Risk management is a significant part of any camp professional’s role. Reducing risk at camp requires committing to a combination of approaches, such as regularly updating policies and procedures, annually vetting activities, inspecting equipment and structures, and much more.

However, these efforts are ineffective without the addition of people; people who are well trained, truly understand the policies and procedures, and perhaps most importantly are committed to camps’ collective well-being. This commitment stems from character, which is the real key to reducing risk at camp.

How do we lean into character to minimize risk? Effective risk management and risk reduction at camp requires a whole community approach — leadership, staff, volunteers, campers, and even less obvious members, such as vendors and neighbors, working together in synergy.

Fostering Character Within Camp Staff

A successful camp leader builds a community where dependability, work ethic, and responsibility are expected of staff; while additional skills like creativity, teamwork, and altruism are celebrated. These traits are not accidental. They are cultivated through intentional recruitment, communication of values, and weaving expectations into staff agreements, contracts, training, and ongoing culture work. By clearly articulating community standards, camps can proactively mitigate risks.

The motivation to follow rules, be a part of a team, or shine as an employee varies among individuals. As staff are hired, recruited, and interviewed, seek character traits ideal to your staff members’ roles and responsibilities.

Staff who identify challenges and present solutions demonstrate creativity — a crucial skill in maintaining safety while achieving goals and celebrating innovation. Imagine this: a staff member who is excited to create a new activity called “throwing stuff at things” (which is exactly what it sounds like!) mitigates risk by including a science theme and having participants wear lab goggles for eye protection.

Change is often the only constant at camp! Camps rely on things out of their control like good weather and accurate food deliveries. Camp staff who are adaptable know how and when to make changes in dynamic environments and emergencies, often resulting in helpful reactions to change. Take a moment to reflect on past staff members who loved change so much they had a special rainy-day song to celebrate the change of plans or led a cheer to celebrate a chef who switched up the menu.

At camp, many of our staff have a good amount of autonomy. The principle of “see something, say something” relies on trust and the courage to speak up, even when it’s hard. This may include sharing uncomfortable observations about a peer or telling a supervisor difficult information disclosed by a camper. Similarly, staff who practice integrity make honest decisions, even when unsupervised, and encourage transparency and trust, such as reducing harmful shortcuts or unethical behavior.

Teamwork makes the dream work at camp. Camp is full of teams who require collaboration in not only the fun activities, but also in the identification of risks and the mitigation of hazards. The reality is that things will inevitably go wrong at camp, because camp staff hire other humans to work with humans. Accountability within a team encourages people to take responsibility for honest mistakes, lapses in judgment, and slip-ups, which results in individual growth and professional development. To be a strong member of the team, staff members must be dependable and ready to consistently handle critical responsibilities while reliably adhering to policies, procedures, rules, and best practices.

While many risks at camp are physical risks, there are also numerous emotional and psychological risks. Empathetic people can build a psychologically safe environment, care for others, and prioritize well-being, which is valuable for a team. Think about how these character skills can support staff looking out for each other — holding one another accountable to get enough rest, creating a safe space to report mistakes, and taking on responsibility for well-being and health.

Hiring for Character

The previous examples in many ways describe an ideal staff candidate. Yet interviewing and hiring often focus on the hard skills necessary to run a camp. Do you hold a lifeguard certification? Are you the minimum age required by local regulations? Does your availability include the entire season? Hiring managers may also ask about life experiences. Have you lived away from home? Have you ever worked on a team? What age of children do you have experience working with?

Consider another set of questions that gets to the root of a staff member’s character as it relates to risk. This is your opportunity to both explore the applicants’ character and begin to build the foundation of expectations you have as a leader to create the camp culture, ultimately creating a safe space.

Interview questions that explore character can include:

• How do you define character in your own words, and can you share an example of a time when your character was tested?
• Tell me about a time you wished you could have a do-over. What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
• In your role at camp, how will you foster a culture that values strong character?
• In what ways is character tested in the workplace?
• What is the impact of stress on a person’s character? How will you manage your stress in the camp environment? How might that differ from how you manage stress at home?

Building a Character-driven Culture

How do you create a camp culture that leverages character to reduce risk? An additional key to successful risk management includes setting a positive camp culture with intentional focus on expectations, communication, celebration, and education.

