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Recreation Workers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Conduct recreation activities with groups in public, private, or volunteer agencies or recreation facilities. Organize and promote activities, such as arts and crafts, sports, games, music, dramatics, social recreation, camping, and hobbies, taking into account the needs and interests of individual members.

Related: Entertainment & Recreation Managers Recreational Therapists Rehabilitation Counselors Social & Community Service Managers Training & Development Managers

Industries: Government Health & Counseling Arts & Entertainment Service

Summary
Details

Evaluate staff performance, recording evaluations on appropriate forms.
Confer with management to discuss and resolve participant complaints.
Encourage participants to develop their own activities and leadership skills through group discussions.
Evaluate staff performance, recording evaluations on appropriate forms.
Administer first aid according to prescribed procedures and notify emergency medical personnel when necessary.
Schedule maintenance and use of facilities.
Manage the daily operations of recreational facilities.
Serve as liaison between park or recreation administrators and activity instructors.
Explain principles, techniques, and safety procedures to participants in recreational activities and demonstrate use of materials and equipment.
Organize, lead, and promote interest in recreational activities, such as arts, crafts, sports, games, camping, and hobbies.
Provide for entertainment and set up related decorations and equipment.
Supervise and coordinate the work activities of personnel, such as training staff members and assigning work duties.
Supervise and coordinate the work activities of personnel, such as training staff members and assigning work duties.
Enforce rules and regulations of recreational facilities to maintain discipline and ensure safety.
Take residents on community outings.
Oversee the purchase, planning, design, construction, and upkeep of recreation facilities and areas.
Document individuals' progress toward meeting their treatment goals.
Assess the needs and interests of individuals and groups and plan activities accordingly, given the available equipment or facilities.
Provide for entertainment and set up related decorations and equipment.
Evaluate recreation areas, facilities, and services to determine if they are producing desired results.
Develop treatment goals for individuals based on their assessments.
Meet with staff to discuss rules, regulations, and work-related problems.
Explain principles, techniques, and safety procedures to participants in recreational activities and demonstrate use of materials and equipment.
Greet new arrivals to activities, introducing them to other participants, explaining facility rules, and encouraging participation.
Meet and collaborate with agency personnel, community organizations, and other professional personnel to plan balanced recreational programs for participants.
Complete and maintain time and attendance forms and inventory lists.
Organize, lead, and promote interest in recreational activities, such as arts, crafts, sports, games, camping, and hobbies.
Supervise and coordinate the work activities of personnel, such as training staff members and assigning work duties.
Greet new arrivals to activities, introducing them to other participants, explaining facility rules, and encouraging participation.
Conduct individual in-room visits with residents.
Direct special activities or events, such as aquatics, gymnastics, or performing arts.

Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.

Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.

Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

43850/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

21.08/hr

Currently Employed

7,570

Yearly Projected Openings

1680

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Self Control
Cooperation
Integrity
Concern for Others
Dependability
Leadership

Braille devices for the physically challenged
Calendars
Cash registers
Desktop computers
Dry erase boards or accessories
Informational signs
Ladders
Laser fax machine
Microphones
Minivans or vans
Mobile medical services first aid kits
Mobile phones
Photocopiers
Pocket calculator
Sport scoreboards
Two way radios
Wheelchairs

Calendar and scheduling software
Charting software
Computer based training software
Data base user interface and query software
Desktop publishing software
Electronic mail software
Instant messaging software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Recreation Workers

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