Go to Camp, See Better

Camp is great for so many reasons… fostering independence, learning how to make new friends, learning skills… and now, it may also be good for your kids’ vision as well.

Turns out that that the more time your kids spend in sunlight, the less likely they are to develop nearsightedness. Sure, some kids are going to develop nearsightedness regardless of how much time they spend in the sun. But the typical child will be less likely to develop it if they spend time in the sun, according to The Wall Street Journal (requires subscription).

I’m not a medical expert, but I’m sure that sun-exposure has to continue through the year, not just in summer. The good news is that even cloudy weather will suffice. But at least during summer, you’ll know that your kids are getting good sun exposure – even if just from going from building to building, and more likely from playing land and water sports, and just hanging out outside.

So go ahead, send your kids to camp. You’ll be amazed at what they see.

The Ballpont Pen

I’ll admit that when it comes to writing letters to camp, nothing beats the immediacy and ease of email.

Bic biro pens

BUT there will always be a place for hand-written, personal letters to your overnight camper. So today, I’d like to introduce you to the man who began producing the ballpoint pen in 1944, Ladislao José Biro. Today would have been Biro’s 117th birthday.

Here’s an excerpt from the UK Telegraph:

He created a ballpoint nib which was coated with a thin film of ink from the cartridge as it made contact with paper and spun in its socket.

Read more here

Photo CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA

Beat the Mid-Summer Slump

One of our kids, a counselor, came home about 2 weeks ago and the excitement was obvious – great campers, lots of exciting things happening at camp, bubbly anticipation of the second 3 1/2 week session etc. Then they came home 2 days ago and while happy, were a bit more subdued.  Happy and content but subdued. I wondered what was happening… were they still enjoying their summer? Yes, of course they were, but more quietly.

I bet you’ve experienced the same thing from your full-summer campers
(ie kids who stay for the whole summer).

Continue reading ‘Beat the Mid-Summer Slump’

10 Ways to Make Your Camper Laugh

Sleepaway Camp Chuckles

ha_haKids love to laugh and your letters to camp can deliver an assortment of giggles and laughs.  Here are a few ideas, most of which I’ve used at different times in letters to my kids at camp.

  1. Change your perspective – for example, write a letter from the perspective of your dog, cat or gerble.
  2. Make up stories of silly things that happened at home, or write a story about, for example, your dog,
  3. Talk like someone else and use their lingo – for example, you could talk like a pirate
  4. Talk in rhyme
  5. Include jokes (check out our complete list of kids joke web sites
  6. Just be plain silly
  7. Send a CampLib(tm), which is a silly fill in the blank madlib that you send your camper
  8. Or just create a fill in the blank letter

Most importantly, just have fun with this and you’re sure to make your camper laugh!

Additional Resources

Send a Book to Your Camper

#GirlsCanWrite

Summer with a TwistMeredith and the Mean Girls

Every year parents labor over what goodies to send their kids in a care package.  Stickers? Card games? Stationery? Pens? Autographable pillowcases? Candy (if allowed by the camp)? Ah the possibilities are endless (and several are available in the Letters to Camp Store powered by Amazon).

How about this: send your camper a book, written by a kid like them. As it turns out, I am acquainted with two such authors, Citra Tenore (age 12) and Maddie Siegel (who wrote her book when she was age 9).

(See important note at the bottom of this post)

Continue reading ‘Send a Book to Your Camper’

Sharing Current Events

Share current events from home.  The last ten days have provided unique opportunities to share soccer, political news, space news and more.

 
In the hustle and bustle of the school year, itnews-back-home can be hard to share a special moment with your child.  And if it seemed hard when they were home, you’d think it would be just about impossible when they weren’t even at home. And yet, letters – and emails – give you a unique opportunity to share experiences with your camper in a very personal way.

Let me explain.

Let’s go back to, say April. It’s 5:30 pm and you’re sitting down for dinner.  Your kids come running to the table, rushed because one needs to eat fast so she can hurry back upstairs to study for a test, another can’t wait to text with their friend and the third child keeps stealing glances at their iPhone (which is supposed to be off the dinner table!) all through the meal.  You barely serve the mashed potatoes before the kids start to get antsy and before you know it, another meal is over. It’s pretty hard to get air time to discuss, school, what’s new, and especially world events.

A whole new ball game

But when you’re writing letters to camp, it’s a whole new ball game.  Sure you need to tell your son how the Red Sox are doing (not good), keep them updated on the weather (rainy), etc. BUT your letters also provide the perfect opportunity to mix in a bite-size dose of current events, science, and sports, as the last 10 days have shown. Continue reading ‘Sharing Current Events’

Write Better Letters, From the Experts, part II

more-expert-advice-letters-to-campContinuing yesterday’s post (with advice from camps and camping organizations) , following is additional expert letter-writing and summer camp advice from parenting experts as well as a variety of parenting websites.

We’ve included a lot of different opinions – and is always the case with parenting, some advice will conflict – but that’s OK.  Pick and choose the advice that works for you.  Either way, you’ll come away with a variety of great perspectives on camp letter-writing.

Continue reading ‘Write Better Letters, From the Experts, part II’


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Finally – Help for Parent Letter-Writers

Challenged to write great letters to your camper(s)? Help is here! The Letters to Camp Blog will help you to write better letters. More

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