Jeff- Some things to think about (from my experience overseeing a day camp at a children's museum for two years): You should be aware of your state's Day Care & Camp Licensing regulations. In the state of CT, if your program is full day (9:00 - 5:00) you are required by law to apply for a day camp license, which means your facility must be inspected and you have to follow state guidelines & regulations even if you are a museum. Most museums are able to hold full day programs in our area by shortening the time kids are at the program, say 9:00 - 2:00. Or you can partner with your school system, which also may relieve you of applying for a license. You also maybe exempt if your museum is a state or town entity. In CT, the state department of public health oversees licensing for camps, so I would check you state's website for that info. Also, I would warn you not to call your program a camp for insurance purposes. When I worked in a children's museum, our insurance agent almost had a break down, because we were calling our full-day programs a camp. Apparently, you not only need a license to run a day camp, but you also are required to have special insurance in CT. I agree with Carrie's reply. High schoolers make better assistants. Most of the high schoolers we had at camp were volunteers. I would definitely go with someone over 18 for a lead counselor and they should be paid! Your head counselor should also be first aid, CPR, and medication administration trained. They can attend training at your local Red Cross. Make sure to build in two snack times- AM & PM, in addition to lunch whether you provide a snack or are require kids to bring. Also, depended on the length of your day and your activities you may need to give some moving or goofing off time to keep their attention. As participatory, you can make your programs the better no matter what age your kids are. I will not be running full day programs this summer at the historic house museum that I work at now. I will be running multi-day programs (3 days) that are at most two hours each day. Each week there will be two programs running, one for younger kids and one for older. Well that is my two cents! Good luck with your planning! Marcie Charest Education Director Stanley-Whitman House 37 High Street Farmington, CT 06032 P: 860.677.9222 F: 860.677.7758 www.stanleywhitman.org -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carrie Hoover Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 2:38 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] History Summer Camp Advice I assisted with a camp at Hope Plantation about 10 years ago as part of an internship when I was a senior at ECU. Most of the "campers" were of middle school age and even then it was a bit difficult to get them to listen and respect me due to my age. Therefore, I think that high schoolers might have an even harder time with that issue. The age gap may not be big enough. University age students may do better especially if you are careful to give them a certain amount of authority and the kids see it. Funny that you should write today...I am going to be visiting Hillsborough next Thursday with my mother. We plan to go to Ayr Mount. What you recommend as a "must see" while we are there? Carrie Hoover ----Original Message Follows---- From: Jeffrey Durst <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] History Summer Camp Advice Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:09:48 -0500 Good Afternoon Listserv, Historic Hillsborough is exploring developing a history and craft summer camp for elementary age children that would begin in Summer 2007. This is a new area for us, so we are seeking as much advice as we can get. If you work with a history summer camp program, would you be willing to share with us your promotional material. We would like to get ideas on how to structure the camp, appropriate costs for the camp, and logistical and liability concerns that we need to be aware of. Have you used high school students as camp counselors? Were they paid or volunteer? Your guidance in our new endeavor will be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Jeff Durst Education and Interpretation Specialist The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Hillsborough, North Carolina www.historichillsborough.org ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).