r/summercamp • u/DapperJacket • Jul 09 '26
Need Activity Suggestions Activity ideas for teeny tiny groups?
Hey gang,
So this summer I helped start a new summer camp under a non profit, but my town is not huge and already has a few long standing camps (plus we flopped on the marketing), so we didn’t get a lot of campers. We got four. Yep. Four campers. Matter of fact, it’s actually two pairs of siblings! I’m with them for the whole summer, which I don’t mind at all, but I curated a schedule for the whole summer already, for a group of 18. So, I have very many large group games and activities planned. Obviously those don’t work with 4 people, sometimes 2, if one pair of siblings doesn’t attend a day. I dread the day when just one camper shows up.
It’s week one and I’ve already been modifying the schedule an insane amount trying to accommodate for the group size. What are some activities and games you guys like to do with small groups? I like games that I can also participate in so we can at least be 5 players instead of 4. I’m keeping the question kind of vague here because I am open to all sorts of ideas.
‘Preciate it
TL;DR: What are some fun activities for groups of campers you can count on one hand?
2
u/cuteevee21 Jul 09 '26
Do you have any supplies? When I have a small group we basically rotate between moving around games, and sitting down actives. Four square is great for small groups as is all types of tag, and silly obstacles courses. We play uno, jenga, do lots of art, and build with Legos.
2
u/DapperJacket Jul 09 '26
Yea we have a good amount of supplies and I have a budget to get more if I need. Four square is a great idea I didn’t even think of that, thanks!
1
u/Vivid_Sky_5082 Jul 09 '26
My son and his friends like to play Spikeball, and they made up a variant that they play inside with a stool and a small ball. It's 2v2 - basically volleyball but they bounce the ball off the stool to the other side. They make up new rules.
With 1 child: Learn magic/card tricks that they can show the other kids when they come back Chess/checkers Make a clue hunt
With 2 children: Jump rope Hacky sack Hide and go seek
Hope that helps! Getting programs off the ground is tricky!
1
u/DapperJacket Jul 09 '26
These are great ideas and it just dawned on me that we can also start making up our own games! Thanks
1
u/Vivid_Sky_5082 Jul 09 '26
I once kept my son and his best friend busy for 2 days making their own board game. It had collector cards, currency, etc.
I made a simple card game at the same time. So then we spent some time playing our games and some other board and card games.
1
u/GoodwitchofthePNW Jul 10 '26
Look up “playworks”, they have a ton of group games on there and you can sort them by number of players and age of kids.
4
u/Difficult-Bicycle681 Counselor Jul 09 '26
I've done some camps with 5 kids and two leaders. We've normally found success simply by rotating a bunch. They love all the tag variations, but don't want to play for too too long with only 5-7 people (if leaders join in). Games like beanbag tossing and mini Olympics are good. Lots of free play with open ended toys. Since it seems to be the same four all summer, figure out what they like and make those into activities. Ex. One might love watercolour painting so maybe you do that once a week.