Great Gift Ideas For Summer Camp Counselors
Do you have a summer camp counselor in your life and you’re struggling to think of the perfect gift to get them?
Perhaps you know somebody that is going to be a camp counselor for the first time this summer and you want to send them off with something that’s going to make their summer?
You may even be looking for a gift to say thank you to a camp counselor that has looked after your child this summer.
In this article, we are going to give you some brilliant gift ideas for summer camp counselors.
Some of the summer camp gifts are funny and some are slightly more practical.
Either way, this article is sure to provide you with plenty of inspiration.
Disclaimer - this blog post contains affiliate links where we can earn a commission, if you make a purchase through them (at no extra cost to you).
So, let’s get into our Great Gift Ideas for Summer Camp Counselors:
Gift Ideas for Summer Camp Counselors
Disposable Camera
A summer at camp is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have and summer camp counselors are going to want to take some memories home with them. What better way to do that than with a disposable camera?
The best thing about this gift is that it can be used all summer long to hang up photos in the bunk or cabin to make it look more homely. You can find the latest prices for disposable cameras here.
New Suitcase
This gift idea is pretty straightforward - camp counselors need a good reliable way to transport their lives to their summer home each year.
There is no use in trying to get halfway across the world to the States using an old battered suitcase that has been in the family for generations - so a new suitcase is the perfect gift for any summer camp counselor. You can discover some of the most-reliable suitcases here.
Particularly if the counselor has ambitions to visit some of the best places to travel to after camp, they are going to want a suitcase that's reliable and fairly lightweight.
Want a suitcase alternative? Check out our review of the best backpacks for summer camp counselors
Camp Counsellors on the beach at San Diego
USA-Themed Crocs Jibbitz
We absolutely promise that one thing you should know before working at summer camp is that Jibbitz are handed out like candy - every single camper wants to have the biggest collection and trade with their fellow campers and counselors alike.
For that reason, we suggest buying a neat USA-themed Crocs Jibbitz Bundle that can be used as rewards for the campers, or simply to attach to the counselors’ Crocs to show-off their collection!
Summer Camp Board Game
What better way to relive the summer than playing the ultimate summer camp board game?
The great thing about this gift for summer camp counselors is that they can play it throughout the year with family and friends, and then invariably bring it to camp the following summer and play it with all of their camp friends too.
Camp Counselor Pocket Guide Book
Very often, summer camp counselors will want to learn as many tricks and tips as possible to help them thrive throughout the summer - the more camp counselors thrive, the more the campers themselves will thrive.
Despite being written in 2011, Bob Ditter’s Pocket Guide Book for camp counselors provides many tools and resources for looking after children. The guidebook covers complex issues such as Homesickness and bullying and the best strategies for navigating these situations as a summer camp counselor.
It’s a brilliant book showing a camp counselor how to survive and succeed at summer camp.
Fun fact: we’ve worked with Bob Ditter (the author) for a number of years at Timber Lake West Summer Camp and he really is the best in the business!
Travel Adapter
If you know an international camp counselor, then a travel adapter is a brilliant gift idea for this summer.
Although the majority of camps will have a relatively strict no-technology policy in place, counselors are still going to need a place to charge their phones and other devices ready for the evenings and days off.
The good thing about this travel adapter in particular is that it's universal, meaning it can be used in the US or anywhere else around the globe. Plus it comes equipped with multiple USB ports so a number of counselors can share the same adapter - we all know that summer camp bunks don’t tend to have many outlets.
Note: we have always maintained that working at a summer camp is a great long-term travel option for couples, as you can both earn money throughout the summer, doing something you both love, before using that money to travel together afterwards. Having a travel adapter with multiple USB ports really comes in handy when you’re trying to travel together after camp and have 3 or 4 things that need charging at the same time.
Hydro Flask Water Bottle
A reliable water bottle is an essential item in the summer camp counselor arsenal - it’s rare that you ever drink as much as you do when working at summer camp. It’s exhausting, tiring and thirsty work.
The best feature of Hydro Flask Water Bottles is that they are insulated, thus keeping the water cooler for a lot longer. Summer camp counselors don’t often have time to keep running back to the dining hall or kitchen to fill up with more ice, so this is a very useful feature indeed.
Opening ceremonies for Color War
Journal/Notebook
Often at times, you will find camp counselors will want to keep a written account of their summer adventures. For this, a personalised journal or notebook is a great gift idea.
A useful aspect of always having a camp counselor notebook handy is that it can be used as simple paper when a kid needs something to draw on, or when a counselor wants to play a quick game of hangman or tic-tac-toe to help settle the campers down.
A travel journal is also a really great gift for couples that like to travel so they can keep a record of all their adventures together.
GoPro
Okay, so we appreciate this one might be a little expensive, but what better gift could you possibly get a summer camp counselor than a GoPro?
