The night's rest is a much discussed topic in most camps. Here are some basic thoughts and experiences about it. You have had other experiences? Then feel free to add to this article!
Basics
- Sleep is important - for children as well as leaders: If the children have too little sleep, they will not feel like taking part in the activities after a few days at the latest, and they will lock themselves away during the day in order to take a nap in between. If leaders have too little sleep, they can no longer perform their tasks properly and thus burden their fellow leaders who have to fill in for them
- It's not just the time spent at camp that is affected by lack of sleep: If, for example, the children have to go back to school the day after camp ends and they haven't slept enough, they will spend their first day at school possibly taking embarrassing naps during class. This means that you, as the leader, not only have the school against you, but usually also the parents, who may think twice about allowing their child to attend the next time. If one or the other leader has to work again the day after the camp ends, the same applies.
- The need for sleep varies: If you need a certain number of hours of sleep per day, you can't easily apply that to all camp participants. If you need less sleep - great, get up earlier, but let the others continue to sleep.
Find out your sleep needs
When determining how long to get a good night's rest, consider the following factors:
- Age - Younger children or teens need more sleep than äolder teens - go with those who need the most sleep;
- Group size - larger groups take longer to quiet down than smaller groups and make more noise which negatively impacts effective nighttime rest and sleep time;
- ört factors - &overnight stays in a house are usually more comfortable and falling asleep takes less time than in a tent camp, which may be affected by other acoustic disturbance factors (railway line, other people in the campground, etc.)
For a tent camp with 60 participants aged 9 upärts, 9.5 hours can be used as a minimum guideline. According to www.familienhandbuch.de, the actual sleep requirement for 7-9 year olds is 11 hours, for 10-11 year olds 10.5 hours, for 12-13 year olds 10 hours, and for 14-15 year olds 9 hours.
Set night rest times
The night rest times should remain largely the same during a camp. This way, children and leaders can get used to it. Depending on the situation, the team can also move the bedtime back if they notice that the bedtime might be too long (e.g. if many children are awake in the morning well before the scheduled time)
Often it makes sense to set a staggered night's rest due to differences in sleep requirements. So from time 1 in the tent area the night's rest can apply, while in the communal tent or around the campfire may still be talked. At time 2, all must be in the tent and there is absolute night rest.
Sometimes it is obvious to coordinate the beginning of the night's rest with the surroundings. For example, it makes no sense to start the night's rest at 9 p.m. if you are on a public campground where there is no peace and quiet before 10 p.m. or if the last train is still roaring past the campground at this time.
The night's rest must start at 9 p.m. and everyone must be in the tent
Enforcing the night's rest
Although children are not always susceptible to arguments, it should be laid out now and then that
- everyone needs enough sleep
- that with too little sleep, the day's program will hardly be fun
- that the need for sleep is basically different and those who have a little more need for it, this must also be made possible (possibility to go to bed earlier and have the necessary rest).
It has proven useful to add an "unofficial" ¨transition time to the night rest period. So officially at 22 o'clock night rest could be, but only from 22.10 o'clock this is also consistently enforced, respectively punishments are distributed. There are always "night owls" who have no sense of time. Often you have to ask them to get ready when it is already official night time.
What to do if children violate the night's rest? If these are individual cases in the sense of pranks, one could possibly turn a blind eye, but still make it clear that violations of the night's rest will result in penalties in the future.
If, however, there is a danger that the children will be punished
But if there is a risk that this öcould happen more often, penalties should be handed out consistently from the outset. How these could look like is up to each team of leaders (but should be discussed within the team if possible). In addition to the spontaneous, nightly endurance run ("You are obviously not yet ready. So put on your shoes! We're going for another run.") through the forest, additional services, such as the ever-popular toilet cleaning, can also be distributed. The latter would also have the advantage that the leader would not punish himself, because he would have to be present during the endurance run
Take personal responsibility as a leader
Find out how much sleep you need during a demanding camp. If you underestimate your need for sleep, it can have a negative impact on the other leaders and the children. Take the self-responsibility that is absolutely expected of you as a leader and role model
Image credits
Cover photo: © Stephanie Hofschlaeger / pixelio.de
Content may be automatically translated. Help improve the quality of the translation with your editing!
