FAQ
Willow Lake Day Camp is located in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey.
You can view our most up-to-date list of session dates by clicking here.
Our campers come from Essex, Morris, Union and Sussex counties.
A typical group has 15-17 campers. Our Pre-K groups are coed and the remainder of camp groups are single sex. Each group and unit consists of campers going into the same grade in the fall.
Our typical camp day runs from 9:00am – 4:00pm. Each day we expose each camper to a carefully balanced schedule of our key areas: swimming, athletics, arts, outdoor adventure and special events.
The number of counselors varies by age group. Our Pre-K has 4 counselors per group, our Kindergarten through 3rd grade have 3 counselors per group, and the rest of our groups have 2 counselors and a counselor-in-training. These group counselors stay with the group all day and are active participants at each activity.
Each age group is also assigned a Unit Leader. Each Unit Leader is a parent, teacher or coach who takes part in our year round training meetings to constantly review and improve everything about Willow Lake. Unit Leaders contact each camp family before the summer begins and remain your camp liaison throughout the summer. Unit Leaders spend their day out on the grounds ensuring that each child is safe, is participating and is having fun! At the end of camp, unit leaders will return any phone calls that come in during the day.
Activity specialists are hired to instruct specific activities. Each specialist is a teacher, coach or professional in their field and is able to teach age appropriate skills which foster personal growth and build self-esteem.
Willow Lake employs a full time registered nurse. We also have water fountains and water coolers all around camp and our staff constantly encourage all campers to stay hydrated. We ask for you to apply sunblock before your child gets on the bus and then we will reapply sunblock throughout each day as needed.
We are very fortunate to have so much indoor space that rainy days are easy for us to handle! To ensure that things run smoothly, we have a rainy day schedule already made before camp starts. We review the schedule with our staff during orientation and camp is able to transition smoothly to the schedule when needed.
We supply everything your child will need except for 2 bathing suits, a towel and sunblock. Enrolled families will receive a list of things that you should send as the summer gets closer.
Willow Lake emphasizes active participation and skill acquisition over winning and losing. Our camp community encourages campers to cheer for and support each other and show good sportsmanship when winning and in defeat.
As campers get older and take part in our elective program, they can chose to participate in more competitive games, leagues and instruction.
We would love to hear from you! Please send us an email or call us any weekday between the hours of 9:00 and 5:00. Wendy and Charles will happy to speak to you and schedule a tour of our campus.
The Willow Lake staff are patient, friendly, warm and caring. All staff takes part in our extensive orientation process where we spend time training how to work with campers experiencing a more difficult transition adjusting to camp. Our small group sizes and mature staff are a perfect blend to allow us to closely monitor group dynamics and ensure group cohesiveness throughout the summer.
Camp is made for making friends! Many of our campers come to camp not knowing anybody and make friends after their first day at camp.
You bet! Willow Lake is steeped in tradition with certain special events that take place each year like our Color Olympics, Carnival, MTV day, Wild Water Day, etc. We also have many other special events each year such as Bubble Day, Graffiti Day, Halloween in July, Friendship Day, Tattoo Day and Pajama Day to name a few. When you add shows by professional musicians, magicians, etc. as well as trips out of camp, every day at Willow Lake is a Special Event!
Since space is limited in each age group, we encourage families to enroll early. We offer an early enrollment discount – see the enrollment application for more information!