Packing for Girl Scouts camp?

Even at 10, Alison didn't like her clothes grouped by day. She liked to mix and match out her own shorts and t-shirts. She hated it so much that this year at 15, she still told me that she wants her clothes sorted by item types, even though she was doing the packing! We use suitcases with packing cubes now - one each for shirts, shorts, under things (incl. socks), bathing things, night things.

I think on cots, the suitcase will work better because it can slide under the cot, while I'm not sure the rolling bin would. Do you know if you are able to drive up to the camping area to unload the car? If so, you can just roll the bedding up as one unit.

I'm not sure 9 outfits is enough for 7 days. It depends on whether they want to put the same clothes back on after swimming/canoeing/etc. This year, Alison packed 10 outfits for 6 days, and she wore every bit of it.

Don't forget towels - they take a lot of space. And shower shoes, bug spray, suntan lotion, etc.

I had four boys, so no Girl Scouts camps for them, but... I did pack for a lot of other camps. The thing is that packing does vary by camp accommodations as well as what's usual & customary for each camp. No camper wants to "stand out" because their mom packed them differently than everybody else. Scour their website or ask an experienced parent for information.

I liked the camps that used the rubbermaid rolling drawer units for clothes with their shower kits (a plastic basket with a handle for all their bathroom supplies) and flashlights kept on the the top of them. My boys seemed to manage that better than other camps where they had to slide a suitcase or duffel bag in and out under the bed/cot. Either way, you generally do a big bed roll with linens, pillow, towels, and so forth -- bungee cords are great for holding those together and then come in handy for hanging things off their beds or making a temporary clothesline.

And, at least with boys, expect to get everything back all wet, dirty, and wadded up together. Some clothing items will be missing. And you'll have mystery items that you've never seen before. It's all part of the camp experience.

I picked my older two up one time from a very small specialty camp run at a fishing/hunting lodge. There was a pile of the dirtiest, stinkiest clothing you've ever seen on the porch of the lodge. The counselor said none of the boys were sure which underwear or socks were theirs so they made a pile of all the camper's items for the moms to go through. Oh, hell no. We just made a stop at Walmart and bought all new on the way home. No way was I touching that cesspool.

We purchased a rolling plastic trunk from Walmart for $20.  It fit under the bed yet could also double for seating or a table.  It had plenty of room for everything except for the sleeping bag.  The nice thing is that if it got wet it didn't matter like it would if it were a suitcase.

Don't pack favorite clothes because they can get ruined with their activities or go missing.  They can wear shorts more than once.  They definitely need extra socks, you never know what they are going to step in hiking.  Flip flops for the shower or walk to the lake.  Don't forget a hoodie or pair of long pants, more for the mosquitos than the cold.  A hat for the sun is good too.  A cheap rain poncho can be a life saver, one from Dollar Tree will work and takes up almost no room.   Used a string bag to carry stuff to the lake.

Pack clothespins to hang towels to dry, all of our tent areas have clotheslines.  Pack some extra plastic bags for any wet clothes from the last day to come home in.

A must is plenty of sunscreen and bug spray.  We had tons of spiders in the tents. 

Flashlight and glowsticks are handy for the nighttime.

Playing cards, Uno, Frisbee, water bottle and individual pouches of fruit snacks and Slim Jims are nice to have on hand.

If your camp has a store I encourage you to go in right when you get there if you are interested in buying a tee shirt.  Between being there towards the end of the camping season, and not going into the store right away there was only one shirt that would fit as an option. 

They stack too.

no food.. check camp list. the camps I know would be useless with something on wheels.. nothing is flat and everything has stairs.. and limited room. I would do duffels.. and I would do the ziplock daily clothes thing.. with some extras. headlamp instead of flashlight.. not likely to need new batteries in a week. long pants long sleeved shirt. get cream bug lotion (rei.com has good stuff).. several small tubes of sunscreen are easy to deal with. some writing paper...or small journal. a book

old clothes, old towels.. name on everything. try not to send too much as it can be difficult to keep track of stuff. tell them not to sweat too much about it. if there is an accident with sleeping bag..most camps have washers and dryers.. that the staff use.

There’s likely a packing list from Camp to look at. Pack that. And have DD pack it, not you. You can supervise and make sure it’s all included, but let her do it. I’d check with Camp also and see what they recommend for what to pack in. We’ve seen several ways, and it depends on the Camp for what works best. One Camp a regular duffle works best, one a plastic tub does, one suitcase works. One Camp the kids don’t carry their gear to the cabin, one they do, and it’s quite the hike. Another it’s taken by wagon for them.


Oh, I miss sending my kids to camp, they loved it!

Definitely have them pack and definitely check the camp website for a packing list. We've only done church camp for our oldest, so I don't know how scout camps work, but our church camp has a list of what to bring and what not to bring.

As a former Girl Scout camp counselor, make sure they have some kind of book bag/backpack. Sometimes we would have a very full day of activities and would have to take everything for the day without being able to head back to home base and a bag made making sure campers had everything from one activity to the next much, much easier