In today’s world of social media, texting, facetime, and asking Alexa for all of our answers, gone are the days of writing letters. But at Alleghany we are 100% tech-free– so how do our campers and counselors stay in touch with friends and family at home while they are enjoying camp life? We write letters!
But What Side does the Stamp go on?
You might be thinking to yourself, how in the world is my child going to know how to write a letter, address it, stamp it, seal it, AND send it??? Well, there are a few answers to this question.
First and foremost, we will not let the entire term go by without your camper writing a letter, our counselors are fully equipped in letter writing and can help each of our campers properly address, stamp, and send out their letters if they need help. We also have a “Sunday Lunch Letter” Tradition– each Sunday every camper must bring a letter to be sent out when they arrive at the dining hall for lunch! While we can’t control who they write (we are sorry if their letter is not for you, parents!) we can make sure that each camper sends out mail AT LEAST twice during term camp.
What if I Want More than 2 Letters?
One way to make writing letters easy and fun for your camper is to start now! You can practice with them at home so they can do it on their own once they get to camp. They can start writing their grandparents, a pen pal, or if they have a camp BFF they can write to them (email our office if you need an address of a camp family and we can help facilitate!) Building this habit and learning this skill now will translate to more letters this summer!
Another trick of the trade is creating a printed or handwritten mailing list to send with your camper. Include any family members or friends who your camper would like to write to while at camp, their addresses, AND their full names (this is very important for grandparents- the USPS won’t deliver to “Grandma”)
Additionally sending your camper with fun stationary for these letters can also help motivate them to take out their pen and paper during rest hour or free time. Don’t forget the stamps! Though we do sell stamps, stationary, and writing utensils in the camp store we encourage parents to include these items when packing their camper for the summer.
Pro Tip! Something my mom did for me when I was a young camper is printing address label stickers for me so all I had to do to send a letter was peel, stick, and stamp!
Don’t Worry
We know you want to hear from your camper while they are away from home, BUT it is important to remember that oftentimes we are having so much fun at camp that writing home just slows us down. Campers who are so busy making new friends, trying new things, and tackling challenges don’t have a whole lot of time or energy to write home.
Fret not- you will see photo updates of them and hear from their counselor throughout the term and when you pick them up at the end of camp they will not be able to stop telling you all of the stories from the summer that they didn’t have time to write in their letters!
