The multiple papers in the mail brought excitement and welcomed the kids to camp. While I loved seeing the smiles on their faces as they read the news, my concern in the envelope was the packing list.
What did the kids need to bring and how many of each item? Thankfully the list was precise and numbers were included.
You will notice from the picture above, suitcases and bags are not used. Instead, we purchased plastic drawer systems (also called craft storage organizers) to hold their supplies. In the years past, we have also used 3 wide stackable drawers. The benefit of the drawer system is that the kids can keep their supplies separated and organized unlike in a suitcase. Also, the plastic drawers are easy to label. (See in the picture above the tape on the drawers.)
Dirty Clothes
A trash bag is taped to the side of the plastic organizer to hold dirty clothes. Yes, it will fall after a few days, but by then, it will have plenty of clothes to keep it from getting lost.
Duct Tape
All single items (flashlight, toothpaste, etc), I mark with a big piece of duct tape to help the boys easily spot their supplies. This is also helpful to counselors as they quickly learn to spot the unique tape when items are left out. We also label all items and clothes with first and last name.
Clothes
To make putting on clean clothes super easy, the kids helped me bundle in Walmart bags each day’s clothing: shirt, shorts, underwear, and socks. Then I labeled each sack with a number so they could pull out the specific sack for each day. This method is one of the best that I have discovered for traveling as well as camp. (Read more about how and why I pack clothes like this in this post.)
Morning and Evening Routine
To help the boys with morning prep and showers before bed, we filled sackpacks (light backpacks) with their gear and I placed reminders on top of their plastic organizers so they knew what to do. Then we practiced over and over using the sackpacks! More in a second…
For Little Man we created two sackpacks (one morning, one night) each with a toothbrush and toothpaste. The night bag had a towel and soap for showers. Bubs had one sackpack and he switched items as needed. Toiletries were placed in a ziptop bag.
We walked through each step at home so that the boys were well prepared once at camp. Instead of having the boys memorize the process, I always reminded them to look because I wanted the boys to get used to using the reminders on top of their plastic organizers.
Morning: Grab the blue knapsack. Put a numbered Walmart bag of clothes in the blue bag. Then after changing, place pj’s in night bag.
Evening:
Grab the night knapsack (pjs already in). Grab a dry towel. Afterward place dirty clothes in bag taped to side of plastic organizer.
Part of practicing was discussing where to lay items while showering, brushing teeth, etc. We also discussed the importance of wearing shoes in the shower. Bathrooms are gross!
And there you have it! Simple tips to make camp a wonderful time for each of your kiddos!
What tips can you add?
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