STAYING IN TOUCH
Did you know that on average, children ages 8-12 in the United States spend 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens (aacap.org, 2020) – think about how many forts could be built, s’mores could be eaten or friendships could be made in that time!
In a world where our children have constant access to electronics, we thank you for allowing them to unplug and take a much-needed break from technology while they are at camp. There are many ways you can still connect with your camper this summer:
Letters:
To write to your camper (and please do!), address any mail in the following way to help ensure it finds its way to the correct place:
Camper Name
c/o Camp Granite Lake / Cabin Name (if you know it!)
11902 Camp Eden Road
Golden, Colorado 80403
Campers love to hear from you while they are at camp, and a great letter to your camper should be positive, upbeat and encouraging. Make it fun, maybe with a couple of jokes, a cut-out from their favorite magazine or even a fill-in-the-blanks response letter. Get creative, let your camper know you are proud of them and don’t make them feel like they are missing out on anything at home!
E-Letters:
Parents/guardians can send E-Letters to their camper/s twice per week through the CGL Portal (where you completed all the forms). Please log in to your Portal to check the days/times of the week that letters must be submitted by to be printed.
Packages:
If you would like to send a package (please do not feel it is necessary), please limit it to one per camper per session. Please do not send any food, snacks, or candy of any kind, as we have a lot of campers with allergies, and food can attract unwanted animals around camp! Any additional packages will not be distributed, and will be held until camper pick-up. Some ideas of things campers love to receive in care packages are: books/magazines, MadLibs, card games or small board games, fidget toys, stuffies, or a few clean fresh pairs of socks!
You are welcome to drop off a package on opening day with a to-be-delivered date on it. We can hold it in storage, and save you all the postage and hassle of USPS/UPS/Fedex!
Phones & Calls:
As a ‘tech-free’ camp, we do not allow campers to bring cell phones, so please ensure they either stay at home or in the car on drop-off day! We also do not allow calls to home or from home (apart from in the event of an emergency), and this decision has been made in the best interest of our campers – it has been our experience that phone calls make the adjustment to camp life more difficult.
We know it is a huge change from the constant communication we are all used to, and why we encourage both you and your camper to write letters. Please be aware that while camp is ‘tech-free’ for the campers, our Director team are still very in touch with you during the summer, and you are always welcome to call or email the Director team to check in on your camper.
Photos
We try our best to upload pictures of every camper, every day. This year we are using Waldo, a platform/app with facial-recognition software to make viewing pictures of your camper/s even easier! These photos are free to access and download for you to keep. To access photos of your camper, please refer back to your CGL ‘Camper 101’ emails – ‘3. Staying in Touch’ for the web link to access our Waldo site.
Social Media
For updates throughout the summer, please ‘like’ our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram! Share these pages with your family and friends so they can see what your camper is up to this summer!
Follow the links below to lead you directly to our pages!
If you have any questions about any of the above, please reach out to our Director team at directors@campgranitelake.com who will be happy to help you!