Camper Gift Guide: Great Gift Ideas for the Wanapitei’er on Your List
It’s hard to believe that December has arrived already. If you’re shopping for a Wanapitei’er this year, here are some of our top pics for gifts this holiday season.
Outdoor clothing. Items like fleece and quick dry tops and bottoms are must haves on our packing lists. Stores like Old Navy are currently full of affordable fleece clothing that is often on special. Waiting until summer can make finding these items difficult, especially at a good price.
Boys’ fleece sweater from Old Navy. $20 and under.
Photo books or calendars. A collection of photos from your child’s time at camp is a great gift and a beautiful memento. If your camper didn’t have their own camera on trip, you can download pictures from the summer on our Flickr site.
A care package. Envelopes and boxes stuffed with mad libs, frisbees, funky stationary and small games arrive daily at camp. Why wait for the summer? Package all your campers favourite camp treats together, wrap in brown paper and address it like you would to send it to camp.
A camera. Most campers love being able to capture their trip experience on film (or whatever the digital equivalent is!). Fortunately, digital cameras are becoming more and more affordable. Many quality ones, like this Nikon COOLPIX, can be purchased for less that $75. If that’s outside your price range, underwater disposable cameras are also a huge hit – and cost less than $20, including processing.
Nikon camera from Future Shop. Under $75.
Paddling gear. While we do recommend renting paddles if your child is still growing rapidly or is unsure if canoeing is something they want to stick with, a wooden paddle is a long-term investment for the avid canoeist. White water paddlers may also appreciate a white water paddler or a PFD designed for paddlers.
Paddle from MEC.
Gift cards. If you’re unsure of your campers’ needs or if your gift recipient is a little… fickle, gift cards for outdoor stores like MEC and SAIL can always be put to good use.
Stocking stuffers. Wool socks, headlamps, name labels, water bottles, Fox40 whistles and camp mugs are all small, affordable gifts that can be stashed in a stocking.
A night with camp friends. It’s hard being away from camp friends during the school year. Give your child a taste of summer by giving them a “camp friend sleepover pass” to cash in at their choosing. The pass entitles them to a sleepover party with one (or more!) of their camp friends, with you assisting in arrangements with the friends’ family. Package the pass with Jiffy Pop and s’mores fixings.
Smores fixings are a perfect addition to a camp-themed sleepover.
The gift of camp. Be it a little extra money for the Camp Store, or a full program session, camp is an amazing gift. This year, we are thrilled to be offering Wanapitei gift certificates. The amount of the certificates can be added to a camper’s summer Camp Store account or, if you wish, applied towards their program fees. It’s simple – e-mail us at [email protected] and let us know the amount, names of the gifter and giftee and we will send you a printable copy of your custom gift certificate.[1]
[1] If you are gifting a session at camp, your certificate will read the name of the session, not the dollar amount. For example, “One two-week Pioneer session”. Gift certificates can be charged to your family’s account or by a separate credit card or cheque.
Check out our Facebook page to see what other gifts our community members have on their lists this year – and share your own!
