13 Tips for Helping Anxious Kids Enjoy Summer Camp

Tools for taming anxiety

The key to helping your child get over pre-camp nerves is to acknowledge their feelings and give them tools to help them tame them.

1. Let your child feel a sense of ownership over the experience. Involve them in picking the summer camp; familiarize them with the camp environment and teach them about camp activities so they can formulate expectations.

2. Help your child get excited about camp: Take them shopping for new gear and focus them on fun things about camp that they can anticipate.

3. Avoid focusing on what makes children anxious. Instead of asking leading questions like, “Are you nervous about horseback riding?” ask open-ended questions like, “How are you feeling about the horses?”

4. Don’t trivialize their concerns or offer glib reassurances. “There’s nothing to worry about!” or “Everyone loves camp!” may discourage your child. Instead, show that you have empathy and acknowledge their concerns.

5. Focus on concrete details in conversations leading up to and during summer camp. Avoid abstract issues like what it it’s like to be away from home in favor of cabin details, meals in the lodge, or campfire rituals.

6. Reflect on your own formative experiences away from home and share positive aspects of them with your child. Show that you are willing to talk about the new things they’ll be doing, whether it’s eating new food, sleeping in a bunkbed, getting along with cabin-mates, or coexisting with insects.

7. Go through “rehearsals.” A shorter-term sleepover or a night at a relative’s house will make it easier for your child to be away from home.

8. Don’t linger at the bus stop. Keep the goodbyes short, as delaying just causes more mixed feelings.

9. Make communication easy and accessible: Pack envelopes and stamps, outline a schedule for phone calls or emails if they’re part of the camp’s routine, and make sure your child understands how easy it will be.

10. Have goals for each letter or conversation, so your child will come away focused on how they are adjusting, rather than on how much they want to come home.

11. Try not to communicate your own anxiety; your child can pick up on your feelings even if you don’t verbalize them. What you want to share is your confidence in your child and the summer experience.

12. Help your child formulate realistic, goal-oriented plans for making friends or toasting the perfect marshmallow or passing a swimming test. The thrill of completing these plans can give your child a feeling of success and take their mind off their anxiety.

13. If your child has psychiatric or learning issues, don’t keep them a secret. Make sure the staff and counselors know anything they need to know to head off problems and maximize their experience. Do they wet the bed? Are they anxious about water? And let your child know that counselors are there to support them, whether they have a simple question or a larger problem.