How to Pack a Child for a Week of Summer Camp

It is time to send the children off to summer camp. How can you help your children remember to wear clean underwear everyday, put on clothes that don't clash, and brush their teeth everyday? A child busy a camp isn't likely to take care of daily hygiene or dirty clothes when fun and friends are around the corner. How can you help counselors and campers identify your child's belonging so everything packed comes back home. By following a few simple steps to pack your child for a week of summer camp.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Suitcase
• Gallon size baggies
• Pencil bag w/ zipper
• Sleeping bag
• Seven sets of clothing
• Seven pair of socks
• Seven sets of underwear
• Water shoes,sandals, or flip flops
• Tennis shoes
• Diposable camera
• Trial size hygiene products
• Bug repellant
• Suntan lotion(trial size)
• Swim suit
• Three towels
• Permanant marker
• Address labels
• Netted laundry bag

1. Purchase a netted laundry bag that your child can hang on the bed at camp to put dirty clothes in. Purchase a school pencil bag (much cheaper) to put hygiene products in like toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, deodorant, body wash, insect repellant, and suntan lotion. Buy all of these products in trial size so if they do not come home it isn't a big deal.
2. Get out the suitcase and open it up. Around it lay seven sets of clothing. Each set includes pants or shorts, shirt, socks, and underwear.
3. suitcase Write you child's last name and grade on the tag or inside collar of each garment with a permanent marker. Write on the bottom of each sock. Also write your last name on the tag or inside of swimming suits, towels, hoodies, jackets, shoes, sandals, or any other clothing you are sending.
4. Place each outfit into a gallon size zip lock baggie and zip shut. Place the baggies in the suitcase.
5. Print off a set of labels with your child's name and address. If you cannot do this use your address labels. Place at least one address label on suitcases, sleeping bags, pillows, dirty laundry bag, fishing poles, disposable cameras, school bag with hygiene products inside, you can even put a label on each hygiene product. Anything you send that isn't washed should have a label stuck on it.
6. Place the sleeping bag and pillow inside the dirty laundry bag to make it easier for your child to carry and identify.
7. Ready to go Put a sticky note on top of the suitcase the night before to remind you to put toothbrush and medicines in the bag in the morning.

Tips & Warnings

• Send fun hygiene products like sparkle toothpaste and fun body wash to encourage use.
• We once had a disposable camera mailed to us with camping photos because we had an address label on it.
• Anything you don't mark may get left behind.
• All kids clothes tend to look alike on the cabin floor so do towels.