Three Mistakes I Made at My First Summer Camp (Mistake #1)

3/20/2018

A teacher recently posted on Facebook:

I am starting to plan my first week-long (5 days) Music Summer Camp ever and I'm a little (ok...a lot!) nervous about it! I'm looking for some insight and advice on how to run a wonderful, fun music camp.

It made me think back to my first summer camp. Between you and me, I was pretty nervous:

What if no one signs up?
Did I forget something important? (Grab your checklist here!)
Will I run out of activities?
What if...they break stuff? (I have issues!)

Fortunately I got over my fears and overall my camp was a huge success:

Students had fun!
I earned extra money.
It brought life to my studio!

But it was far from perfect.

This week I'm writing a series about my 3 BIG rookie mistakes. Today's post covers Mistake #1 AND how you can set yourself up for success!

MISTAKE #1 - MY CAMP WAS TOO BIG

For that first summer camp, I went all out. I packed 12 kids into my 2-room studio. Not only did I have a huge group, they stayed a long time - 5 HOURS a day for a FULL WEEK!

Yep - I went a little....overboard.

I'll give myself credit for being organized.

The kids were divided into 2 groups.
Each group had a teacher.
Both groups rotated through different stations.
I also hired a helper.

But at the end of the day - it was too many students for my first camp. And definitely too long.

DO THIS INSTEAD

I would have saved myself a lot of stress if I had:

Broken that HUGE camp into 2 smaller ones.
Held the second camp several weeks later. (This would have allowed me time to figure out what worked and what didn't.)
Registered 6 students in each camp instead of 12.
Limited the time to 2-3 hours. (Oh my word - Don't plan 5 hours/day for your first camp!)

In the end, I think I could have earned the same income, but with a LOT less stress!

A SNEAK PEEK AT MISTAKE #2

Make sure you come back tomorrow. I'll share with you the big mistake I made with planning camp activities and what you should to do differently.

(And don't forget about the Free Group Coaching Bonus that comes with Group Lessons 101. Valid only if you register by 3/31/18.)

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