 Getting Ready to Go
What to Pack & NOT to Pack
It’s the night before camp and the big suitcase or trunk lies open on the floor ready for two weeks’ (or more) worth of stuff to ensure your camper remains happy. What goes? What stays?
First of all, your camp should have sent a list of what to pack and not pack. If it’s misplaced (yes, we know how it is, we lose papers here all the time), then here are a few ideas.
Items most likely to be forgotten include combs (for boys), flashlights, raincoats or ponchos and even (believe it or not) sleeping bags.
“It depends on who’s packing,” says John Hall, director of Camp Horizons in Harrisonburg, Va. “The older the camper, the more likely they may be packing their own things. We already preempt the things they may forget, such as toiletries, and we have a supply of that waiting. If the camp does their homework and provides the information in a timely fashion and gives them a good check-off list, that really limits what the forgotten items are.”
Sleeping bags are still on the list, but camps also ask campers to bring two sets of twin bed sheets for the bunks.
“In any resident camp, it’s a health code violation to sleep in a sleeping bag night after night,” says Clark Mackey, director of Camp Timberlake for Boys in Black Mountain, N.C.
Especially for younger kids, it’s OK to bring a special stuffed animal or blanket for extra comfort and snuggling.
The list of what not to bring is important too.
“Food is a bad item everybody tries to sneak in,” Hall says. “It attracts critters. It also creates an unfair situation among campers where some guy or girl has homemade chocolate chip cookies and someone else doesn’t. It creates power brokering. We handle it by having a ’Let’s eat all the candy party.’”
Don’t bring anything that’s so valuable that it would be a disaster if it were lost. Leave bicycles, skateboard and sporting equipment at home unless the camp says you can bring them. Don’t bring money either. Most camps allow parents to set up camp accounts for their kids at the camp store.
It should be obvious, but leave things like fireworks, tobacco, weapons and illegal drugs at home too. (Although we hope you don’t use those last items at home either).
Finally: No CD players. No Game Boys. No iPods. And no cell phones.
“The kids definitely want to bring their music,” Mackey says. “Even in a camp like ours, the older kids especially do bring it. We take it up. Cell phones are a huge issue for us. This causes a lot of problems when one camper gets out a phone and calls her boyfriend or her mom. Then another mom finds out kids are calling home. The last two years have been a constant thing we’ve had to watch. I’ve been surprised at parents who intentionally say, ’I don’t care what the camp says. You bring this phone.’ It really is a big deal - sort of a violation of the trust that you have with the camp and the camp has with your daughter or son, especially if it’s a situation where the camper has been using the cell phone and hiding it from the counselor.”
Camp is supposed to be its own little world and bringing high tech toys to camp defeats that purpose.
“We don’t want a camper having one foot in the home world and one foot in the camp world,” Mackey says.
- Here’s a general list for a two-week camp, based on information from several camps and the American Camping Association. Remember to label items with your child’s name.
- Sleeping bag, sheets, blankets and pillows
- Two bath towels, two beach towels, two washcloths (not the family’s best towels)
- Toiletries: soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, comb, brush, deodorant
- Small duffel bag for bath and toiletries
- Two laundry bags if the camp does laundry
- 7-12 t-shirts
- 10-12 pairs of socks
- 12 pairs of underwear
- Eight pairs of shorts
- Two pairs of jeans
- Two swimsuits
- Pajamas
- tennis shoes
- Sandals with back strap
- Water shoes/shower shoes
- Cap and/or bandana
- Sweatshirts and/or jackets
- Raincoat or poncho
- Small daypack
- Plastic water bottle or canteen
- Insect repellant
- Sunscreen
- Flashlight
- Pre-addressed, stamped postcards or envelopes in a zip-lock plastic bag to keep envelopes from sealing shut
- Camera and film
- Medication in its original bottle
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