Set expectations early by communicating community standards through the camp’s website, staff interviews, discussions with families, and promotional materials. Tell your community in advance, not only about rules but also about culture. An example of sharing expectations may include explaining how your camp uses reflection as a tool to share, collaborate, and cultivate a growth mindset.

Intentional education adds depth and value to your program and can be accomplished by incorporating character skills into staff training or camper welcome activities. Team building during staff onboarding and in training throughout the summer, as well as with campers, is another impactful place to support individuals’ character development.

Staff Team-building Activities That Reduce Risk

Escape Room Challenge

Purpose: Improve collaboration and communication under pressure.

How It Works: Teams work together to solve puzzles and escape a room.

Impact: This collaborative exercise develops quick thinking, creativity, trust, and cohesive teamwork in high-stress scenarios.

Debrief: As a group, talk about the experience and how individuals came together as a team. How did your team decide who took on which roles? How did your team manage stress when a difficult task came up?

Crisis Role-play

Purpose: Enhance critical thinking and collaborative decision-making.

How It Works: Present the group with scenarios and ask them to devise a plan. Each team then role-plays the scenario, such as handling a conflict or responding to an emergency.

Impact: This thinking exercise encourages teamwork, communication, and collective risk assessment.

Debrief: Ask participants how they felt working through the scenarios. How can these skills help in everyday life outside of camp? Were there moments they had to rely on a teammate’s skills or idea? Were there moments they disagreed with an approach or had a miscommunication? How did they resolve it?

Risk vs. Reward Challenge

Purpose: Develop self-confidence in group decision-making, thinking through calculated risks and consequences.

How It Works: Small groups are given various scenarios where they must choose between a safe option with a small reward or a risky option with a bigger reward. Examples include trivia questions with point wagers or physical challenges.

Impact: Staff take responsibility for critical thinking through risk assessments.

Debrief: Discuss decision-making at camp, including how your team made decisions, balanced risks and rewards, and worked together. What factors did your team consider when deciding whether to take a risk or play it safe? How did you feel after making a risky decision? Would you make the same choice again? How can this activity help you in everyday situations at camp when you have to make decisions?

Engage in regular, open dialogue with staff and campers. Discuss expectations openly with staff, emphasizing how honesty is valued. Share how mistakes, asking for help, and other vulnerable conversations will be approached at your camp. Give and ask for feedback early and often. Consider how character development can be woven into staff evaluations through reflecting on opportunities and sharing observations, including detailed examples and stories of success.

Celebrate character in action. Recognize examples of risk-reducing character work in community gatherings and training sessions. This can include naming examples of character valued by your camp program, such as honesty, leadership, or flexibility. Even better, look for character journeys — how can you celebrate the impact of a particularly powerful reflection at the end of an activity? Set expectations for skills, such as self-control and honesty, while celebrating independence, confidence, and courage.

Camper Team-building Activities That Reduce Risk

Everything Race

Purpose: Build a team by celebrating different skills, abilities, and perspectives that cabinmates bring to a team.

How It Works: Create a string of activities in a multi-stop race. Each stop should vary in skills needed to successfully complete the activity. Skills may include creativity, athletics, math, artistic vision, science, or problem-solving skills.

Impact: Recognize and celebrate varying strengths, fostering appreciation of diversity and encouraging collaboration.

Debrief: Discuss each stop and celebrate the range of skills that propelled the team forward. How did this activity help you recognize the diversity of strengths within your team? What did you learn about teamwork and appreciating different strengths from this activity? How can you apply the collaboration used today to make our cabin stronger?

Campfire Chat

Purpose: Build community within a cabin through reflection.

How It Works: At the end of the day, each cabin pauses to reflect on the day and look forward to the next. Cabin staff lead the discussion with reflective questions or prompts designed to help campers share their successes and challenges of the day, as individuals and a group.

Impact: This reflective practice builds community, empathy, and communication skills including listening.

Debrief: Summarize the day, reflecting on what was hard or stressful, accomplishments, and how you developed as a community. What did you learn about yourself today as a result of our time together? Was there a moment when someone shared something that made you feel more connected to them? What can we do as a group to continue growing and supporting one another at camp?

Trust Walk

Purpose: Build trust, confidence, and reliability within a group while practicing identifying potential risks.

How It Works: Create an obstacle course using safe obstacles such as cones, ropes, and pool noodles. Mark a starting point and ending point for the course. Divide the campers into pairs or small groups. One camper is blindfolded while their teammates safely guide them through an obstacle course using only verbal instructions.

