source: www.youthwork-practice.com | 2000 Games, Devotions, Themes, Ideas and more for Youth Work
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Simple program for quantity calculation

As already mentioned before there are many things that have to be factored in when it comes to cooking for many. That makes it hard to give you an exact spreadsheet, like one, that fits all, kind of thing.

The provided calculations below are based on the experience of many years going for a summer camp. Nevertheless, I always found that there are no real fool prove calculations. My results are based on 12 -16-year-old boys. For groups of girls, or younger children I would possibly reduce by a factor of 0.8 or 0.75. For young adults expand it by a factor of 1.1 to 2.1.

If you have better calculations then listed here, please send them to me. I will make the necessary adjustments.

Volume calculation: easy - fast - readymade

How many day days:		Number of participants:

Notes on how to use this calculator

• Arrival and departure count as a full day
• Arrival for dinner / Departure after breakfast; the number of days minus 2 will give you the number of lunches
• The given values are based on experience, but this can vary to different degrees.
• Only the most important quantity values are given - a complete list of quantities would be beyond the scope.
• At the start of the camp, the kids will still have sweets and other things from home. Plan to cook less on those first days.
• Boys eat more than girls.
• Boys between the ages 13-18 eat more.
• Quantities vary depending on group composition and circumstances (girls / boys - younger / older children / adults - Weather / Activities, exhausting program environment)
• Adjust quantities, depending on whatever side dish there is to eat. Rule of thumb for lunch: altogether per person about 400-500 grammes
• If potatoes, pasta and rice are mostly used as side dishes, then reduce amounts to almost half.
• Depending if you can shop on site: possibly calculate less, so you can buy more for the remaining days, instead of having too many leftovers.
• You can tell in the first 2 days; how hungry the kids are and then adjust the amount of food.
• Spices: rather less than too much. Kids can use salt and pepper at the table.
• To calculate the amount for one person, please enter: day = 2, participants =. 1
• The result often comes up with decimal numbers. A small blemish. Just round it up.
• The right calculation requires experience ahead - but even that is nixed when certain factors coincide.

Cooking at the camp for large groups | ©: www.youthwork-practice.com

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