🤔 Is my child ready for sleepaway camp?

Here's my honest take, mom to mom: the single best sign of readiness is that your child is the one asking to go. When the idea comes from them, half the battle is won before the duffel is even packed. If the push is coming mostly from everywhere else - the friend group, us - it's worth a pause, because camp works best when the camper wants it. The child should be leading the way.

One practical thing about timing, too: bunks form early. Friendships, traditions, inside jokes - they start building from the very first summer. The older a child gets, the harder it can be to walk into a bunk that has been together for years. That's never a reason to send a child who isn't ready - but if yours IS asking, it's a good reason not to wait too long.

Good signs your child is ready

• ✔They ask to go. Number one, by a mile - see above.
• ✔Sleepovers at friends' or cousins' houses go fine - no midnight pickup calls.
• ✔They can manage their own basics: shower, brush teeth, pick out clothes, keep track of their stuff (more or less - they're kids).
• ✔They can tell an adult what they need - a counselor can't help a child who won't say their stomach hurts.
• ✔They bounce back from small setbacks without you in the room.

Signs to maybe wait a year

• ✔Sleepovers still end in tears or a late-night drive home.
• ✔The idea of camp comes only from you, and they change the subject every time.
• ✔Big life changes are happening at home - a move, a new sibling, a divorce. Camp is wonderful, but timing matters.

Things to note

A nervous kid is not an unready kid. Almost every camper is nervous - so are the parents (I cried in the car, and I'm the one who runs a camp review site). Nervous but curious is fine. Nervous and dreading it is a signal to listen to.

If you're on the fence, try a taste first. Many camps offer a Rookie Day - a chance to go up for the day and experience camp life before committing to a summer. Also, lots of camps offer one or two week starter sessions - a short summer is better than a long one, and it eases a child into camp life. You can search camps by session length right on this site.