Ahhh... Bunk Life

[ulticamp]

Hey all-

We need your help!!! :speechles We are writing a book (sorry, can't divulge the name yet) for campers and have a section tentatively called "Bunk Life" which consists of tips, tricks, and stories about cabin or bunk living at a residence camp. We would love to hear your ideas on the following:

Decorating & Personalization

Is decorating your bunk and cabin allowed at your camp?
What are the decorating rules?
What are some of the cool things you have done or seen?
How do your personalize your living space?


Activities

What types of things do campers do in your cabin (before or after the traditional camp day)?
What types of cabin traditions do you (and your campers) look forward to?
Sleep - how do you get into a good sleep routine?
How do you keep track of your laundry?
Do you have bunk chores?


Thanks so much! If you would like to help, please respond and enter your tips and stories after the different questions.

Chris
http://www.ultimatecampresource.com

[Smudge]

At my last camp the girls slept in tents which would sleep 6 girls.

At night time we (the 2 counsellors on duty that night) would do the rounds of each tent - starting at a diff tent each night. We would off to sign them a quiet song or read them a story. We would then go round and they would be offered "hug, handshake or high 5" and we would then tuck in the bug nets of any campers who wanted them tucked in. Not all did.

In the staff cabin we would do things like pin up pics of home, flags, certificates we would get presented at the end of pre-camp and during the summer for random things and even things that the campers have given us like pics they have drawn in art.

At the end of each session we would have a shack party. This was the only time that the campers were allowed in our cabin. We would spend the whole session convincing the returning campers that we didn't do them for what ever reason we could think of and then on the last night after alot of co-ordination with the surrounding units we would do, after all the girls have gone to bed and are settled.

We would come out of the cabin yelling "shack party" and the girls would come to the cabin. In the cabin we would have milk and chocolate cake. Once these have been consumed the girls got to ask 5 questions (this usually included what our real names were).

Then of course we had to get the campers back to sleep.

[annknee]

Because our campers are only there for a week (sometimes shorter) they dont really get the chance to decorate their cabins. We have sandpaper on standby in case someone does try!! Staff often put up flags and pictures, but we move aroud everyweek as well so its kind of difficult to do all of that and in 6 days time have to move it all again, but some people put their countries flag up before they even put their bed down!!

Each night we go into the cabins and hug. handshake or high 5. For the youngest girls (who are housed inside) we often sit on the steps to the room and sing to them before bed. If we have a particularly energetic group we might just sit in the room until everyone is settled and asleep.

Each unit has a commmunal area, which we sometimes decorate for themes and parties. I know that one group last year had a "40th" birthday party for one of the counselors, and that was decorated with balloons and streamers and things.

[Smudge]

If we had a unit of girls who wouldn't sleep then we would if possible change the evening schedule from something quiter like a camp fire to something more energetic activities like an evening of field games such as cature the flag and flashlight tag. By the end of an evening of such activities we didn't have any more problems with them not sleeping.

[Angel_Jenny]

hehehe At the start of the summer the nextdoor cabin kept going to sleep very late and waking up very early playing with their Hoola Hoops not paying much attention to their counsellor!! My cabin of girls were getting tireder through the week as they too weren't able to sleep due to the noise so I "conviscated" the hoola hoops one night and at about 6 am my group got up and started playing and making a racket which disturbed next door cabin! Once the other cabin understood how annoying it was we got some sleep the next few nights! Can't say that's the best solution but I was new to counselling and felt sorry for my girls who did everything they were told :D

[Possum]

Decorating & Personalization
Is decorating your bunk and cabin allowed at your camp? Yes.

What are the decorating rules? Anything that does not deface the walls (nails, etc.) Tape is fine. Girls often post pictures or posters - nothing too elaborate as they're only there for up to two weeks at a time!

What are some of the cool things you have done or seen? A few years ago my bunkmates and I (this is when I was still a camper) decorated our cabin quad with rope lights/Christmas lights. It was nice.

How do your personalize your living space? I don't so much anymore. Our staff moves around, so it's not permanent and often becomes a chore to put up/take down over and over again.

Activities
What types of things do campers do in your cabin (before or after the traditional camp day)? Well, sleep of course! ;) We also play all-camp games in there (ultimate hide and go seek) and take our rest hours in our cabins.

What types of cabin traditions do you (and your campers) look forward to? Well, all camp games that involve cabins are usually lots of fun!

Sleep - how do you get into a good sleep routine? I just like to go to bed around a semi-decent hour. That doesn't always work! All-camp activities often make sleep a little easier.

How do you keep track of your laundry? Put it in a bag!

Do you have bunk chores? They aren't assigned or anything, but if there's an especially messy unit counselors often have cabin/bunk clean up contests.

[gabor85_hungary]

How do your personalize your living space? I bring some photos to put on the wall, and I usually encourage my kids to put fresh flowers on the table.


What types of cabin traditions do you (and your campers) look forward to? I call it "reflection time", after they went to bed I ask them to reflect on the happenings of that day. I ask them questions like what was the best moment of the day, what was the worse, what are the memories they would like to save for the rest of the life, what are they going to do the next day, etc. The point of that is to deepen their learning experience.

[camper]

decorating: we can decorate as long as nothing is permanent...especially in our new bunks...no writing on walls or gluing, but posters are fine and pictures, and various types of things hanging!

special bunk activity stuff: a lot of times a counselor will surprise her campers in the middle of the night with food that she picks up on a day off or night out...it's a fun surprise to be woken up in the middle of the night for pizza or cookies!

sleep: everyone does their own thing...we usually just stay up and whisper/use flashlights until everyone falls asleep. sometimes we read, write letters, or play little games.

laundry: each girl has her own laundry bag that is hung by her cubbies on a nail, we pack up laundry to be done once a week, and it is picked up and done by our camp's laundry facility. then, it comes back and the whole bunk sorts it together and puts it away.

bunk chores: we have a job wheel in each bunk, which turns each day to rotate chores. some of our jobs are front sweep, back sweep, lines (putting wet towels/bathing suits on the lines in the morning and bringing them in in the afternoon), dustpan/garbage, and porch/grounds. also on the job wheel is a number in the shower that goes with each job so no one argues about who gets to shower first during shower time.

[Smudge]

In our staff cabin we used to sign the walls of the staff cabins - this is a tradition that has gone on for years. When we had a new unit built they didn't want us to sign the walls but that was kinda ignored. However if campers signed the tent we had to clean it off.

When it camp to unit chores we each tent would be assigned a chore and that would change every day.

Cos the camps that I work at only have 1-2 week sessions we don't do camper laundry unless - there is a night time accident or they really have run out of clean choths to wear.

For staff luandry - we generally had to do our own (except at one where we had our laundry done for us). At two of the camps that I was at we had to pay to do/ get our luandry done.