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How to Run a Summer Camp

Running a summer camp can be challenging, but it can also be a lot of fun! This page contains general information that is relevant to everyone who is running a summer camp. It does not contain information about any particular camp. For example, if you’re looking for a curriculum for a Minecraft Modding camp or information about how to make sure that computers are ready for a Roblox camp, then you’ll need to look elsewhere.

This page is really long, and I don’t expect anyone to remember all of it. You might want to just print out this page and check things off as you do them, or maybe make a checklist on your phone somehow. Either way, please don’t try to rely solely on your memory in order to make sure that you follow the advice on this page. I’ve been working here since the very first summer camp that Code Wiz Reading had ever run, and I still forget to do things that I’m supposed to do.

Before the first day of camp​

Before the first day of camp starts, please do the following:

  1. If needed, familiarize yourself with what you’re teaching. If you’re teaching something that you haven’t taught before or haven’t taught in a long time, then try it out at home. Create a Roblox game. Create a Minecraft mod. Create a Python app. Do whatever you need to do in order to ensure that you know the subject that you’re going to be teaching.

  2. Create a plan for at least the first day of camp. There can be a lot of friction during the first day of camp, and campers are know to cause chaos. Having a plan helps you be confident and weather the storm of the first day. Here are some things that you might want to include in your plan:

    • Are you going to have the campers start by sitting in front of computers, or are you going to have them play a name game away from the computers?
    • What’s the first thing that you’re going to teach campers?
    • When will breaktime be? What games will you let kids play during break?

  3. Figure out when you need to leave on the first day. First, estimate how much time you think that you’ll need in order to get set up. Second, estimate how much time it will take you to travel to camp on the first day. Third, include an extra 15 minutes in case anything goes wrong. Finally, subtract those three numbers from the camp’s start time.

    For example, let’s say that I have a camp that starts at 9:00AM. I estimate that it will take me 30 minutes to set up. I also estimate that it will take me 45 minutes to drive to camp. 9:00AM - 30 minutes of setup time - 45 minutes of travel time - 15 minutes in case anything goes wrong = 7:30AM. In this example, I’ll try to leave at 7:30AM. If I end up waking up late or there ends up being extra traffic, then I have a 15 minute cushion to help keep me on time.

    Once you have your estimate, I recommend putting it in your calendar. I find that putting my estimate in my calendar helps prevent me from being late.

Before the first day of camp or on the first day of camp​

If you’re teaching at a partner location, then you may be asked to pick up equipment from the Reading center. If you are asked to pick up equipment from the Reading center, then you must pick it up before the first day of camp or on the first day of camp.

If you plan on picking it up on the first day of camp, then make sure that you include these three things when calculating when you have to leave for the first day (see the previous section):

  1. the time it takes for you to travel to Code Wiz,
  2. the time that it takes for you to load the equipment into your car and
  3. the time that it takes for you to travel from Code Wiz to the partner location.

On the first day of camp​

At any point during the first day​

Please do the following at some point on the first day of camp:

  • If you’re working at a partner location, then please take a picture of your roster and email it to reading@thecodewiz.com. Please format the message like this:

    Subject: <date> - <location> - <camp topic>

    Example subject: 6.17.24 - Andover - Roblox

    Body: Embed a picture of the roster in the body of the message.

You can do that task at any point in the day. Just try to make sure that it gets done on the first day of camp.

Before the campers arrive on the first day​

Please do the following on the first day of camp before campers arrive:

  1. Arrive at the camp location.

  2. If you’re running a camp at a partner location, then find someone who’s in charge of the partner location and start asking questions.

    Each partner location has their own policies and procedures. Partner locations want us to follow their policies and procedures, but they often fail to tell us what those policies and procedures are. Here are some questions that you might want to ask:

    • What room will I be teaching in?
    • Where can I find the roster sheet for my camp?
    • Where should I be when camp sessions start? Do I need to pick up students and take them to my room?
    • Where should I be when camp sessions end? Do I need to drop my students off somewhere at the end of the day?
    • If something goes wrong, who should I contact?

