Preparing Your Child for Summer Camp
Leading up to summer camp, some children may become anxious about the new adventure – swim camp, gymnastics camp, church camp, HeartLife therapy camp, you name it. It’s natural to be a little nervous about the unknown. To best handle the situation, communicate with your child and create an awareness of what to expect, while helping them understand their feelings are normal. The following are some key ways to prepare children for camp:
Read over the camp’s paperwork and explain polices to your children, helping them understand what will be new and different, as well as fun and exciting.
Talking about it won’t make it worse. If your kids have worries about camp, talk to them about these concerns. Demonstrate understanding. While it is not a good idea to talk about it obsessively, talk with your kids and find out how they feel. Calmly validate their feelings and address their issues. Check in on these concerns throughout the camp process. It’s important you work to understand their position, even if you KNOW it’s not cause for concern. Understand first; explain second.
Let them join you in the journey of preparing for camp. Whatever type of camp they are attending, let them help shop for supplies and pack their bag. Also, encourage them to choose special items to pack (if appropriate for the camp). This will give them ownership of the process and mentally prepare them.
Help them know what to do if they feel sad or miss home (talk to counselor, write mom/dad a letter, pray, have encouraging Bible verses they can pull out and read, squeeze a comforting stuffed animal/stress ball, read a comforting book, join in the fun, etc.). Saying they will be fine or camp will be awesome is not recommended because the reality is they may have low moments, but they can be more equipped to handle those times.
You as the parent will likely have feelings about them going to camp as well. Take time to address your own anxiety surrounding them going. If they sense you are anxious about them being gone, they will pick up on that and it will feed their anxiety. Find ways to cope with your own anxiety. Talk to your spouse, friends, pastor, counselor, or write in you journal. Your feelings matter too. God has your children at summer camp. He loves them infinitely.
Remind your child of their strengths and their awesomeness and how those skills will give them great success at camp. Let them know you are excited for them and looking forward to hearing all about their experiences. Don’t repeatedly say you will miss them.
On a practical level, make sure your kiddos have the knowledge of how to handle their dirty and clean laundry, and use their toiletries, especially if they are accustomed to your assistance with these things.
Debrief after camp. While some kids may burst into your car after camp with the full story, it is not true of every kid. Some children are still processing, and when we ask them a bunch of questions, it initially overwhelms them and makes it hard for them to talk and causes them to shut down. Create easy places for your kids to share. Play a game they love and ask a few questions while playing (or build it into the game). For example, if you land on “red,” share a happy camp memory. You can participate too by sharing your own memories. For a lot of kids, sharing something specific in a play type setting will set the stage for more sharing. Talk to them at bedtime, story time, etc.
There are a lot of great resources on body safety, sexuality, etc. to help you start conversations about the body. It is very important for your kids to understand the difference in appropriate and inappropriate touch. Body conversations are best when they are early and often. Some great resources are:
God’s Design for Sex, four-part series for appropriate age;
Free Coloring Pages - The Mama Bear Effect
Bullying/emotional safety: Llama Llama and the Bully Goat teaches about bullying on a four-year old level. It can help to start the conversation about the subject.
Make sure you know how difficult incidents are handled at camp. Make sure you know how the school/camp will communicate with you about any suspected abuse/bullying/medical problems, etc. Ask how the school/site will intervene into bullying situations.
Teach your children the difference between tattling and telling. Tattling is reporting a peer’s wrongdoing, when the situation is safe and the child can handle it. Telling is alerting adults that the situation is not safe and/or your child needs help managing the situation. Tattling to get a peer in trouble can be mean-spirited. Telling to protect a peer from harm is civic-minded or showing concern for others. You will want to know how the school/camp responds to both tattling and telling. Make sure your child is not made to feel bad for telling. They should be praised and encouraged to share. Tattling should not be praised and the caregiver should remind the child to return to their play and work it out.
We hope these points are of great use for you and your family as you prepare for this summer’s adventures! Should you have questions, concerns or like to seek more help this summer, reach out to us by calling 901.756.5788 or emailing frontdesk@heartlifesoulcare.org. We wish you a peaceful, fun-filled summer full of tools to help you manage any nerves around camps!