How We Care for Campers
Sending your child to camp for the very first time can be a scary experience! New people, new places and endless expectations can make the arrival of your first summer anything but calm.
If you’re nervous about dropping your camper off for the first time, you are not alone!
Any parent you meet during drop-off will quickly tell you that the weeks leading up to camp can be very nerve-wracking and filled with questions.
We spoke to parents during our first Spectacular Starting Sunday to get an idea of some of the most common fears parents face in sending their children to camp. We then got recommendations from the same parents on how they overcame those fears.
Without further ado, here are the top 3 fears that parents face when sending their children to camp:
Homesickness
You may not be surprised to find that most parents we spoke to were the most nervous about the prospect of homesickness for their campers. However, we’ve found that drop-off is often harder for the parents than it is for the campers!
Within minutes of unpacking their bags, campers begin to experience the fun-packed programming that camp has to offer. It doesn’t take very long for campers to fall in love with the experience of camp!
“When we picked our kids up from camp to go back to Florida — which is about a six hour ride back — our kids didn’t stop talking about camp,” explained one dad. “We let them make the decision if they wanted to come back, and they made that decision before camp was even over!”
Loneliness
There are few things worse than going to a new place all by yourself, without any friends. Worse than this, is worrying about sending your own child to a new place where they may be lonely.
While your child may not know anyone upon arrival at camp, you can be sure that this won’t last very long! All of our campers are immediately adopted into groups with whom they will spend the majority of their time during camp. These groups — whether they are tribes, squads, clubs or legacies — are formed based on age gender, to ensure that each camper has the chance to get to know other campers similar to him or her!
This creates an ideal setting for campers to form lifelong bonds and make lasting memories with new camp friends. One of the biggest reasons our campers return to camp is to be with the friends they have made summer after summer! Believe us when we say that camp besties are the best kind of friends!
“Don’t be afraid to come by yourself,” said one mom. “I know a lot of people come with friends, but our youngest didn’t know anybody his first summer and he is still friends with his cabin mates from the first summer. They’re already reminiscing about last year!”
Allergies
Having a child with a severe allergy can be a major concern, especially when sending them to a place where you may not be as familiar with their exposure of the allergens. We understand that allergies are no joke, and want to make sure that our campers are as safe and healthy as possible while they are under our care.
In order to ensure that our campers are safe and healthy, we pay close attention to the information provided by parents and doctors on our CampDoc and make sure that staffers are notified of all campers’ allergies and health concerns. We have also implemented a no-nut policy to avoid airborne or ingested contact with nuts on all WinShape Camps overnight locations.
“They are in such great hands here! Parents do not have to worry, they will take care of you,” said one Mom whose camper experienced a medical emergency while both parents were out of the country. “The staffers are trained and the nurses are trained. They made sure we knew exactly what was going on with our son the entire week.”
We hope that you ware able to find peace in this season as you prepare for your first summer with WinShape Camps. Ultimately, we are here to serve you and your campers throughout the camp process, and are always available to answer any questions you might have.