Meet Sharon Rushie, kid’s camp manager, who talks to Travel Weekly about looking after children of all ages at Beaches Negril
Q. How did you come to work for Beaches Resorts?
A. My journey with Beaches Negril began in 1997, when I started as a nursery attendant. I expressed my interest in pursuing training and later became a supervisor. I set a personal goal to one day become the kids’ camp manager – and that dream became a reality in 2019.
Q. Can you describe a typical day at the kids’ club?
A. Staff start work at 7am by checking who will be joining us for the day. We meet the parents and children as they arrive and ask parents for recommendations about what their little ones like to do and if there are any activities they enjoy. Then, we have fun all day. Some of us also babysit in the evenings.
Q. What kind of activities will be on offer in 2025?
A. We offer tailor-made fun, based on what kids like to do. Activities for young children might include shell collecting, face painting, treasure hunts, sandcastle building, and arts and crafts. For tweens, we tend to offer beach football, beach volleyball and karaoke, while we make sure teens have their own spaces for watersports, cruises, pool Olympics, tennis and discos.
Q. What’s your favourite thing about the job?
A. It makes me smile when I see a child enjoying an activity we have put on for them. Some of them are really shy, so it’s rewarding to see them come out of their shells.
Q. How do the Sesame Street characters get involved?
A. Our exclusive partnership with Sesame Street means kids can play with the characters all day, every day. They can take part in a variety of activities – baking with Cookie Monster, story time with Elmo and treasure hunts with Abby Cadabby. Last year, we introduced a Sesame Street Sunrise Yoga class to make yoga accessible to children. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Abby Cadabby take turns hosting the 40-minute class, which is bookable for a fee. The kids love it.
Some children from the UK aren’t as familiar with the characters, but by the time they leave the resort, they are obsessed. There are also bookable VIP packages, including character breakfasts, birthday celebrations and Night Night, Sleep Tight, a tuck-in experience that involves a character coming to a guest’s room to read a story and sing a lullaby.
Q. What should agents know?
A. The kids’ camp is free and open daily from 9am to 9pm. Parents can drop their children off at any time, check on them regularly and take them to lunch. It is divided into the infant programme (newborns to two-year-olds), toddlers (three to four), navigators (five to seven), adventurers (eight to 10), tweens (11 to 14) and teens (15 to 17). A private nanny service is available at an additional cost.
Q. What are the provisions for children with additional needs?
A. We introduced a specialist autism programme across all Beaches Resorts in 2017. All our kids’ camps are Advanced Certified Autism Centres and each resort has a sensory guide that gives extra details about each restaurant, pool or activity.
Julia, Sesame Street’s first autistic character (pictured above left), can be seen around the resort and she hosts Amazing Art with Julia, which is tailored to children on the autism spectrum.
Families can also pay for a One-on-One Beaches Buddy to be with their child for anything from a few hours to their entire stay.
Q. What are the challenges you face day to day?
A. As we look after children of all ages, including young babies, there can be some ‘little accidents’ – you have to be ready for anything. Kids are unpredictable but working with them is a great experience and I always have a smile on my face at
the end of the day.
Sharon’s top tip
Each resort has an on-site Pirate Island water park with slides, lazy rivers and splash play areas, as well as a games arcade, a teenage nightclub and complimentary kids’ camps. Everything is taken care of, allowing parents to switch off and relax.
PICTURES: Beaches Negril
