Heading to Camp, Need Transition Advice

Tweet

Summer camp is in full swing for many campers, and a whole lot more are beginning to feel the trepidation of heading to camp in the next week.  If you need a few tips to help you from now through opening day drop-off read on.

Enjoy your time with your camper this week! 

Play card games, share a craft, sit and cuddle.  You are both headed for a transition.  Children absorb the anxiety that parents radiate, so try to maintain your own sense of calm and confidence.  As you hang out with your camper, listen to the questions and concerns she may have.  Let her know it’s natural to feel nervous, but reinforce the confidence you have in her to meet new friends and immerse herself in camp.  

Many camps have websites with photos from the summer so far. Look at the photos together and share what she may be thinking.

Remain positive.  

If your camper is experiencing anxiety over homesickness from last year, acknowledge his anxiety. Reassure your child that each summer brings new opportunities and new faces.  There will be campers who have never been to camp before and your returning camper can help those campers learn the ropes at camp. Share a few strategies with your child to manage a difficult situation, whether it may be using pull-ups at bedtime or needing a nightlight or being nervous about not knowing how to swim.  Encourage your camper to talk with her counselor if she has a concern— the counselors are enthusiastic and supportive role models and caregivers for your camper.

Pack Light.  

Campers' days are filled with activities, and often their free time is playing a game of roots and rocks or other made-up games that don’t need any equipment. Save a few goodies, like a madlibs or a craft project to send to him in a care package while he is at camp.  Keep the trunk light and clutter-free.

Say Good-bye Cheerfully.

When you take your daughter to camp and are ready to say good-bye, look her in the eye and with a big smile tell her you will see her soon and are looking forward to hearing all about her time at camp.  Counselors are trained to scoop up campers and introduce them to camp. A book or an upbeat card left on her bed can be a fun surprise for her when she returns to her cabin.  

Turn around and walk to your car, don’t let him see you cry.  You are giving your camper an incredible gift.  It is usually much harder for the parent to leave a child at camp than it is for the child to get into the camping routine.

If you have any last minute concerns, check in with your camp directors.  Let your child make her own way in the precious present.

Pickup Day Patience

Tweet

Pickup day is around the corner.  Moms, dads and grandparents are eagerly anticipating watching their camper running enthusiastically toward their outstretched arms, jumping up in a big monkey hug and exclaiming, “Yay! You’re here! I have so much to tell you about camp!” 

Those parents and grandparents need a more realistic view of pickup day before they are disappointed in the lackluster greeting that may await.  I have seen campers barely acknowledge their parents’ presence, let along offer a greeting, when pickup day arrives.

Campers are immersed in their own world, a world that for many children is not meant to intersect with their family or hometown friends or any other external touchstones.  Camp is theirs and seeing their parents at camp may be jarring at best.

While some campers do greet their parents with a hug and a smile, many walk up warily, may not make eye contact and seem to forget all their manners as parents nudge them to say “thank you” to their counselors.  Some even break into tears as they realize their summer surrounded by camp friends for 24 hours a day is coming to a close.

So what’s a parent to do?  

First, acknowledge that your presence as a parent may be discomfiting to your child.  As thrilled as you are to see your child, try to keep your excitement under wraps if you recognize that your enthusiasm is not being returned. 

Second, her lack of attention to you is likely a reflection of her attachment to her camp friends, not her diminished love for her parents.  Let her acknowledge your presence in her own time and in her own way. 

Third, restrain from peppering your child with questions as you load up the car.  Give him a chance to say his own good-byes while you distract yourself talking with the camp director or other parents or packing the car.   

Fourth, while good manners should not be overlooked, now may not be the best time to reprimand your child for not making eye contact or greeting his younger brother with a hug. 

Finally, be patient.  There will be plenty of time, perhaps on a long drive home down the east coast, to hear her stories.  You have ten months before she heads back to camp— plenty of time to converse about her summer on the lake.

Fun Summer Camp Packages

Tweet

One of the great benefits of summer camp is living clutter-free. Yet there is great happiness at mail time seeing your name is on the package list.  So when you put together a care package for your camper this summer, keep in mind that receiving a package often is more exciting than any specific contents could possibly be.  One creatively-decorated package with a few camp-friendly items is great treat for your summer camper.


