Looking to incorporate an exciting new activity into your camp program? Consider orienteering! Orienteering is a fun camp activity that helps campers develop map skills, critical thinking, resilience, and more.

What Is Orienteering?

Orienteering is an international sport and recreational activity in which participants use a map to visit a series of checkpoints. There is no mandatory route; it’s up to the participants to determine the best way to get between checkpoints. 

Orienteering also has a strong community aspect that encourages comparing route choices, analyzing errors, sharing techniques, supporting one another, and trying again. Individuals are able to translate these orienteering skills into situations encountered in everyday life.

A common misunderstanding is that orienteering simply means following a compass bearing for a given distance. Rather, the focus of the sport is on the map: route-planning, matching features to the terrain, simplification, and many more map-based skills. Orienteering maps are made to an international standard and show not only the shape of the land and familiar features like trails and waterways, but also important details for navigating, such as individual boulders and the thickness of the vegetation. 

Why Orienteering?

Core to the sport of orienteering are critical thinking, resilience, goal-setting, and recovering from mistakes. Orienteering builds character!

Here’s what other camp professionals have to say about orienteering:

“We absolutely loved having orienteering at camp this summer . . . Everyone loved it. It's a great outside activity and can be tailored to (almost) all ages.” — Leslie, camp director at Camp Grossman

“I believed the games and activities we did with the kids really allowed them to gain confidence in themselves and a sense of community with each other. In the beginning they were very shy of each other and often their personalities butted heads. Over time, however, they learned how to navigate the kind of social challenges that come with working with a group of peers. I am very proud of the way they grew into themselves as orienteers and students.” — Chanah, after-school program leader

Orienteering can inspire your campers to problem-solve, work as a team, and explore challenges together, all while exploring the great outdoors. What more could you ask for in your camp programming?

How Do I Get Started?

Ready to bring orienteering to your camp? Here are your next steps:

• Create a map of your camp. Any map will work, but we strongly recommend getting a real orienteering map made, and Orienteering USA has resources to help you do that through its Youth Mapping Project. [add link here]
• Plan activities. Here is a curriculum from Navigation Games that is designed for a summer camp. If you would like additional ideas for working with younger children, this progression of 15 lesson plans for new orienteers is a great starting point to implementing orienteering-based lessons into your camp programming.
• Get involved with your local orienteering community: find your nearest orienteering club and attend an upcoming event. Having staff participate in a regular orienteering event gives them great context for teaching orienteering at camp.
• Learn more: we’re hosting a webinar on Wednesday, December 17, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Register here.

Who Is Navigation Games?

Navigation Games is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that partners with schools and youth programs to develop, share, and deliver map-based, outdoor experiential education for children of all abilities. We promote active learning through orienteering, helping children develop navigation skills, life skills, and a connection to nature. Visit us at navigationgames.org to learn more.

What Is Orienteering USA?

Orienteering USA is the governing body of the sport of orienteering for the United States. It is also a federation of local orienteering clubs that host regular orienteering events. The organization has many resources, including training on how to coach athletes, lists of orienteering equipment vendors, and a program to help organizations get maps made.

Periodically, the American Camp Association (ACA) makes timely and relevant information about products and services available to its members so they can make informed decisions for their camps. However, the ACA does not endorse products, services, or companies.