“Mom, can I please go to overnight camp?”
Every summer, I would hear this question from my younger son when I dropped off his older brother at overnight camp.
Each year I told him that he may attend when he turned 7 years old. FINALLY the time came when he was old enough to stay overnight… and he had a ball! As a matter of fact, the next year he asked to attend 2 weeks.
A lot of preparation went into both of my sons attending camp. I was in contact with the camp months before either one of them attended and put many practices into place which I talked about in my previous post Kids Headed to Camp? Avoid these 8 Mistakes.
There are many recent wonderful articles and podcasts about sending your children with food allergies and celiac disease to camp, some of which are listed below.
Enjoy this collection from experienced parents and professionals!
ADVICE AND TIPS
Managing Food Allergies at Camp
FARE
FARE discusses the responsibilities of the family, camper and camp in working together to decrease the risk of an allergic reaction.
SUMMER CAMP: SELECTING THE BEST OPTION FOR YOUR GLUTEN-FREE KID
Beyond Celiac
Tip sheet to help children enjoy summer camp including a mini cheat sheet for your child and a full cheat sheet for parents.
Advice on Attending Summer Camps with Food Allergies
Allergic Living
By Gina Clowes
Tips to start the camp selection process including suggestions based on age and maturity as well as questions to ask about medication, food handling and accommodations.
Creating a Safe Camp Experience for Your Child with Food Allergies
Friendship Circle
By Marci Komssi
Marci suggests doing research, asking questions and preparing your child for camp with key points that both you and your child should know.
Food Allergies and Camps – Tips for Getting Your Confidence Flowing
Sunbutter
By Daniella Knell
Daniella provides great ideas regarding camp research, speaking with the camp staff as well as safe food suggestions for sticky camp situations.
Summer camps
Food Allergy Canada
Food Allergy Canada mentions key things to keep in mind as you begin to prepare your child for camp such as involving your child in the process, being proactive and essential questions to ask in your research.
Managing Food Allergies At Summer Camp
Huffington Post
By Amanda Orlando
Speaking from early personal experiences of having gone through awkward camp social situations as a middle-grader, Amanda provides key steps to follow to help keep kids safe and ease parental worry.
SUMMER CAMP LISTS
Looking for specific camps to accommodate your child with food allergies or celiac disease? Check out these posts with specific camp listings.
GLUTEN-FREE FRIENDLY CAMPS FOR KIDS AND TEENS
Beyond Celiac
Beyond Celiac has collected a list of favorite camps for gluten-free kids from their friends and fans that accommodate children with special dietary needs.
Gluten Free Summer Camps
Celiac Kids Connection
List of 100% gluten free camps.
Gluten-free Camps
Gluten-Free Living Magazine
By Joan Edgett
A list of gluten-free-accommodating camps in the United States and Canada.
Food Allergy-Friendly Camps
FARE
List of many camps that are either designed for children with food allergies or welcomes such campers as a starting place for your search.
Summer Camp for Kids with Celiac or Food Allergies
Gluten Free & More
By Erica Dermer
List of gluten-free and food-allergy friendly camps.
Summer Camp Options for Food Allergic, Gluten-Free and Vegan Kids
Go Dairy Free
By Alisa Fleming
Go Dairy Free lists not only celiac aware and food allergy camps but also camps that cater to kids with other special dietary needs such as vegan friendly camps.
Celiac and Gluten Free Summer Camp for Kids
gfJules
By Jules Shepard
Jules talks about the benefits of attending a gluten-free camp and provides of list of camps that are answering the call of providing such an experience.
Our favorite food allergy-friendly summer camps
Scratch or Sniff
By Heather Laura Clarke
Scratch or Sniff’s top 10 favorite food allergy-friendly camps from across the U.S. and Canada.
CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS
KIDS CAMP
Gluten Intolerance Group
The GIG describes their Generation GF Camp which provides an opportunity for gluten-free kids and teens to have fun as well as their scholarship program and other gluten-free accommodating camps in the USA.
GLUTEN-FREE SLEEPAWAY CAMPS & CAMPERSHIPS
Celiac Disease Foundation
The Celiac Disease Foundation offers a limited number of one-week camperships to celiac and gluten-free sleep-away camps for children based on financial need. Information about applications and donations are available online.
PODCAST
Picking a Food Allergy Friendly Summer Camp – YIKES!
Parenting Food Allergies Podcast
Sue Webb with guest Sue Lein – Camp Emerson
Discuss steps to ease the anxiety of summer camp, reasonable expectations, questions to ask regarding emergency procedures, food preparation and more.
We hope that these articles have shed some light on sending your children to camp with food allergies or gluten sensitivity/celiac disease and have given you new options.
Wishing you and your family a safe and enjoyable summer vacation filled with wonderful memories.
Do you have any tips or camps to add? Please share in the comments below!
AUTHOR
Donna DeCosta, Founder FoodASC.com
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This article is very helpful to parents in finding a camp that would meet the needs of their child as well as their safety concerns. Thanks for gathering these highly informative articles.
You’re welcome. I’m glad the articles are helpful. They give many different perspectives.