch weavings. I also structured the day so we alternated quiet activities with active time, began every day with a gathering activity, brought sheets to spread under shady trees for 'nap' time or reading time and basically ran it like a long den meeting. For waiting activities, like when we were suppose to join the scouts to do the special activity of the day, I'd bring along Uno cards and fingernail polish. Everyone had very colorful nails by the end of camp. We also put together a little song with hand motions for Parent's night, the older kids especially liked doing that.

 

Good luck! I've done day camp stations, been a den walker and last year was the year I did Tot Lot. It was by far the most exhausting job. It was not a priority for the camp director, which is not a surprise, and I think it could be changed to be a better experience for the Tots and the volunteers. I gave some feedback, but from what I understand it was pretty much the same this year.

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How does camp get cancelled due to rain?!?!?
You must not live in tornado alley. When I was in Nebraska it was very rare to witness rain fall vertically. If it is not bolted down you can pick it up from your neighbors yard down the street in a few hours. In the Midwest the best the forecasters can do is tell you is it might rain an hour from now. Around here it is not advisable to be outdoors in thunderstorms, especially with a bunch a young children screaming in terror. Again, it does not rain here, we have thunderstorms and frequent super cells.
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This is the our district's day camp but out of all the packs that make up our district, only our pack had people sign up (the others aren't nearly as active in any of the events we plan as a district.) All the other day camps through our council are either full, cancelled, past the late registration date or the registration end date is before my next check: http://www.coastalcarolinabsa.org/OpenRosters/ViewOrgPageLink.aspx?LinkKey=30615&orgkey=1991

 

As for the rain, high winds and lightning accompanied the rain. One of those storm cells came through here last night and then again this afternoon. Thought it was gone this morning but apparently there was another. I'm no weather person but the husband was keeping up with it. From what I was told a lot of damage happened to the tents that went up yesterday and signs that we didn't get down last night. The elk's lodge that charters us had a member's event today so we couldn't go in there to wait it out (that's where we were last night since it wasn't occupied.) :( Gotta get out there tomorrow after work and work on getting everything straightened for tomorrow night (hoping that was the last of it.)

 

Sasha, thank you so much for the ideas! I have a feeling that's how they see this one as well.

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