One of the things I like about Scouting is the way we share ideas with each other. One idea we got from a parent whose older son was in a different troop was to have a campmaster for the monthly campout. Previously, about three families were pretty much rotating planning the campout. We had good participation from the other scouts, but the planning work was definitely not being shared. It was starting to wear on the handful of families who were doing all of the prep for the campouts. So we have started asking different scouts to be the campmaster each month.
Basically, the campmaster does all of the advance planning for the campout. They secure a location for the campout, promote the event at the meetings, find out what activities are being planned and make sure the resources are available for the activities, plan for religious services, and make sure all of the appropriate paperwork is filled out. The campmaster has an adult advisor – usually it is one of their parents but they can ask a different adult to help them if they want to. Many times neither the adult advisor or the campmaster has ever planned a campout before.
To help them, I developed a checklist of the basic things they need to cover. We do have an Activities Chair as a resource also, but he is new to the position. So having the checklist gives everyone a starting point so we have consistency from one campout to the next. But it also lets the campmaster take charge so we can really have a youth-led program. Use the link below to print the guide for use with your troop or crew.
Printable copy of Weekend Campout Planning Guide
