Summer Camps for Kids – Things to Know

For parents, summer camp can be one of the hardest times in their lives. While most parents will appreciate the down time, others will stress over some things. To reduce the stress and ensure you are kept in the know, there are some things you need to know.

In most cases, camps will transport kids only with safe buses. An example Chesapeake Charter Company provides kids transportation service for some of the local camps. This ensures that your child reaches their destination safely, without there being any kind of problems.

To help you and your child handle the time apart, keep contact with them to a minimum during this time. The goal is to have your child make friends and to give them the chance to be successful and independent. Texting your child or calling them can make things problematic. Most camps will allow your child to routinely call you, so leave communication for those times and be supportive of them on the phone. It might be hard at first, but imagine the world of good that camp is doing for them.

Another important thing to do is to ensure that your child is healthy and doesn’t have anything to spread around camp. Some camps will take temperatures, check for lice and even watch for pink eye. If your child has any of these items, ensure that you keep them at home. Otherwise, one sick child can cause the entire camp to become under the weather in just a few days and make an otherwise exciting experience one that will be less than stellar.

When packing your child’s stuff to take, keep in mind that they will be surrounded by a group of people. It is better to consider items that can be shared and enjoyed with others, rather than focusing on items that are going to be limited to just your child. The problem is that giving your child an individual outlet may cause them to ignore others and that defeats the purpose of sending them to camp. While you don’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars in goodies, consider games and other forms of entertainment that can be enjoyed with a group of friends at camp.

Alternative bedding can help to keep your child comfortable. In the summer, a sleeping bag will often become too hot.

Back a fitted sheet for them that can be used with the bag unzipped or on mattresses if they are provided. That way, they are going to be comfortable either way and you won’t have to hear about how miserable they are.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do, besides ensuring that they transport kids only with safe busses, is never to make your child promises you can’t keep. Don’t tell them they can come home early if they want to, because they are going to want to over the first couple of days. Avoid saying activities will happen when you don’t know and above all, never say they will have particular menu items unless you have it in writing from the camp. Otherwise, it will complicate things for you, your child and the counselors at the camp.

If you follow all of these items, you will find that you are able to ensure that your child has a positive experience while at camp and you have some peace of mind. In your downtime, you can enjoy a little time to yourself without feeling guilty, as your child is likely going to be entertained and living it up as they make new friends and memories away at summer camp.