Summer camp in the US and Canada: agent primer

This primer covers what summer camp is, how it works, the words the field uses, and where to look for more. It is a starting point and does not try to be complete. Where a number or claim matters, follow the sources at the end and check the date.

For definitions of the camp-specific terms used here and across the camp skills, see references/glossary.md.

What a summer camp is

A summer camp is a supervised program for children and teens that runs mainly in summer, when schools are closed. Kids spend their days in a group with a counselor, doing activities they often cannot do at home, usually outdoors and away from their normal routine. What counts as camp ranges widely, from a neighborhood day program to a remote wilderness camp. Most of it is time away in a group, where the activities and the outdoors come with friendships, growing confidence, and independence. Directors tend to see that growth as the real point, more than any one activity.

Campers are roughly 5 to 17. Older teens, around 16 to 18, sometimes enter counselor-in-training or leader-in-training tracks that bridge from camper to staff.

Day camp and overnight camp

The basic split is whether campers sleep over.

Day camps run on a daily schedule and campers go home each night. Sessions often span a week at a time, repeating across the summer, and many families use them as summer childcare. Day camps outnumber overnight camps.

Overnight camps, also called resident or sleepaway camps, house campers on site for the length of a session, from a few days to several weeks or the whole summer. They need staff present around the clock, carry a stronger tradition (especially in the US Northeast, upper Midwest, and Ontario), and cost more per camper. Overnight families are often anxious about being out of contact with their child, which shapes how these camps communicate.