In anticipation of Levi’s last day of camp tomorrow, I posted this status update yesterday to my personal Facebook account:
Ok, moms. Levi’s first summer at day camp ends on Friday (nooooo!). What’s an appropriate amount/method to tip his counselor, JR counselor, and 2 CITs? Cash? Gift cards? How much?
My naivety sparked a heated discussion about tipping camp counselors among my friends. Interestingly, about half the responses fell into the “I didn’t know tipping camp staff was a thing!” category.
Of my friends who replied that they will tip their children’s camp counselors, almost all live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. So maybe it’s a regional thing?
One of the NJ moms wrote that her daughters’ camp recommends $45-55 for Senior Counselors, $35-45 for Junior Counselors, $25-35 for Counselors-in-Training, and $10-20 for Bus Counselors for the full eight weeks. The camp also suggest prorating the amount if your child doesn’t attend for the whole summer.
In response, a mom from NY wrote that the tipping guidelines from her sons’ day camp are almost double that amount.
What nearly everyone agreed on, however, was that tips should be given in cash — not gift cards.
A quick Google search on the topic pulled up an article from Real Simple that suggests tipping counselors up to $10 a week if the camp permits tipping. Gratuity isn’t mentioned in our camp’s Parent Handbook, so my mom recommended I simply call the camp office and — wait for it — ask about the tipping policy. I don’t know why, but I feel weird doing that. Like, I should be savvy enough to not have to ask.
Obviously, I’m not.
I’d love to know what you think. How much should you tip camp counselors? Or is tipping counselors not a thing where you live?
PS – What a 4th of July celebration looks like at day camp.
(photo by Hannah Josovitz)
so I grew up in day camps and my mom always sent me with envelopes on the last day.
My older son goes to “camp” at his day care so he is with the same kids and teacher all year from September till August. But, I tipped his teacher last August and will tip this years teacher too. I also give them holiday gifts and sometimes bring breakfast. I also give based on the relationship of my son with the teacher. If he loves that teacher and comes home happy, I give more. I know my son is well taken care of.
As he grows and goes to day camps, I will tip his counselors, regardless where we live. These people don’t get paid a lot but give a lot of themselves caring for your children. My amounts would most likely be based on what I can comfortably give and how well of a job they did. If I hear that the cit barely paid attention to my child, well, they won’t get much. If they do their job well they will get more.
I don’t have kids yet, but I would not have even considered tipping a counseler. I’m sure my parents never tipped mine. But, the minimum wage here in WA is pretty high so I guess you feel like they’re getting paid fairly for their work. Its definitely something to consider but I would not have considered it a must do here on the west coast.
Count me among those who had no idea tipping camp counselors was a thing! Did you end up calling? I’d love to know what the camp had to say! I will keep that in mind when I have a little one old enough for camp in a few years. 😉
A friend of mine’s daughter was a jr. counselor at one of the esf camps in NJ last summer and she said $25 was typical.