  3. Try connecting to Wi-Fi. If needed, ask someone for an SSID and password.

  4. Set up your equipment. In other words, move tables into place, distribute the laptops and make sure that all laptops are plugged in. I recommend that you do NOT plug mice in yet. We’ll talk about mice in a later step.

  5. At this point, you might realize that you haven’t been given enough equipment. Here’s some things that have happened in the past:

    • There’s more campers on the roster than there are laptops.
    • There’s enough laptops, but there aren’t enough chargers.
    • There’s nineteen laptops, nineteen chargers and zero power stips (thanks, dickhead!).

    If this happens to you, then immedately contact someone like Sandeep who can help. Also, take a deep breath and try to not stress out about the fact that you’re kind screwed. After all, it’s probably not your fault that someone was dumb enough to not give you any power strips.

  6. If you have time, test out any Internet-dependent software you’re going to use.

    For example, if you’re going to teach a Roblox camp, then check to see if Roblox is blocked on the WiFi network that you’re using. If anything is blocked, then try to contact someone who runs the location that you’re teaching at, or someone at Code Wiz who might know a workaround. Again, try not to get stressed about the fact that something incredibly stupid and out of your control just happened.

  7. If you have time, then make sure that the software that you’re going to use this week is not installed on any of the computers. For example, if you’re teaching a Roblox camp, then make sure that Roblox Player and Roblox Studio are not installed. If you’re teaching a Scratch camp (for example), and you plan on doing everything in a Web browser, then you can skip this step. I’ll talk more about this later.

  8. If you have time, then make sure that all of the laptops are turned off and closed. Again, I’ll talk more about this later.

Once campers start arriving on the first day​

Please do the following on the first day of camp once campers start arriving:

  1. Learn their names. Here’s a few tricks that you can use to help you learn campers names:

    • Play a name game where you have to repeat the campers’s names.

      For example, you could ask camper #1 what their name and favorite Roblox game is. Then, you could repeat camper #1’s name and favorite Roblox game. After that, you could ask camper #2 what their name and favorite Roblox game is. Then, you could repeat camper #1’s name and favorite Roblox game followed by camper #2’s name and favorite Roblox game. After than you could ask camper #3…

    • Avoid the word “you”. In situations where you would normally call someone “you”, call campers by their names. This will force you to practice people’s names.

  2. If you have mice, then tell campers to grab a mouse and plug it into their computer.

    Many campers don’t know how to plug in a USB Type-A cable because they never get an opportunity to learn how. They either don’t use USB Type-A devices, or adults “help” them by plugging the devices in for them.

  3. Help campers learn how to turn on a laptop. Most campers won’t know that you have to press the power button in order to turn computers on. This is their opportunity to learn.

  4. Help campers get logged in.

    • If all of the computers that you’re using require the user to enter a password, then force kids to type in the password themselves. This will make kids to practice typing which is an important skill. It will also make some kids to learn that you have to hold Shift in order to type capital letters.
    • If most of the computers don’t have a password, then type the password for the campers who need a password. It’s not fair to force them to type a password if everyone else doesn’t have to type a password.

  5. Help campers set up what ever software they’re going to be using this week. Specifically, here’s what I do with students:

    1. Ask them if they know what a Web browser is. They probably won’t know what a Web browser is. The definition that I use is “A Web browser is an app that let’s you access Web sites.” You’ll probably also have to give them examples of Web sites because they probably won’t know what a Web site it.
    2. Help them find an open a Web browser that’s installed on their computer.
    3. Explain that they can type in a Web address into the address bar in order to go to that Web address.
    4. Tell them to go to a specific Web address. For example, if you’re teaching a Roblox camp, then have them type in create.roblox.com so that they can download the Roblox Studio installer. If you’re teaching a Scratch camp, then have them go to scratch.mit.edu.
    5. If the program that you’re going to use needs to be installed, then walk them through downloading the installer, running the installer and completing the installation wizard.

    Most coaches don’t do this step, but I think that it’s really important. A lot of kids are taught how to code but are never taught how to actually use a computer. Coding is a useless skill if you don’t know how to use a computer. Additionally, teaching kids how to set this stuff up at home empowers them to continue learning at home.