Here are some ideas to include in an easy, fun package:

• A book.  Perhaps the next book in a favorite series or a joke book for sharing with cabin mates.
• A sticker to add to her trunk if she has one. 
• Notecards.  Find fun ones made for campers and add some small stickers so he can decorate the cards himself.
• A craft.  Choose wisely.  Crafts that work best have few parts and no paint.  
• Speaking of crafts... if your camper enjoys making friendship bracelets then a few more spools of thread in bright colors are always welcome.
• A deck of cards.  Cards are a great cabin pastime and a new, full deck may be just what the cabin needs after playing 100 rounds of Peon and bending a few too many cards.
• Water bottle.  It's been a wonderfully warm summer in many states, so if your camper doesn't already have a water bottle on hand, he would likely appreciate one.

And some tips when mailing your package:

• Check out regional rate boxes from the US Post Office for mailing your packages.  If your camper attends a camp within a state or two from home, then these rates are a great value.
• The box or envelope is part of the package so decorate the shipping container too!  Get out your indelible markers and a box of stickers and be a child again as you decorate.
• Have fun packaging up what's in the box.  Put sticky notes on each item with knock-knock jokes or wrap the items up in colorful pages from recycled magazines.
• Verify any do's and don'ts from your camp.  Most camps do not allow food to be sent to campers for a multitude of sound reasons, not the least of which is helping your child have a healthy summer.  So check if there are any items that cannot be sent.

The whole experience makes receiving a package fun at summer camp.  Also check out Writing Your Summer Camper .

Managing a Tumult of Emotions

Tweet

Spring is moving toward summer.  The branches are budding, tulips are blooming and first time and experienced campers are turning their thoughts to the summer.  Excited?  Maybe.  Nervous?  Undoubtably.  And the campers are equally excited and nervous!  Seriously, campers, counselors, staff and parents all likely to be feeling some measure of excitement mixed with nerves.  Consequently your home may have erupted in a tumult of emotions.  

Especially for first time campers, the reality of heading away to sleep-away camp looms larger and larger with each passing day.  Here are a few suggestions for guiding your child toward a positive first time overnight camp experience.

1. Give your child the opportunity to speak up and you to listen

Perhaps he wants to tell you about the dream he had about camp last night.  Try to build in a few extra minutes in the morning to let him relate his feelings.  Or maybe someone at school told her that going away to summer camp is crazy— “that sounds so scary!”  Share an afternoon snack together and hear what she has to say about what she is feeling.

2. Look at photos on the camp web site

Nearly every camp has a website with a plethora of photos from summers past.  Sit down with your child and go through the photos, taking the time to hear his reactions and questions.

3. Select a trunk

Many campers pack there belongings in a trunk for the summer.  If you don’t already have one, now is a good time to find one.  Here are a few tips on finding a suitable trunk.  

4. Be honest

Feeling nervous, scared and excited are all emotions that both new and returning campers are feeling right about now.  Acknowledge her emotions and let her know that what she is feeling is normal— kids all over are feeling very similar emotions as they too look towards summer camp.  If she asks, "What if I want to come home," here are a few responses to have in your pocket.

5. Carve out time to prepare for camp 

Set aside time when the two of you can prepare for camp together.  Maybe you’ll take a trip to buy toiletries, or make a letter writing kit, or fill out his camp forms. Focus on an activity that will both help him prepare for camp mentally as well as give him a chance to talk about what he is thinking.  Whatever you choose make it a parent-child event. 

Letter Writing Kit: ideal pre-camp project

Tweet

Our physical mailboxes have become somewhat archaic, but at summer camp mail time can be an event unto itself.  Assembling a camp writing kit opens up a chance to talk about what your child is feeling about going to overnight camp and as a bonus creates a stepping stone to a successful transition.

Together search for the following:

1. A writing box or writing folder— a shoe box works well, or a colorful folder with pockets. Either can be decorated, which often becomes a project unto itself.


2. Writing paper — if you are channeling Martha Stewart you can make your own, but you may well have plenty of odds and ends of notecards and writing paper already on hand.  Gather them together and let your child select the ones she wants to take.  Help her pre-fold the paper to fit the envelopes. 


3. Stamps — take a trip to the post office and let him pick out the stamp design.  Or go online where you can still buy the Disney Pixar collection.  If she will be writing family and friends outside of the country, remember to buy international stamps.  Now mailing a standard international letter or a postcard from the United States costs $1.15 regardless of destination country.


