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Overnight camps

Your complete camp guide

One clear path through planning, opening and running your camp. Choose a part, then take it one chapter at a time.

By Bookify Camps · How we prepare this guide

Part 1 · Chapters 1–3

Shape the stay

Choose ages, length and a promise families can understand.

  1. Understand what changes when people sleep at camp1 min read
  2. Choose the age range, length, and level of independence2 min read
  3. Test demand with the whole trip in view1 min read

Part 2 · Chapters 4–6

Plan the whole site

Review buildings, services and the beds needed for guests and staff.

  1. Choose whether to own, lease, or use an existing site1 min read
  2. Inspect the site as a living system1 min read
  3. Sell beds only after allocating the whole site1 min read

Part 3 · Chapters 7–10

Plan people and money

Cover the full day and night, then price the complete residential week.

  1. Build a 24-hour staffing plan, not a 24-hour shift1 min read
  2. Recruit for judgment, care, and teamwork1 min read
  3. Price the full residential week1 min read
  4. Work through a residential budget2 min read

Part 4 · Chapters 11–16

Help people settle in

Prepare arrival, cabin life, homesickness, sleep and personal care.

  1. Design registration as a care process1 min read
  2. Make arrival calm and complete1 min read
  3. Teach cabin life, not just camp rules1 min read
  4. Support homesickness without shame or false promises2 min read
  5. Plan evenings, sleep, and night response2 min read
  6. Manage bathrooms, showers, laundry, and wet bedding1 min read

Part 5 · Chapters 17–24

Care for everyone around the clock

Plan meals, health, safeguarding, activities, visitors and emergencies.

  1. Run a kitchen that can meet real needs1 min read
  2. Make medicine and health cover reliable1 min read
  3. Plan illness clusters and isolation with care1 min read
  4. Safeguard people in a residential setting1 min read
  5. Build a balanced residential day1 min read
  6. Add waterfront and specialist activities only with their own system1 min read
  7. Prepare fire, weather, missing-person, and evacuation plans1 min read
  8. Control visitors, phones, transport, and time off site1 min read

Part 6 · Chapters 25–30

Run and review each stay

Manage communication, departure, turnover and the next season.

  1. Write family communication and fair terms1 min read
  2. Make departure and reunification controlled1 min read
  3. Turn the site over without carrying problems forward1 min read
  4. Review the business and the lived experience1 min read
  5. Protect the site and business through the quiet season1 min read
  6. Launch only when the whole residential system is ready1 min read