Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
- Laundry facilities
- Bed
- Sheets
- Fly swatter
- Guide to poisonous plants
- Calling card
Step1
Show (or remind) your child how to do laundry. If he is going to be away at camp for longer than a week, he may well run out of clean clothes. Chances are that no one else is going to wash his clothes for him.
Step2
Demonstrate the fine art of making a bed. You don't need to pay attention to getting it just perfect--forget the hospital corners--but she may well wish for clean sheets at some point in her stay. This is going to require her to know how to put those sheets back on the bed once she's washed them.
Step3
Swat a few flying insects. Then, let him take a turn. Remind him that he is likely to run into a few insects (flying and crawling) at camp; so he'll need to be prepared to swat or to squish as necessary.
Step4
Look for pictures of poisonous plants in a book or online (or outdoors, should you be so unlucky as to have any on the premises). You want your child to be able to identify and avoid common hazards like poison oak, ivy and/or sumac; but you also want her to be aware of other hazards like the highly poisonous oleander. Tell her to be very careful when choosing a stick for marshmallow roasting. Using a stick from a poisonous plant could make her very sick indeed.
Step5
Purchase a phone card and show him how to use it. Many camps ban the use of cell phones. It may be impossible to get a signal in the area where the camp is located; so he will need to know an alternate method of calling home. Teach him how to call collect, as well.
Step6
Go over ways for her to locate help in case of emergency. She will need to know how to find a trustworthy adult as well as how to get over any fear of approaching this person when help is needed. Reassure her that she can talk to camp staff and counselors about any problems she may have. She should never be afraid to ask for help.
Novice 
