I'm a Mormon and every summer our church has a camp for all the girls ages 12-18 in our congregation. It's super fun for the girls - they get to learn a few camping skills and go on hikes, but the best part is getting to hang out with friends, doing crafts, and growing their testimonies of Jesus Christ. I always had excellent experiences at girls camp when I was a teenager.
This year I helped plan our camp and sent everyone off with a fun "Girls Camp Survival Kit" that I created. (I was supposed to attend the whole camp with them but I have really bad asthma and campfire smoke is my biggest trigger - it tries to kill me - literally.) And I wanted to share all of my printables in case someone else can use them at their own camp!
You can put together your own "survival kit" or these make great pillow treats (they'd even make fun handouts for regular church lessons). I'll include the printable and a link to the product that I paired them with - because convenience is key!
Sometimes girls will get homesick, or get their feelings hurt by another girl, or just generally feel like "meh" at camp. So when their souls need a bandaid this will remind them to turn to the Lord to feel better. Psalms 147:3 is on the back and says "He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds."
You can get bandaids anywhere, but I opted for some super duper cheap ones that had a ton of leftovers for my kids to use at home on the tiny little scrapes that they don't need them for. Plus they were fun colors, so who can pass that up?
To get the bandaid printable just right click on the image below and select print or save.
Complaining and gossip can sometimes be a problem when you get a bunch of teenage girls and make them sleep on the ground and hike in summer temperatures together. So I found this cute chapstick poem online and changed the words to go along with camp (many thanks to the original poem writer....I could not find the source).
I found it cheaper to buy chapstick in a big pack. Depending on the amount of girls you have, you could maybe save some money here, but these are the ones I went with:
To get the chapstick printable just right click on the image below and select print or save.
Learning more about Jesus, the gospel, and our roles in His plan are an important part of girls camp, but sometimes the girls would rather focus on fun (who wouldn't, right?) This is to remind them to also "get stuffed" with the spirit while they're there. It includes the scripture Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled". So basically TWO creme-filled cookie puns on that one, which I was pretty proud of.
I ended up finding these on sale at the grocery store, but if you want to put in a Prime Pantry order you can get them for a fairly decent price online.
To get the Double Stuf Oreo printable just right click on the image below and select print or save from the menu that pops up.
One of the big events at camp is the testimony meeting around the campfire, but sometimes the girls need a reminder to share their own feelings, and sometimes it's just plain scary for them to say it out loud. So this cute little pencil made out of bears works on two levels - it reminds them to "bear" their testimony, but if they don't want to do it out loud they can use the pencil to write it in their camp journals.
I debated between a few bear items and ultimately thought the pencils were the best option. I got these ones:
To get the bear printable just right click on the image below and select print or save.
Having a compass at camp should be obvious, right? Also, some of the girls will need one for certifications anyway so it's doubly good. And it's a great reminder to the girls that if they're questioning the path they've chosen in life that if they turn things over to the Lord and He will direct them. And hopefully no one really gets lost in the woods or anything.
Yay for cute and cheap compasses on Amazon, because these worked great.
To get the compass printable just right click on the image below and select print or save from the menu that pops up.
This is one of my favorites. To remind the girls that everyone wants to get to know them and to act like themselves, and to remind them that they are daughters of God, I gave them all a little mirror. And I found these cute cat ones. And the bottom of the card that the mirror came on says "Light, clear, not break!" which we all found HILARIOUS. And there are two scriptures on the other side to make up for the fun we had on the front.
Not the most high-quality mirrors, but these were definitely the cutest/cheapest ones I could find (I looked a LOT). I ordered two sets and one set didn't even have the "not break!" thing on them, so if that's not really your thing, you're probably safe getting them.
To get the mirror printable just right click on the image below and select print or save.
Flashlights are also another obvious camp handout. I love the scripture that goes with this. I love the idea of God lighting a path for me, because I have bad eyes and seeing in the dark is not something I can do, which is a great analogy for this. And I also got to make a joke about how these flashlights would be super useful when they had to go to the bathroom at night, so there was that.
I wasn't thrilled with the quality of these flashlights, but the price and quantity was great, and they only need to last for a few days, right....? Plus they come in cute colors, and you all know I'm a sucker for cute colors.
To get the flashlight printable just right click on the image below and select print or save.
This was another one of my favorites because I was feeling really punny when I made it. It's a mosquito repellent bracelet and the printable says "Repel Negativity - it sucks the fun out of everything". The back of the printable has a great quote from Thomas S Monson about how a positive attitude makes all the difference, so it still checks the "this is spiritual enough" box.
I also got these in bulk from Amazon, and I even had some extras to give to my daughter who is allergic to bug bites (she's wearing them on both wrists and ankles nonstop while she's there).
To get the mosquito repellent printable just right click on the image below and select print or save from the menu that pops up.
These are actually useful - it's a little pack of soap leaves to use while camping. You just pull out a little "leaf" and add water and you can wash your hands pretty much anywhere. And I love the super simple quote from Thomas S Monson "We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth". It can remind the girls to be kind and helpful with their hands, and to do things that the Lord would want to use His own hands for.
This would also work for containers of regular soap or hand sanitizer, or even lotion. I did however make them a specific shape to stick perfectly to these:
To get the hands printable just right click on the image below and select print or save from the menu that pops up (these are easiest to use when printed on sticker paper).
We based our camp theme on the restoration of the church through Joseph Smith, so I made these to cover that. I realize that they won't fit all camp themes, but they would also work really great for a lesson handout. They are made with a package of Starbursts and have a quote from the talk "A Choise Seer I will Raise Up" on one side and a scripture on the other.
I found these on sale as well, but you can get them in bulk through Amazon if you go the Prime Pantry route.
Once I had all the supplies, and everything printed cut and assembled, I put each kit in a big baggy. I made a sticker for the bags with our 2017 camp logo, but you could just give everyone a stickerless bag and I'm sure no one will care at all. The girls seemed to love their "survival kits" and I think it was a really fun way to start our camp....that I attended in spirit.
Feel free to use and share these printables and ideas as much as you'd like - I hope they make someone's camp a little easier and involve more cute colors!