Tips For Parents Preparing Their Children For Summer Camp
Camping trips can be an important way of helping your child to develop independence and strong social skills. However, these trips can be a source of stress for both the parents and child, but there are a few guidelines that will help to calm these fears and stresses.
Keep The First Camping Trip Fairly Short
There is a good chance that your child's first camping trip will be somewhat overwhelming. This is particularly true for children that may initially be shy or otherwise socially awkward. In order to avoid the risk of overwhelming your child and causing them to dislike camping, you should keep the initial camping trip to only a couple of days and nights. This is enough time to help the child to acclimate to summer camp while allowing them to return home fairly soon.
Ensure Your Child Is Vaccinated
While at summer camp, your child will be exposed to many other people. Whether it is other children, counselors, support staff or other individuals, these individuals can potentially expose your child to a variety of illnesses. In order to reduce the risk of your child becoming sick, you should have your child vaccinated prior to this trip.
Consider Taking Your Child For An Allergy Test
In addition to the need for vaccinations, it can also be important to make sure that your child is free of potentially severe allergies. There are many different substances that your child may encounter while camping, and it is common for individuals to experience allergic reactions.
By undergoing an allergy test, you will be better prepared to identify whether your child is likely to experience an allergic reaction while on the trip. Depending on the severity of your child's allergic reaction, it may be possible to send medication with them that can be used to control their allergic symptoms.
Create A Packing Checklist
Once your child has checked into camp, it can be fairly difficult to get items to them. This makes it important to be as thorough as possible while packing for the camping trip. You may find that using the schedule of events for the camping trip will be a useful guide for determining what needs to be packed. It is also important to review the list of prohibited items for the camping trip.
Often, electronic devices will be banned for the duration of the camping experience. For those that want their child to have access to a cell phone, this may be allowed, but using it will likely be restricted to free time between activities.
For more information on overnight summer camps in New England, contact your local camp counselors.