Set Your Camper Up for Success
Some of the best camp prep has nothing to do with what to pack in.
You can label every sock. Buy the sleeping bag. Find a water bottle they swear they won’t lose.
But getting ready for overnight camp is also about helping your camper get ready to spend a few days without you.
They do not need to arrive perfectly independent. We expect kids to need reminders. We expect someone to forget which bottle is shampoo, lose track of a towel, need help finding the Dining Hall, or have no idea where they put their shoes. That’s why we’re here.
But there are a few things you can talk about and practice at home that really do help.
Say This, Not That
A million logistics go into getting your kid ready for camp (the physical, the packing list, the forms, all of the things), but one of the biggest things that can set them up for success is the conversations you have leading up to camp.
Telling your kid you’ll miss them, you’ll come get them if they don’t like it, you don’t know what you’ll do without them, etc. all feel really natural to say. And OF COURSE, they’re true. We will miss them. We will come get them if that’s what needs to happen. And while we have some ideas about the things we can’t wait to do without them, we know we’ll hit a point where we just want them back.
All of that is totally normal.
But saying all of it to your camper can give them a little more to carry when they get here.
So when you have the urge to say those things, here are some swaps we recommend that send a different message:
I believe you can do this.
Know that missing home doesn’t mean camp isn’t going well.
Think about being on vacation.
You can LOVE where you are and still miss your bed. Your dog. Your own bathroom. And by the end, you can be really excited to get home to those fresh sheets you were smart enough to put on the bed before you left. None of that means you didn’t love the vacation.
Camp works the same way.
Your camper can miss you and still be having an incredible week. Those two things can be true at exactly the same time.
So we don’t need to convince kids that they won’t miss home. We want them to know that if they do, they can handle that feeling, and there are people here who will help them.
And if it’s impacting them so much that camp isn’t going well, that’s when we’ll give you a call. If they’re working through it with their counselor and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we ask that you trust us to help them get there. If the tunnel is longer than the time we have with them, we’ll loop you in.
Every kid is different. Every parent is different. Every experience is different. We’re watching, dancing, and figuring out the best fit for all three.
Need some more evidence it’ll be okay? Check out Homesick & Happy.
Get Them To Practice Without You
Your camper probably already knows how to take a shower.
But you wouldn’t believe how many perfectly capable younger campers get into a shower at camp (a shower that’s not theirs) and need reminders of what to do next.
Because doing something independently at home and doing it independently without you are two different things.
So before camp, give them a few chances to practice the little stuff without you stepping in. Let them handle the whole shower routine. Put on their own sunscreen. Keep track of their water bottle. Find the thing they misplaced. Ask another adult a question themselves.
If your camper does better with a checklist, put a laminated shower card right in their shower caddy. We love that. We’ll have signs and reminders at camp, too.
And even if they come to camp with the little things not mastered, we’ve got them. Practicing just helps.
Let Them Know You Trust Us
If you’re sending your kid to camp, you’re trusting our staff with your most precious thing on Earth.
You trust us to find their towel, take care of a stomach ache, help them work through a conflict, get them where they’re supposed to be, and handle the million little things you normally help with at home.
Your camper needs to know you trust us, too.
Tell them you want them to go to their counselor when they need something. Tell them there are other adults at camp they can go to, too. And tell them it never hurts to have another grown-up in their corner.
We’ll tell them the same thing at Opening Kickoff. Their counselor is there for them. Their Unit Leader is there for them. Our leadership team is there for them.
They can ask for help. They can tell more than one person. They can ask us to bring someone else into the conversation.
There are a whole lot of adults at YMCA Camp Immokalee who are here to help kids. Make sure your camper knows you want them to use us.
Help Us Get to Know Your Kid
You know your kid better than anyone. Give us a head start.
There are things we can learn from a health form. And then there are the things we sometimes discover on Tuesday that would’ve been really helpful to know on Sunday.
For example:
- They’re a vegetarian who hates Impossible Burgers. “Vegetarian” tells us something. Knowing what they’ll actually eat tells us a whole lot more. If you’re okay with them eating grilled cheese for 10 meals, so am I. But only if I know you are.
- They sleep with a nightlight every night. Camp is probably not the week to suddenly find out whether they can sleep without it. Tell us ahead of time, and we can have one waiting in their cabin.
- Connecting with kids their own age can take a little longer. That can matter before they even arrive. Knowing who your camper tends to connect with can help us make better decisions as we build cabins, within the age and grade ranges we use.
- There’s something they really don’t want other kids to know. Maybe they wet the bed sometimes. Maybe they still sleep with a stuffed animal. Tell us ahead of time so we can help protect their privacy instead of figuring it out in a cabin full of kids.
- They’ve struggled with something like this before. Maybe they ran away from another camp. Maybe a sleepover went really badly. Maybe they’ve learned there’s something about being away from home that’s particularly hard for them. Tell us what happened, what seemed to lead to it, and what helped. Knowing what was hard before gives us a chance to do better here.
You don’t need to predict every situation your camper might have at camp. We just want the cheat codes you’ve already learned from being their parent. And if we realize there’s something else we need to understand once they’re here, we’ll give you a call.
Maybe their stomach always hurts when they’re anxious. Maybe they’ll sit there freezing before asking someone where their sweatshirt went. Or something big happened at home recently, and they might not quite be themselves.
If there’s something completely specific to your kid that makes you wonder, Should camp know this? Tell us. That’s what we’re here for.
Make Camp a Little Less New
One of the easiest ways to get ready for camp is to let your camper see some of it before they get here.
Follow YMCA Camp Immokalee on Instagram or Facebook. Not because we need another follower (but, hey, bonus!). But do it because we want your camper to see camp.
Scroll through pictures together. Watch videos of Immokalee songs. Let them see the cabins, the Dining Hall, the lake, Morning Show, and the completely ridiculous things that happen here sometimes. When they arrive, some of those places and traditions won’t be brand new anymore.
And if seeing camp in person would help, come see us. We host Open Houses throughout the year where they can walk through a cabin, see where they’ll eat, find the Camp Store, and ask the questions that are easier to ask when you’re actually looking at the place.
You Don’t Have to Get Them Perfectly Ready
There’s no checklist your camper has to complete before they’re ready for camp. Practice a few things. Have some conversations. Tell us what you know. And then send us the kid you’ve got.
They might miss home. They might forget where they put their towel. They might need help making a friend, remembering to drink water, or figuring out what to do next.
That’s okay. That’s why we’re here.
You know your kid. We know camp.