Packing for Camp

June and early July are filled with weeks of camps for our family.  This week our three oldest are at two different camps.  Many years ago, even the youngest and I spent a week helping at camp, so packing for five for a week in a camp setting was sometimes difficult.

Remembering to pack everything needed was difficult, but I tried to find tips for making it better.  My favorite tip of all was from Family Fun magazine.  There was a reader who suggested putting children's clothing in one gallon plastic storage bags (such as Ziplock).  This system has remained part of our camp packing every year for many, many years.

Now, I can't promise that it will ensure that your child will wear clean clothes every day, but it is more probable that he/she will when they are packed in this way! :)  I say this because one of my middle boys could and has recently worn the same clothes for a few days without bothering to change....much to our dismay!! (He was at his grandparents and they didn't realize he hadn't changed.  He forgot that he had taken more clothes. (And just how does that happen, I wonder????!!!!)

When my children were younger, I would have them tell me which days they wanted to wear each set of clothes.  I would write on the outside of the bag each day of the week they would be at camp and then put their picked clothing into that bag.  Now the oldest packs by herself (still in the bags) and the two middle boys I help.  As a special thing, I also hide a little note in each bag.  I even do this for the older ones when I have the opportunity.   

For each child, as they went to camp for the very first time, I would get an inexpensive pillow case and write on it with markers. The oldest two have kind of grown out of it, but Jacob still wanted his this year.  It would be fun to do a different one each year and have other campers sign it - as a memento from camp.

One more camp packing tip is a Japanese style of folding shirts.  Go to YouTube and search for the phrase Japanese shirt folding.  Watch one of the videos and you'll be amazed!!  I did this a few years, but then forgot and just didn't take the time to re-learn the technique.  It is really neat and efficient, though, and definitely keeps shirts from getting very wrinkled.

What ideas/tips do you have for camp or vacation packing?  Let me know!  I'll be packing all of us pretty soon!

Have a great week, everyone!