10 Tips for Camp Parents

Guest blog for Maine Camp Experience: 10 Things I Want Every Camp Parent to Know by Dr. Tracy Brenner, “The Camp Couneslor,” Maine Camp alum and camp parent

Every summer, I meet parents who are excited, hopeful, and also nervous.They want to do everything “right.”

They want to prepare their child. They want to prevent homesickness, loneliness, and disappointment. They want to send their child off feeling confident and ready.

And while there is no way to guarantee a smooth summer, there are ways to set your child up for meaningful growth.

Here are the 10 things I most want first-time camp parents to know.

1. Protect the “Awayness”

Camp is powerful because it is away. Resist the urge to micromanage from home. Less contact often creates more confidence. You did the work of choosing a camp. Once they’re off, let camp leadership take over. Let camp happen at camp.

2. Start With Trust in Leadership

Camp directors are experts at what they do. Ideally, one of the reasons you chose your child’s camp is because you trusted its leadership. Trustworthy camp directors lead with warmth, clarity, and boundaries. When parents trust leadership, it becomes easier to let go. And letting go is what allows camp to work.

3. Expect Emotional Ups and Downs

Homesickness, frustration, and self-doubt are normal parts of the experience. Hard days don’t mean something is wrong. They mean something real is happening.

4. Normalize All Feelings—Yours and Theirs

Excited and scared. Happy and homesick. Proud and unsure. Two things can be true. Help your child understand that feelings don’t need to be fixed—they need to be felt and responded to with empathy and care.

5. Share What Matters About Your Child

Be honest and transparent about your child’s strengths, sensitivities, and needs. Parents sometimes withhold information about learning, emotional or behavioral challenges, hoping that a “fresh start” or a “clean slate” will make such challenges less apparent. However, this often backfires. Sharing information isn’t about labeling—it’s about giving staff the information they need to support your child.

6. Practice Coping Skills Before Camp Begins

Talk with your child about what helps when things feel hard. Practice validating emotions, calming strategies, problem-solving, and asking for help so they feel prepared.

7. Build Independence and Self-Advocacy

From managing belongings to speaking up when they need support, these small skills build big confidence. Practice things like making the bed, putting laundry away, and brushing tangled hair before camp starts. Feeling competent in skills they’re expected to use at camp—but may not practice at home—can go a long way in easing the transition.

8. Resist Overfunctioning

You don’t need to engineer comfort before camp with endless playdates or meetups. Playdates at home are very different than connections campers make on their own in the camp bubble. New experiences are supposed to feel uncomfortable. That’s how growth happens.

9. Partner With Camp—Not the Group Chat

If you have concerns, reach out to camp—not other parents. Camp staff—the people who are actually there—are best equipped to answer questions, problem-solve, and provide accurate information about what’s happening at camp.

10. Keep It Simple

Follow the packing list. Even when parents stick to the packing list, it’s still a lot for campers to keep track of. Camp isn’t about having the “right” stuff. It’s about authentic connections, relationships, and learning to live simply. Sending a child to sleepaway camp asks something important of parents. It asks us to tolerate uncertainty. It asks us to manage our own anxiety. It asks us to trust other adults with something extremely precious.

And when we can do that—when we prepare thoughtfully and then step back—we give our children the opportunity to discover what they are capable of. Not because the summer will be perfect—but because they (and we) will learn that they can handle whatever comes.

Maine Camp Experience Resources & Tools

Looking for the perfect Maine camp for your child? Try out our helpful tool where you can select a camp by choosing: type of camp (girls, boys or coed) and session length (1-8 weeks). It helps to narrow down a few camps to a manageable list that includes rates. Then you can research these camps in more depth. Next, be sure to contact our Maine Camp Guide, Laurie to discuss these camps as well as for free, year-round advice and assistance on choosing a great Maine summer camp for your child.