Ok...this may border on a rant but...well....hmmmm......go with the flow!
What I wish parents would know before sending their child to Day Camp!
1. Please put sunscreen on your child. We will make sure that more gets put on later, but it just really helps if you take the time to apply some in the morning.
2. Please make sure your child has a water bottle with them everyday! We will make sure your child drinks from it! Hydration is very important!
3.Read all papers and calendars that come home from camp! This is one of the major ways that we dispense information. If you are just tossing the papers on the floor in the mini-van you may miss that your child is going on a field-trip on Wednesday and the bus is leaving at 8:30am. It would be horrible to find this out when dropping your camper off at 9:00am!
4. Expect that your child is going to get messy! It's summer camp! Also please take the time to tell your child that it is "OK" if they get messy! You could not guess how many kiddos I've had to calm down in the last 10 years because they were worried that Mom would be mad because they got messy!
5. Going along with that, dress your child for the weather and what they will be doing that day!
An ankle length jean skirt is not going to be a good idea on that HOT sunny day in August when your camper is going on the rafting trip!
6. Please style your daughters hair for weather comfort. It is sooooo uncomfortable for the little girls to have their hair sticking to their sweaty face while trying to play soccer!
7.Most of you, and I'm just taking a wild stab at this do not have 14 children. SO, please take the time to write your campers name on EVERYTHING! I do me everything. SOCKS! UNDERWEAR! Sunglasses! SUNSCREEN! It is not an easy task to keep up with the items for the 14 or so campers in your group, having names on stuff just makes that part of the counselors job easier!
8. Flip flops are not apporiate for summer camp! While they are cute and I love wearing them myself, they are just not practical. Your child may be going on hikes, playing on the playground, or playing soccer. Lots of foot injuries could be prevented by having your child wear sneakers!
Sorry for my slightly impolite tone! It don't mean disrespect! 99.9% of the issues that I deal with have to do with the things I talked about above! Please just keep up to date on the activities that your camper will be involved in!
Have a happy and safe summer camp season!
Great tips...water is so important! So how is camp going? We are done with Day #2 of my art-camp and it went nicely! Tomorrow we tie dye...I'm a bit nervous about it, honestly.
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