Activity Planner

activity-planner

Find the right game or activity for the group in front of you, fast, and run it safely. This carries activity best practice with the camp's safety and developmental guardrails on top.

It is written for you, the agent. Use camp-profile for the camp's ages and facilities. Most of the value here is fitting the choice to the actual group, time, space, and energy, and building in safety and inclusion. A generic list dumped on a counselor does not help in the moment, so draw concrete games from the vetted, current bank in references/activity-bank.md and fit them to the group rather than handing them over wholesale. Gather the situational details before recommending, and treat what you produce as a starting point to swap in what the camp already loves.

Ask first

A recommendation is only useful when it fits the group in front of them, so gather these before suggesting anything:

• The exact ages or age band, and whether the group is mixed-age.
• The group size, and how many staff are present.
• The time available, and whether there is setup time.
• Indoor or outdoor, the space (field, gym, cabin, hall), and a fallback if the weather turns.
• The energy the moment needs (burn it off, fill time, or wind down), and the time of day (post-meal, midday heat, before bed).
• The equipment on hand, or none.
• The goal (pure fun, settling, team-building, or a specific outcome).
• Access and inclusion needs, and any allergies or medical conditions relevant to the activity (food, animals, the outdoors, water, exertion).

If a camp profile exists (.agents/camp-profile.md), read it for the camp's ages, facilities, and any standing needs first, and ask only for what is missing.

How far to go (the depth dial). Match it to the director's goal and how much they want to take on. Default to a few good options for right now, and offer to go deeper.

• Quick wins (low effort): a few strong options for this exact group and moment.
• Solid setup (medium effort): a fuller set for a session, matched to the ages and the goal, with how to run each.
• Full build (high effort): an activity bank or rotation for the season across the age bands, with debriefs and inclusion built in.

Choose and run the activity

Draw the games themselves from references/activity-bank.md, which is vetted, traceable to current authoritative sources, and gives each game a way to keep every camper in play. The steps below are how to choose among them and run them well.

1. Match it to the developmental stage (all tiers)

Match the activity to the stage, not just the birthday:

• 5 to 7: short attention, still building coordination, literal thinkers. Simple rules, short rounds, lots of movement, imaginative and role-play, little or no scorekeeping. Cooperative beats competitive.
• 8 to 10: rules and fairness matter intensely, growing skill and stamina, enjoy mastery and belonging to a team. They can handle multi-step games and light strategy. Watch for early peer comparison.
• 11 to 13: wide physical variability within the group, and self-conscious about looking foolish in front of peers. Favor choice, autonomy, team challenges, and a low-exposure way in. Avoid anything that singles a kid out physically.
• Teens: want relevance, autonomy, and real responsibility. Strategy, initiative tasks, leadership roles, and activities they can co-lead work well.

2. Match it to size, space, weather, energy, and time (all tiers)

• Group size: small groups suit high-touch and strategy games; large groups need simple rules, parallel participation so everyone is active at once, and clear sightlines.
• Space and weather: keep an indoor fallback ready for every outdoor plan, and account for surface, noise, and room to move.
• Energy and time of day: sequence on purpose. High-energy to burn off, then settle. Calmer or reflective options after a meal, in peak heat, or before bed. Match the activity to where the group's energy actually is.
• Prep: keep instructions simple enough that any leader can run it without a script. Save high-prep activities for when setup time and equipment are confirmed.

3. Run it well (Solid setup)

Give a simple overview first rather than front-loading every rule, then demonstrate it with a quick walk-through round, guide the first real round while coaching live, and finally let them play and own it. Set the tone, the boundaries, and the safety rules before the first round.

4. Make it inclusive by design (all tiers)

Design so every camper stays in the game:

• Prefer games with no elimination, or modify so an "out" player re-enters fast (rotate back in, switch roles, pair up).
• Adapt the whole game rather than singling a child out. If one camper needs a change, give everyone the change.
• Offer a graded way in, so a nervous or less-able camper can take part at a lower level.
• Phrase instructions so they do not assume everyone can run or stand ("meet me at the line," not "race to the line").
• Avoid picking teams by captains, which exposes the last chosen.

5. Keep it safe (all tiers)

• Supervision: every activity needs enough staff to hold the camp's ratio for that age. Ratios are set by the camp's jurisdiction and accreditor, not by this skill.
• High-risk activities are a different category. Anything with water, heights, projectiles, or animals (waterfront, climbing, adventure courses, archery, riding) needs the qualified, certified staff, the equipment, and the tighter ratios its own standards require. Surface that requirement as part of the recommendation, not after it, and never green-light one as if it were a general game.
• Equipment: check condition and age-appropriateness before play.
• Heat: build in hydration, shade, and breaks, and watch for the signs of heat illness. The exact heat cutoffs vary by place, so follow the camp's and the local policy rather than a fixed number.
• Allergies and medical: screen for the conditions relevant to the activity before starting, and know the camp's emergency procedures.
• Emotional safety: no public humiliation, no forced performance, and a graded entry point for anyone who needs one.

6. Debrief when there is a goal (Solid setup)

When the activity is meant to build something (teamwork, trust, a lesson), spend a moment processing it afterward. A simple frame works: what happened, so what does it mean, now what will we do with it. Keep it light and quick for younger campers, and go deeper with teens.

Deliver the options

• Give a short list of options that fit the group and the moment, drawn from references/activity-bank.md, each with a line on how to run it and any safety or inclusion note.
• For any high-risk activity, put the certified-staff, equipment, and ratio requirement up front.
• Flag what to confirm before running (ages, allergies, the space).
• Say plainly that these are a starting point, and the camp should swap in what it already does well.

What this skill will not do

• Give medical or first-aid instructions. It names the warning signs and says to escalate to health staff or emergency services.
• Plan or green-light water, climbing, archery, adventure courses, or riding as if they were general games. Those defer to certified staff and camp policy.
• State staff ratios, heat cutoffs, or certifications as universal rules. Those vary by accreditor, state, and province.
• Recommend an activity without checking age, group size, ability mix, weather, and energy.
• Run an elimination game that sidelines a camper for the whole activity.
• Recommend a game that youth-safety guidance has retired, such as dodgeball and other human-target games, Red Rover, or British Bulldog (see the excluded list in references/activity-bank.md).

Grounded in

Youth-development and activity-safety guidance from the American Camp Association and child-health bodies, plus age-and-stage developmental guidance. The game bank draws on Playworks' inclusive game library and university Extension youth-development material, both current and authoritative. Defer water, climbing, and other high-risk activities to certified staff and the camp's own policy, and follow the camp's own heat and supervision rules.

• American Camp Association: https://www.acacamps.org
• MSU Extension, ages and stages of youth development: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/9_to_11_year_olds_ages_and_stages_of_youth_development
• HealthyChildren (American Academy of Pediatrics): https://www.healthychildren.org
• Playworks game library (inclusive, structured play): https://www.playworks.org/game-library/