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Chapter 18 of 30 · 1 min read

Family Camp Meals and Family Routines

Plan meal timing, queues, seating and dietary information around the households attending. Explain what is provided and what families need to arrange. A clear meal service should reduce daily work rather than create uncertainty at each sitting.

Meals can be a major benefit of family camp if they reduce work rather than create queues and uncertainty.

Plan suitable meal windows, seating, high chairs where appropriate and safe, water, simple alternatives, and space for different paces. A toddler may not manage the same dining timetable as a teenager.

Collect relevant dietary needs before ordering and confirm them with the kitchen. Do not assume “vegetarian” answers an allergy question or that a family can safely pick an ingredient out of a meal.

Explain what is provided for infants and young children. Families may need approved storage or preparation arrangements for their own supplies. Use appropriate food-safety and feeding guidance rather than improvising.

Keep hot drinks, service equipment, and kitchen access managed around children. Staff and caregivers need clear duties in family-led meal periods.

Food and hygiene plans should follow the relevant health requirements. For illness and norovirus prevention, use official guidance and local directions; do not rely only on hand sanitizer as a substitute for proper handwashing.1

Your task: Test a meal with several young children, a delayed activity group, and an agreed dietary requirement.

Sources for this page

  1. CDC, How to Prevent Norovirus. Handwashing, illness precautions, food handling, and cleanup. Follow local health directions. ↩

Put this chapter to work

Optional · Putting your plan into practice

Using Bookify for this goal

This part starts with your own planning and judgement. Use the guide and its worksheets to work through it with your team.

When you are ready to put your camp plan into a booking system, you can explore a sample camp in Bookify or see what the software can help you do.