Impact: By relying on their teammates’ guidance rather than their own sight, participants develop active listening skills, risk awareness, problem-solving capabilities, and teamwork.

Debrief: Ask participants how they felt when they were the one blindfolded or guiding. How did you build trust? What strategies made communication more effective?

Character in the Community

Camp pros are hyper focused on campers, staff, volunteers, and the campsite. But what about the community surrounding camp? Effective risk management and risk reduction at camp requires a whole community approach, including, as mentioned earlier, less obvious members like vendors and neighbors working in synergy with camp.

Think about the integrity of a food vendor who contacts you after realizing they sent the wrong product containing an allergen your camp avoids. This vulnerable act could save the life of a camper, volunteer, or staff member. Consider a community-minded neighbor who volunteers to use their large tractor to clear roads in the winter for safer staff access. These external acts of character do not happen by accident. They require intentional relationship building, trust, and creating a safe space for honesty and teamwork.

Instead of viewing vendors and neighbors as transactional relationships, lean into partnership. This mindset will foster deep and meaningful relationships. It takes time and intention to build partnerships that have deep purpose and mutual respect. This shift in mindset increases collaboration and reduces risk.

Consider these real examples of a camp that had engaged neighbors: When the camp was under construction, someone came onto the property and stole construction materials. A neighbor saw this happening from his property and crawled on his belly to take photos of the license plate. Together, the camp and neighbor were able to alert authorities who then found the culprit. The camp, which was working hard to build goodwill in the small community, then asked the authorities to request all materials be put back within 24 hours before charges were pressed. The materials were returned, charges were not pressed, and goodwill was solidified.

A different neighbor used their heavy equipment to clear the road to camp when a mudslide cut off the driveway and flooded the main road. This same neighbor also rushed to aid an elk stuck in ice on the camp’s property, which supported staff and saved the elk.

Yet another neighbor volunteered at a day camp that was short of helpers to clean cabins and move furniture.

Each of these examples truly created a safe and welcoming space, each reducing risk in a unique way.

Foster Character and Connections Beyond the Camp Gates

Use these ideas to strengthen your relationships with neighbors, businesses, and organizations in the community surrounding your camp:

• Host events intentionally designed to build relationships, such as a community potluck or open house.
• Invite the greater community to internal events like staff lunches or organization events to help share your mission and your organizational values.
• Regularly share positive feedback and gratitude. As a bonus, this will pave the way for more difficult conversations that may come up.
• Think about resources you can share. Do you have a camp library the rural neighbor kids can use or extra art supplies to share with a neighboring church or local school?
• Invite neighbors into decision-making. Perhaps let a neighbor with a view of the property choose between two colors your team has preapproved for a new roof.

Small acts of kindness can result in significant growth in relationships, creating a caring community.

Character skills are personal, but they are also impacted by the communities we come from and are a member of. Camps each have a culture developed with values that can foster character skills. These skills, in turn, can be used to strengthen safety and reduce risk at camp. By intentionally fostering character within and beyond the camp community, leaders can create an environment where risk is minimized and everyone thrives.

Five Actionable Next Steps

To integrate character into your camp’s risk management strategy, consider these steps:

• Share the importance of character in your organizational mission, values, or value statement. This can include updating your community standards to reference character traits that your camp values.
• Role model character traits in interactions with campers, families, and staff.
• Practice character skills during team-building activities and icebreakers with staff and campers.
• Celebrate character development by using character-based language in awards, shout-outs, and kudos during regular community gatherings like flag raising, vespers, or mealtime announcements.
• Invite the community beyond your camp gates in as partners and collaborators.

Photos courtesy of Liberty Lake Day Camp, Bordentown, NJ; Camp Chinqueka — Ebner Camps, Bantam, CT; Camp Oty'Okwa, South Bloomingville, OH.

Sterling Nell Leija is the founder of the Innovative Camp Company, where she works with camps and national youth-serving organizations to grow their mission and enhance their impact. As a seasoned camp pro, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer, Sterling brings extensive experience to the industry, sharing best practices, research, and tools with audiences ranging from seasonal summer staff to industry leaders. Her expertise encompasses capacity building, operational and capital budget management, fundraising, business development, and nonprofit operations. She can be reached at [email protected].