First summer camp is one of those things that is a bigger deal for parents than it sounds like it should be. You drop off a six-year-old at a gym or a field with a bunch of strangers, drive away, and spend the next six hours wondering if they are okay. They are almost certainly okay.
The night before: keep it simple and calm. Tell them what to expect in three sentences.
“Tomorrow you’re going to camp. You’ll play games with other kids and learn some new stuff. I’ll pick you up at three.”
That is enough. Do not oversell it. Do not give them a ten-minute pep talk about how fun it will be, because that raises expectations in a way that sets up disappointment if the first hour is rocky.
Just name what is happening and let them absorb it.
What to pack: water bottle with their name on it, a labeled snack (camp will have a snack time but bring a backup), sunscreen applied before you leave, and clothing they can move in and do not care about.
Label everything. Seriously, the water bottle, the snack bag, the sweatshirt. Stuff disappears at camp the way socks disappear from dryers.
Drop-off: most camps check in kids quickly and get them moving. Movement is the fastest cure for drop-off anxiety. If your kid is clingy or teary at drop-off, hand them to a counselor, say a short confident goodbye (“Have fun, see you at three, love you”), and leave.
Do not linger. Every minute you stay past the goodbye extends the difficulty.
Camp staff have seen thousands of drop-offs. They know what to do.
The crying almost always stops within five minutes of your car pulling out.
The counselor you are handing your kid to: introduce yourself briefly. “This is her first camp, she’s a little nervous” is useful information. More than that is not necessary.
The drive home: skip “did you have fun?” It is too easy to answer with a yes or no that tells you nothing. Try “what was the funniest thing that happened today” or “what was the hardest thing you had to do.” Those questions require a real answer and usually open up the whole day.
If they say they do not want to go back tomorrow: ask one question. “Was there anything good about today?”
Usually there was. Build from there. One bad morning does not mean the whole week is