At camp, we often have certain counsellors, program specialists, and
other group leaders that make facilitating activities and getting
campers engaged and excited look so simple.
Is it that they have some special gift or maybe they just understand something that the rest of us do not — it can be that simple.
By simple I mean they employ simple techniques that are very effective. Don’t get me wrong, you still need to find specialists and counsellors that have lots of experience, maybe some outside training or certification in specialized areas, confidence in their knowledge and experience, and a willingness to get out there and try. But if you watch the “great” activity leaders, the "best" teachers, the "amazing" presenters and educators, they all have a few things in common: They all use simple techniques that we all can identify, practice and eventually learn.
The following is a list of 10 activity leadership techniques that are guaranteed to make every counsellor at your camp as successful as the staff that have "The Gift."
1) Generate Excitement. Anyone that has worked with kids knows that, occasionally, you have to be more interested, excited and enthusiastic than you feel. Make eye contact, nod your head, smile, move around, raise your voice, use your arms when you talk, look impressed, and things like “wow,” “amazing,” “really?,” “this is my favorite,” etc.
2) Participate in the activity. Nothing indicates boredom more than sitting out of an activity. Unfortunately, we often only say that for campers, but it is also true for the staff — and campers know it. I have actually witnessed a group of 15-year-old boys having a fun and exciting time playing Duck, Duck, Goose (not an easy feat) because their counsellor was not only involved, but was excited and flexible.
3) Use props when presenting an activity. Whether that is a completed project, things that will be used during the activity, nonsense things that have nothing to do with what you are talking about, or even campers as ‘actors’ in your presentation, this can keep their attention and generate some interest in the activity.
4) Start with a bang. Introduce an activity by uncovering a mystery, beginning an adventure, telling a story, singing a song, doing something funny or doing a magic trick — anything that will get their attention and heighten interest in what you are doing.
5) Change things up and be creative. Ask yourself what the campers are expecting when they come to this activity and then do something different or change something slightly so that there is something unexpected. If it’s soccer, use more than one ball, if it’s archery, score the targets backwards, if it’s a traditional arts & crafts activity use different materials, if it’s basketball, don’t dribble. A note of caution about creativity, staff members often assume that when they are asked to be more creative they are really being asked to come up with something new, something profound and earth-shattering. I prefer to think of creativity as a “quarter turn of the screw,” something that is just a variation or a little different.
6) Pause when you are giving directions or presenting the activity. A well-placed pause in your speech can give the instructions, description or just plain dialogue a dramatic or suspenseful quality. This can really help keep campers attention and makes listening to the activity leader more fun.
7) Always have a back-up plan or idea. One of the most impressive techniques that great counsellors use is their ability to pull something out of thin air that can keep campers engaged, interested and busy. Well, they don’t come out of thin air, they usually come from experienced staff that know they need to be ready to do something different at a moment’s notice. Don’t be afraid to change things up and do something else.
8) Ask a lot of questions. This technique helps
all activities become more interactive and less adult- or
counsellor-driven. It often helps with problem solving, developing
expectations for the activity and giving the campers a sense of
control.
9) Be flexible. In the example above with the 15-year-old boys, one of the ways the counsellor engaged them and got them interested in playing Duck, Duck, Goose was that he was flexible with the rules. He actually asked them to make up more rules as they went along, which offered a challenge and made it more interactive. He let them change the categories (Duck and Goose) to whatever each person that was ‘it’ wanted them to be. Being flexible also means being able to compromise with campers when the scheduled activity is not what they are interested in doing. Each camp is different and we may not be able to just do something different, but you can always acknowledge and discuss why they would like to do something else and then work towards changing things for next time.
10) Give directions without sounding like it. Use the way you present an activity and how you emphasize its steps as a way to minimize “giving the rules.” A great way to do this is to try and turn everything you want to give as a rule into something you expect. So, instead of saying something negative, like “Don’t put your hands in the hot wax” (for candle making) you could say “When you are dipping your candle wick, only the wick goes in the hot wax.” Campers are constantly receiving “No," "Stop," and "Don’t” rules in their lives at camp and at home. The problem with these rules, while sometimes necessary, is that they may not explain what they should be doing as well. By stating things in the positive you explain to them your expectations for what they should be doing and sometimes can eliminate the need for “rules” altogether.
It is important to realize that these are skills that can be practiced, learned and incorporated by every counsellor. In order to become good at anything you must practice and make mistakes. Campers are great at identifying whether someone is being genuine or not. With some of these techniques, you may make mistakes, fumble with your words, or wear your “acting” on your sleeve. Keep trying and in time these techniques will become second nature.
Scott Arizala is the president of The Camp Counselor, a consulting company that works with summer camps training their staff, designing programs, guiding administrators and writing curriculum.
|
