4 tips for sending your first time camper to sleepaway camps

Amanda, oldest son went to a California sleepaway camp stick to the packing list. Many boys tend to forget essentials- toothbrush, deodorant, body wash. Girls tend to over-pack, which isn’t necessary either. The people who create the list know exactly what a kid will need. So there isn’t a need to question it, or on the other end, fully trust your kid to do all of the packing.

Kim, son has gone to sleepaway camp annually since he was 9

Trust the camp and the counselors! They are fully trained and your child is in safe hands! I was a wreck sending him the first time but hearing about how much fun he had solidified sending him was the right decision!

Grandma Ginger, sent EVM's chief curator to camp starting the summer of 3rd grade

Make the night before they depart for camp a send off!

Her first summer, she was nervous she wouldn't know how to eat a sloppy joe if they were served at camp (thanks to the Olson twins movie, It Takes Two) So we made sloppy joes, and it became our tradition for 13 summers of camp send offs

Tiffany, on navigating homesick kiddos at camp

We both were a wreck at drop off and the first couple days but it did get better. I didn’t anticipate it being such an emotionally charged event for both of us. So, moms need to prepare themselves and their children mentally for the different emotions they may feel. Don’t be surprised when the tears start