  6. Help kids create and test a “Hello, world!” project.

    If you’re teaching MCreator, then this might be a mod with a single mod element (an item or a block). If you’re teaching Roblox, then this might be a hamburger built of parts. If you’re teaching Python, then this would be a literal “Hello, world!” program.

  7. Potentially take a break.

    At this point, you’ve done a lot with your campers. If you’re lucky, you’re campers will have breezed through the previous tasks. In that situation, you can keep teaching. If you’re unlucky, then completing those previous tasks was a slog. In that situation, you should probably give your campers a break.

  8. Keep teaching and having campers work on their projects.

  9. If you haven’t already take a break.

  10. Once you come back from break, continue to teach and have students work on their projects.

Before camp ends on the first day of camp​

Please do the following while the first day of camp is coming to an end:

  1. Help students to these two things:

    1. Make sure that their work is saved.

    2. Shutdown their computers. Most students have no idea that it’s possible to shutdown a computer (they only know how to put the computer to sleep). This is your opportunity to teach them an important computer literacy skill that most of them never get taught.

      When teaching students how to shut down computers, I strongly recommend that you avoid methods of shutting down computers that involve holding down the power button. If students don’t hold the power button down for long enough, then the computer will go to sleep. If students hold down the power button for too long, then they will do an unclean shutdown. Instead, have them open the Start menu on Windows or the Apple menu in the global menu bar on macOS. This is also your opportunity to teach them about the Start menu because many students don’t know anything about the Start menu.

  2. If you’re at a partner location, remember that you may have to drop your students off somewhere at the end of the day.

After campers leave on the first day of camp​

Please do the following after students leave on the first day of camp:

  1. Make sure that all laptops and power strips are turned off. This will save electricity overnight.

  2. If you have mice, then unplug any mice and put them aside. You’ll have campers plug the mice back in tomorrow in order to practice using plugging in USB cables.

  3. Tidy up the room. Push in any chairs, and pick up anything that was left on the ground.

  4. Figure out where the equipment needs to be stored.

    If you’re the only one who’s going to be using your room this week and it seems safe to do so, then you can leave everything where it is. If someone else is going to use the room through out the week, then you may need to move your equipment. If you’re teaching at a partner location, then you may need to pack up your equipment and store it in your car.

  5. If you’re teaching at a partner location, then make sure that you’ve emailed us a copy of the roster. (See the previous section for more information.) It’s very easy to forget to do this.

On subsequent days of the camp​

The first day of camp is always the hardest. Once you get through the first day of camp, you will start to get into a routine which will make the subsequent days easier. Here’s what my routine typically looks like:

  1. Arrive before camp starts.

  2. Make sure that laptops are plugged in and that power strips are turned on.

  3. If I’m teaching at a partner location that requires it, go and pick up my campers.

  4. Help campers plug their mice in, turn on their computers and open their project from yesterday.

  5. Teach the campers new things and/or have them work on their projects for a while.

  6. Take a snack break.

  7. Teach the campers new things and/or have them work on their projects for a while.

  8. As the day is ending, help students students do the following

    1. Make sure that their work is saved.

    2. Shutdown their computers.

  9. If you’re at a partner location, remember that you may have to drop your students off somewhere at the end of the day.

  10. Once students leave, tidy up the room.

  11. Make sure that all laptops and power strips are turned off.

  12. If you have mice, then unplug any mice and put them aside.

  13. If needed, store your equipment somewhere.

On the second to last day of camp​

If you’re teaching at the center, then you need to write progress reports on the second to last day of camp. You can stay late in order to write progress reports. Progress reports must be completed before 6:00PM.

Eventually, this site will have a guide for how to write progress reports. For the time being, you can ask another employee if you don’t know how to write progress reports.

On the last day of camp​

During the last day of camp, someone will come in and drop off certificates. You need to:

  1. Fill out the certificates.

  2. Pass out certificates to each camper.

  3. Try to make sure that campers don’t accidentally leave their certificates behind when they leave.