Camp Counselor Tricks to Motivate Kids
Summer Camp: You may have remembered it as a place to make friends, weave shoelaces, eat more seafood, jump into lakes and soak mosquito bites with calamine lotion. But for Jamie Lee Lardner, who spent many years at the camp and as a counselor at New York’s Pontiac Camp, it also became the ultimate training ground for her future role as a mom.
Lardner is a member of the Offspring Facebook group and has a lot of parenting wisdom to share. When I asked her where she learned many of her tricks, she replied: “In the camp.” This makes sense – summer camp counselors should be facilitators, trainers and mentors at the same time. They encourage children to take risks, work in teams, and care for others. They have to navigate in a world of unpredictability – “Suzie found what’s on her bed ?!” – with leadership and composure.
One thing Lardner learned as a consultant was how to motivate kids. She shares some tips.
Instead of telling your kids what not to do, encourage the behavior you want to see.
“When I was a lifeguard, instead of saying, ‘Don’t run,’ I always said, ‘Walk with safe feet,’” says Lardner. “It was especially good for young children.” Giving your child a clear idea of what they should be doing is much more effective than a “no” list.
Give naughty kids a mission
In the camp, as Lardner recalls, there were children who were always pushing others. She found a way to keep the peace: to turn misbehaving children into leaders. As a parent, she recently adopted this tactic. Lardner explains: “During a Disney cruise, this 10-11 year old boy constantly knocked children out of the way to ride the waterslide. He pushed my three-year-old out of her turn, so I met him downstairs. I said, “Hey! You are much older than these children, so you have to show them how to stand in line and help them upstairs. ” Then I said, “This is Mickey. She is three years old and is just learning to wait her turn. Can you show her how big kids wait their turn? The child became her bodyguard for the rest of the day. When he got ice cream, he brought it to her. In my experience, children respond better if you remind them that they are capable of leadership instead of yelling, “Hey, wait your turn!” “
Remind the children of what they have achieved so far
Lardner says that with the more timid kids at camp, she would remind them of their past “daring steps” to encourage them to go even further. This is what her therapist calls “priming.” For example, with a child who is afraid of water, she may say, “I saw you put your face in and blow three bubbles yesterday — it was amazing! How much do you think you can do today? If we get to six, you can spray me with a board. ” It’s all about winning the children’s trust and highlighting their courage.
Imagine the desired outcome and work backwards
In camp scenarios in which Lardner would like to yell at a child, she first asked herself if this would help achieve the desired resolution. And the answer will always be negative. Once she had to be rescued on the water – one child pulled another from his boat. Lardner wanted to explode, but instead she decided to “design a disaster plan” in her head based on how she wanted the end result.
“I needed them to make a peaceful and secure solution that made everyone feel empowered,” she says. “So, I thought, how can I work in the opposite direction from there?” She decided to talk to both children about how some children think scuba diving is fun, while others are scared. “I said,“ See? Everyone tried to have fun, but we forgot the main rule: do not touch each other in the water. ” Lardner says she never wanted the so-called “bad kid” to walk away feeling embarrassed. Instead, she says she “wanted this kid to know how the hero acts.”
Bottom line: When you start out with the premise that kids want to do more and stick to higher standards, they often go up to that.