Having worked at camp for a combined 11 summers, we have spoken on countless occasions about investing in a GoPro so we could take videos and photos of our summer home. In the end we have always decided that we’d wait until the next summer. This conversation began in the summer of 2016 and we still don’t own a GoPro…
Camp Counselor T-Shirt
We appreciate that many camps offer their own summer camp apparel and this may come with many different t-shirt designs, but we also know of counselors that haven’t yet been placed at a summer camp or have possibly moved from one camp to another.
That is why we think these Camp counselor t-shirts are a brilliant gift idea for any summer camp counselor. They come in a range of different colours and styles too which is always handy.
Another great thing about these t-shirts is that they can be worn throughout the summer, and be repurposed as loungewear for the rest of the year - it’s a win, win scenario.
All summer camp counselors love wearing Summer Camp Gear
Microfibre Towel Set
If the camp counselor you know is like us, they are going to want to take a lot of clothes with them to camp. More often than not, half of your wardrobe will get lost or ruined while working at summer camp, it is just an inevitability. So you want to pack as many different options as you can.
This means that there is unlikely to be much room in the suitcase for fancy, cumbersome towels. Having your own Microfibre Towel Set helps to combat how much space they will have to pack other more essential items.
Microfibre Towels are also famed for being quick-dry, which is a very useful feature when a camp counselor has to use it once in the morning for instructional swimming, again in the afternoon for the lake period, and then once more in the evening for a shower.
Compression Packing Cubes
On a similar theme to the microfibre towels, this gift idea is all about trying to save vital space when packing to work as a summer camp counselor.
Compression Packing Cubes, as the name handily suggests, compress anything inside them to up to half the size.
As an essential item on any summer camp counselor packing list, compression packing cubes represent a fantastic, and ultimately very practical, gift for summer camp counselors.
Camp Counsellors at Timber Lake West
Hammock
What better way to relax after a busy day looking after the campers than to take a nap in a hammock?
The longer we continue to keep working at camp, the more hammocks we see popping up each summer. They really are a fantastic thing to bring with you to camp and are enjoyed by the counselors and campers alike.
This hammock is brilliant because it can easily fit a couple of people in it, as well as having easy-to-use straps so the hammock can be moved very simply.
Travel Scratch Map
Another great gift idea for the many international counselors that flock to camp each summer, a travel scratch map is a brilliant way to keep track of all of those countries that they have ticked off their bucket lists.
Even if the summer camp counselor you know isn’t travelling abroad to work this summer, a travel scratch map is still a brilliant gift as it can be used either during the summer to scratch off the countries that each counselor in the bunk originates from, or after the summer as a reminder of where all their new co-counselors live.
There really is nothing more satisfying than scratching off a new country on a travel scratch map.
New Waterproof Speaker
If you’re looking for a thoughtful gift that can be used all throughout the year, as well as during the summer, then a brand new speaker is certainly the route to take.
Every camp counselor will tell you that having a speaker on hand at all times is vital. Whether it’s to play music to encourage the campers to brush their teeth, or whether they need some tunes in order to play a certain game, a speaker is always useful.
Thankfully this JBL Clip Speaker is fully waterproof so is perfectly suited to any lifeguards or swim instructors that are going to be working at summer camp.
One of our tips for being a great summer camp counselor is to be as enthusiastic as you can at all times - what better way to do this than by blasting out some upbeat music and encouraging all the campers to clean the bunk as quickly as possible. Summer camp is all about making the mundane activities as fun as possible, and a good quality speaker can always help with that.
Travel Games
You may think you won’t have time to play many games as a summer camp counselor, but actually they can represent a brilliant way for counsellors to connect with fellow counsellors and the campers themselves.
Embroidery Thread Kit
There’s nothing that evokes summer camp nostalgia quite like making friendship bracelets and macrame. Any summer camp counselor will tell you, coming home with bracelets halfway up both arms is completely normal.
This embroidery thread kit is a great gift for summer camp counselors because not only can they take it to camp with them, they can also start creating and making new patterns at home before they go.
S’mores Maker
Marshmallows, Graham Crackers and Chocolate - what’s not to love?
Camp counselors love nothing more than sitting around a fire and toasting marshmallows. For a brilliant gift this year, how about letting them recreate the experience at home with their very own S’mores maker?
This S’mores maker is brilliant as it is fairly small, so is transportable pretty much anywhere. A brilliant addition to any camp counselor reunions that often happen throughout the off-season.
Timber Lake West during the summer
There we have it folks, our round-up of the best gift ideas for summer camp counselors.
Working as a summer camp counselor is the most rewarding, and most exhausting, way anybody can spend their summer. By buying them one of the gifts from this list, you are going to make the world of difference to their summer journey.
