I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Mabel’s Labels. I received a voucher to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
With tomorrow being the last day of school, summer camp is definitely on Greenleigh’s mind. And we have a whole summer worth of camp waiting for her, starting with church camp next week, dance camp later this month, camp at our local recreation center for a couple weeks after that, and wrapping up the summer at the camp where she went for preschool. She can’t wait to see her preschool friends again! Of course, as her excitement builds, it’s up to me to get her ready for camp. Since you might be doing the same, I thought this is the perfect time to share a few tips on how to get your child ready for summer camp. Hope they help!
Get social. As excited as your kids may be, it’s totally normal to have some last minute jitters about going to camp. To avoid this, visit the camp and take a tour before it starts so they can meet the counselors and get used to the new surroundings. If you know other kids attending the same camp, try and reach out to them for a playdate or get together before camp starts. Going to camp will be a lot less scary with a friend by their side!
Fill out those forms. Cold and flu season is over and doctor’s offices are empty, which makes this the perfect time to get those health and immunization records that your camp might require. If you’re child will need medication while at camp, make sure that you have the appropriate paperwork and prescriptions ready to give the camp on the first day. And while your at it, be sure to fill out all of the authorizations and waivers required by the camp itself for activities/field trips, because those can really put a damper on the first day of camp.
Arrange transportation ahead of time. For sleep away camps, this may require making air travel arrangements, but even day camps require transportation planning. For example, Greenleigh’s church camp gets out at 12:30, which means I’m still at work. The best thing is to tackle these potential scheduling conflicts early, so your child knows someone will be there to pick them up and isn’t worried.
Get the right supplies and get enough of them. Supply lists aren’t just for back to school and it’s to be expected that different camps are going to require different things. Odds are, if you’re child is going to sleep away camp there will be a supply list available. Be sure to shop early, so you have plenty of time to find those hard to find items.
For day camps, you may only need a camp t-shirt and a bag lunch, but make sure you buy enough t-shirts at the beginning of camp. The first year Greenleigh went to camp at her pre-school I bought 2 camp t-shirts. When I realized she was going to need a shirt each day, I went back for more, but they were sold out…and not expecting another delivery for a month! That, folks, was a lot of laundry. I highly advise getting a shirt for each day of the week. You might also want to check into any restrictions for packing lunches and any additional money that might be needed for field trips when inquiring about supplies.
Label EVERYTHING. You got all that stuff on your supply list? Good. Now label everything! Seriously, if you ever want to see it again, label it. Greenleigh came home from dance camp last year with 2 “right” ballet shoes. She lost more than a few towels at her preschool’s camp. And that thermos in her lunch bag? Gone. Sufficed to say, I’ve learned my lesson and ordered a Limited Edition Camp Label Pack from Mabel’s Labels this year. 
The Mabel’s Labels Camp Pack includes 92 laundry, dishwasher & microwave-safe sticker labels and 2 personalized bag tags, all of which can be personalized with the child’s name and interest. Since my daughter’s name is pretty unique, I only put her first name on the labels, but there’s plenty of room for first and last names. And while I decided on ballet shoes for the image, there are tons of sports, animal, and nature graphics to choose from. In fact, the only difficult part of ordering these labels is deciding what graphic and font to chose from! Once you have that covered, ordering only takes a few minutes and your labels will be on their way. In fact, mine arrived in about a week, but if you need them faster, they have quick ship options available. Best of all, they’ll stick on all the camp t-shirts, ballet shoes, towels, and thermos that might get left behind so I have a chance at a reunion.
Want to make sure that your stuff comes home from camp? Complete some social sharing from now through June 22, 2015 and receive a coupon for 15 – 50% or a free item!
Mabels Labels Camp Combo
And make sure to join the Mabel’s Labels Facebook, Twitter, and Instgram communities for cute ways to keep track of all those things kids lose!
