Time To Fun = TTF
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It’s all about kids today
You know when you download a new mobile game (I’ll admit, I play these sometimes) and before you can actually play, there’s all this…stuff
Login screen
Username creation
Permission requests
Tutorial you can’t skip
And you’re all, um: “Can I please just start having fun?”
Some games get you playing in seconds. Others are like five minutes of setup before anything interesting happens.
Games that reduce that gap? They win.
The ones with too much friction? Delete button.
There’s a term for this in gaming: TTF. Time to Fun.
Heard it on the My First Million podcast a few weeks ago and immediately thought → This is camp.
The gap between arrival and wildin-out energy matters a ton.
Where Camp Has Friction
“Camp starts on the bus” is a common saying at K&E.
But honestly? That’s not always the case.
The bus is logistics. Name tags. Seat assignments. Managing nerves and figuring out who sits where.
All has to be done. No way to skip it.
Arrival at camp looks similar. Kids run through a tunnel (fun!), then sit on a hill waiting for their name to be called (not that much fun), then name gets called, FUN!
It’s like the rental car counter where your name’s not on the board yet, so everyone just waits.
The fun of renting a car (relatively speaking) is driving it, not standing in line.
Same with camp. The fun is being at camp, not waiting to start.
Or think about activity periods.
Kids arrive at soccer and sit for instructions before anyone touches a ball.
They show up to arts and crafts and wait while supplies get distributed.
Again, none of this is bad. It’s just friction.
And friction delays fun.
What Good TTF Looks Like
Last summer at the Boston bus pickup, one of our dads arrived early and hired Ben & Jerry’s to cater the send-off.
Balloons everywhere. Ice cream for everyone. Music playing.
Kids arrived, and immediately something fun was happening.
That’s when TTF = zero.
Another (free) example: soccer with balls already scattered on the field when kids arrive.
They show up, start kicking around, energy’s already building.
All the teaching still gonna happen. But soccer fun started first.
The Hertz (fun-ish) version of this? Your name’s already on the board. Keys are ready. Just grab them and go.
Compare that to camp check-in, where kids wait 20+ minutes after arriving while names get called and cabin assignments get sorted.
What if check-in was already done?
What if the first thing was a game or a song, not a clipboard?
Not saying logistics don’t matter. They absolutely do.
But what if we sequenced them differently?
What if the first interaction was always joyful, and the not-fun stuff happened in the gaps?
The Simple Fix
Part of me thinks some huge percentage of this gets solved just by saying it.
Asking staff, “Can our TTF be zero seconds when kids arrive at your activity?”
Could that fix like 80% of it?
1000% percent. (That’s expert math right there.)
TTF doesn’t always mean redesigning everything.
It’s just naming it and letting staff cook.
“Time to Fun” becomes shared language.
Staff start asking themselves: “What’s the TTF here?”
They start designing moments differently. Not because anyone gave them a manual, but because they now have a lens.
This is my first summer fully running K&E, and TTF is what I’m thinking about constantly.
Not just for kids either. For parents, for staff, for every single time something starts.
The Audit Question
Would love to hear about your camp’s TTF map.
Website visit → registration → first email → bus pickup → arrival → first activity.
Where’s the friction? Where does fun get delayed?
Don’t have to fix all of it (can’t do that).
But naming it seems to, for sure, help.
And then it’s hard to unsee.
Camp isn’t a mobile game.
But the principle is the same: reduce friction, increase joy, create momentum.
Then it's Time For Fun (TFF - I like the sound of that too)
You got this,
Jack
P.S. I’m planning on sending a very similar newsletter to this one (TTF baby!) out to K&E parents and prospective families.
Want to see how we’re sending these weekly camp newsletters?
The next Write for Camp cohort starts in January.
Last one sold out. Have to check out what other camp pros said about their time.
Six weeks of writing, real feedback, and a system that actually works.
Get my newsletter every week.
It’s all about kids today
Jack Schott
Summer Camp Evangelist