4. Addresses — who does she want to write from camp? Who does he know that will write back?  You may want to select an aunt or uncle or teacher who is likely to return his correspondence, especially if he will be away for 2 weeks or longer.

I find pre-addressed envelopes invaluable for 7, 8 and 9 year old campers, and pre-printed labels valuable for just about everyone at camp— including the camp director!  If you’re working on your child’s penmanship then she can write out the envelope addresses for herself, but otherwise, print out the addresses on labels or directly on the envelopes.

In any case, have the addresses written out before heading to camp.  When a child has worked carefully on writing a lengthy missive of her morning and then the rest bell rings, she is unlikely to take the time to address the envelope before jumping into her bathing suit and running down to the lake.  So if you are looking forward to receiving her letters in your mailbox rather than when you open her trunk in August, you will benefit by pre-addressing the envelopes.


5. Pencils with erasers and a sharpener — if your child is used to writing in pen then include pens, but often students use pencils exclusively for writing at school.  Including colored pencils gives her the option of decorating her letters as well— sometimes pictures are more expressive than words.  And I haven’t seen a cabin yet with a built-in pencil sharpener.  So if you think he’ll write more than two letters, it’s a good idea to include one.

Carve out some time with your child this weekend, and together assemble a summer camp writing kit.  You may be surprised what gets communicated before the letter writing has even begun.

Time for Trunks!

Tweet

Baseball opening day coincides with opening trunks to prepare for summer overnight camp.  Now that spring training is well underway it’s time to locate your camp trunk.

Don’t have a trunk yet?  No worries— here are the basics for purchasing and alternatives to purchasing a trunk whether you are headed to Minnesota, Maine or Michigan.

For campers who spend more than 2 weeks at overnight camp, the most common container for packing is a camp trunk.  It’s strong, reasonably good for organization, able to double as a card table for a game of Peon and has provided many campers over the years a way to reach the cabin rafters.  If your child is likely to continue as a camper, then it’s probably worth investing in a trunk.  

Trunk considerations when purchasing

Strength

Look for one that is strong— trunks take all sorts of abuse not the least of which is in shipping.  From the time a trunk is packed until it returns late in the summer, it’s likely to encounter a plethora of immovable objects.  

The strength of the trunk is probably the primary characteristic in the price of a trunk.  Well-made trunks will cost more.  Sadly the converse is not always true, so ask for brand name recommendations from your camp.  Have a brand you recommend?  Add a comment to this blog.

Height

Most camps have standard height bunks and often campers store their trunks under the bunk. Find out the bunk height and trunk height before making your purchase.

Shelf or tray

Nearly all trunks come with a shelf or tray, which allows for great organization at camp whether as a place to keep socks and underwear or writing supplies.

Wheels

Wheels are a nice, but definitely not necessary option.  They are helpful when rolling a trunk in and out of an SUV, but apart from that, rolling a trunk across the ground from a car to a cabin is a very bumpy event— most camp trunks get carried to and from cabins, ideally by campers and counselors.

Handles

Handles seem to be the most often forgotten feature in camp trunks these days.  Having hauled many different trunks from office to cabin, I have lifted only a few where the handle didn’t bite into my hand or cause the trunk to twist uncomfortably.  As stated above, you can hope that your camper or his counselors will be carrying the trunk to the cabin.  If you do find a trunk with comfortable carrying handles pass the word on!

Alternatives to purchasing a trunk

With all of the airline restrictions in luggage, campers who are flying to camp often ship their belongings separately from their own travel.  

Some camps offer options for campers with long journeys. Check with your camp about the following two possibilities:

1. Renting or borrowing a trunk from camp for the summer.  This way a camper can pack in duffles or suitcases and transfer his or her belongings upon arrival.
2. Storing your camper’s trunk at camp over the winter.  Some camp store empty trunks for the winter, so belongings can be taken to and from camp in suitcases or other luggage more suitable to traveling by plane.  In addition, your camper, if organized, can leave summer-only items like flashlights, stationary, bedside photos or even a camp blanket in the trunk for the winter.

Top 5 Benefits of Camp

Tweet

The snow may be piling up, but the days are lengthening— Think Camp!  Why camp?  Because overnight summer camp provides the foundation for many character elements we want to instill in our children.

