Last year, I sent Jayden to an overnight summer camp for the very first time. He was just shy of 9 years old.
At first, I was nervous and scared to send him to an overnight camp for six days! That’s 5 nights and 6 days away from both mom and dad.
I don’t know about you but I think that’s a long time to trust your preteen boy to brush his teeth and take a shower every day.
Overnight Summer Camp Packing Checklist
Of course, when the time came to pick him up, he didn’t want to leave! I was extremely relieved that he made it home with all body parts intact.
However, when we sifted through all his dirty laundry, I noticed that he conveniently “forget” some items at camp. Which I normally wouldn’t care about, but being that the camp is located in Gibson, BC, I wasn’t impressed.
R.I.P to all the items left in the Lost & Found.
This year, I wanted to equip him with a checklist to ensure all items were packed.
I know, I know, he should remember but he won’t (that’s one of the woes of teaching him to be responsible). Instead of assuming that he will remember to bring all the items back home. I want to help him learn to think ahead, make lists, and pack accordingly.
So, I came up with this super easy, can’t screw it up, overnight summer camp packing checklist. Hopefully, this checklist helps you this summer.
Download Your Free Printable Here
Happy Camping!
10 Comments
Thank you for making this. So helpful for those sending off kids to camp 🙂
I really hope so!!
LOL! I have a 9yo so I know what you mean. This checklist is very helpful. Thank you!
So you understand the awkward age of trusting and letting them deal with the consequences of losing their stuff!? 😛
This is a perfect list for camp!
I’m having one of those, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” moments. Brilliant!
I’m nowhere near the age of needing to pack a preteen boy, but I can somewhat empathize here. When I was still teaching high school I was also coaching the dance team (and we were nationally ranked). It would floor me – even though I know it shouldn’t – that they’d forget items every time we traveled. These kind of lists were a MUST! Love it!
Oh man, that’s the WORST when something gets left behind when you’re on vacation of some sort. This is a great idea to help kids remember everything!
Haha every year I send my son to camp and afterwards they have a lost & found filled with SO many items that have been left behind!
Great packing list as a Mom of three boys who all went to various camps growing up.