Here are my top five benefits of summer camp:

Independence.  When a child needs to take care of the basics from addressing and stamping her own letters home to refilling the cornbread platter or changing out of her bathing suit and even (gasp!) hanging it up to dry, she is shaping her independence.  Independence is a skill that is vital to success throughout life and great preparation for that day in the distant future when she heads off to college.

Self-confidence.  Every day at camp a camper has the opportunity to try myriad pursuits whether holding the tiller of a sailboat for the first time or trying a new dive or leading a camp song by the campfire or feeding a goat.  Trying a new pursuit and working diligently to become proficient are the foundations of how we each build self-confidence.  Summer camp is a playground of new opportunities where every camper can try something new.

Precious present.  In a world of electronics and hustle and bustle we all need time to slow down and be immersed in the precious present.  Summer camp is a place to reconnect with the precious present as you hold a frog gently in your hands and watch it watch you.

Positive role models.  Most summer camps pride themselves on the care their staff bestows upon each and every camper.  Year after year young men and women return to summer camps to make positive connections with their campers.  One may help an eight year old perfect his baseball

swing. Another laughs with her campers heading to morning dip.  A third invites a quiet child to join in a game of spud.  Many sit quietly with campers by the water’s edge to watch the sunset.  We all need mentors and summer camps are filled with positive role models every child should have.  Plus according to this New York Times blog camp counselors can out-parent parents.

Camaraderie. How many times have I heard a former camper reflect nostalgically on camp saying, “I could be myself at camp, no pretenses like at school.”  Campers return summer after summer for the camaraderie they find among friends who accept them for who they are. 

Here are views from a few other folks who know something about camp and kids:

• American Camp Association
• PBS Kids

What are the benefits you see your child receiving at summer camp?

Pack These in Your Trunk

Tweet

As a camp counselor there are a few items I consistently notice are missing from camper’s trunks when they arrive at camp.  Whether your child is going away for a week or seven weeks, the following essentials will likely be as valuable to you as to your child’s camping experience.

Laundry Bag: Your young child, whether daughter or son, is unlikely to care whether she or he wears the same underwear, socks and shorts every day.  And without a laundry bag, one of two events will likely occur. Either she is neat and every night she will return her clothes to her trunk and pull them out again the next day resulting in returning home with a trunk full of clean, unworn clothes which makes laundry a breeze, but may not be the outcome you desired.  

Alternatively, she is the not too meticulous with her belongings and her clothing will be scattered across the cabin floor and under her cot where she may pick it up to put it back on in the morning or the errant sock or shirt will drift into the cabin trash or another trunk as it gets pushed beneath her neighbors bunk.  Again, you won’t have much laundry to do upon her return home, but then again you won’t have many of her clothes either. 

A laundry bag is indispensible in helping to avoid both of these outcomes.  Hang it up near her cot, and hopefully most of her dirty clothing will find its way into the bag rather than back into her trunk or under her neighbor’s cot.  A laundry bag is certainly no guarantee that she will find clean socks each morning or return with most of her clothing, but it will certainly raise the odds.

No laundry bag on hand?  Threading a shoelace through the hem of an old pillowcase can make a simple one.

Pre-addressed and stamped envelopes: This is a second item that may be more valuable for you than for your child.  Even a child with clear handwriting can run out of time addressing the neatly penned letter he just wrote during rest hour.  Once the bugle blows your camper is more likely to run down to the lake for a dip than to stop and address and stamp a letter.  And even if he does try to quickly address the envelope, it’s pretty easy to leave off the zip code when in a hurry, or forget that postage to Grandma in Alberta is more than Uncle Herb in Arkansas. 

Closed-Toed Water Shoes: Many camps disallow flip-flops as they lead to lots of stub toes and lost toenails when running around camp.  Yet having footwear to quickly throw on when your camper is heading to the pool is essential to maximize her time in the water.  So along with a sturdy pair of sneakers, find some closed-toed water shoes that also have some type of heel strap.  

While you don’t have to spend a great deal to purchase footwear, remember that ill-fitting water shoes—especially plastic shoes—can quickly lead to blisters and cuts as they are worn without socks.  Find a pair that is comfortable and quick to slip on.

Water Bottle: Whether he is heading out on a hike or just likes to have water by his bunk at night, a water bottle is exceedingly convenient.  Most reusable water bottles aren’t the easiest to keep clean, so you might want to take a few minutes showing him how to rinse it out between uses and remind him to pour out old water before refilling it fresh.