Additional Information

 Additional Information 

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Christmas

Our unique Nyoda summer Christmas is during the third week of camp. That is the last week of the first three week session. If your daughter is in camp that week, please send a wrapped gift for her to share with someone of a similar age. Spend $10-20 and do not send food, candy or gum. See more below.

What are good Christmas gift ideas? 

• Pillow

• Blanket

• Craft in a box

• A camp themed item like a diary, autograph pillow or book

• Stuffed animal

• Inflatable water toy for the lake

• Cards or travel sized game

• Hat

• Puzzle Books

• Special coloring books with pens, pencils or markers

• Orange and gray things that are fun to wear for team games

• Games that the whole bungalow could play together like ring toss or a ball game or a special bubble wand

• Lotions, creams, body gel (older girls)

• Nail polish in orange and gray or navy blue and white

Avoid:

• Food

• Jewelry

• Books

• Clothing unless it is a one size item

Things to bring that get us into the spirit!

These are totally optional. Label whenever possible!

• White shorts/skirt/pants/jeans if she wants to be in the Christmas Choir

• Christmas hat

• Hair band

• T-shirt

• P.J.s.

• Inexpensive Christmas jewelry

• Green and red clothes
   

More Information:

A Nyoda Christmas is a tradition that is almost 100 years old! It is three days of Christmas and Hanukkah songs, good deeds, and decorating!  It is amazing how creative the girls can be! Each camper draws a name and that is who receives her gift. It is supposed to stay a secret until the big reveal, when Santa gives out a Christmas present to each person.  Bungalows, the dining room, the barn, and even the tennis court are totally decorated. Our youngest girls perform a play, and there are Christmas hats, antlers, and flashing necklaces. Truly a highlight of the summer for all of us. 

Bedwetting

A fact of life for some girls. Just come to camp prepared!  A camper who experiences bedwetting should bring:

• Mattress protector

• Cotton mattress pad

• Extra sheets

• Washable blankets

• Extra pjs

• Disposable underwear, if she uses it

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Please be sure to note this on her medical form and talk to her counselors on Opening Day. If you know this will be an issue for her, please call Molly ahead of time so her move in will go smoothly. Laundry will be managed at camp. Your daughter should not send her blankets out with the laundry service as they will not be back in time for that night. 

Birthdays

Birthdays are special at Nyoda! Make arrangements with the Farmhouse staff to deliver your daughter’s birthday surprise. Ice cream cakes are very popular, and can be ordered ahead of time either by phone or in person from our local ice cream store. 

AJ’s Country Cone 

5711 Berkshire Valley Road

Oak Ridge, NJ 07438 

973-208-8461  

AJ’s will deliver the cake to us the morning of the birthday. Balloons are available. Make sure you say the cake is for a Nyoda camper.  If you are bringing a treat from home we can refrigerate it for no more than 24 hours. The bungalow will celebrate so any birthday items such as plates, napkins candles, etc. will be appreciated. Please save any birthday gifts for a celebration at home. 
 

Laundry

There are two options for laundry:

• Sign up for the laundry service. A private laundry service picks up once a week and returns the laundry the next day. Sign up is found on the registration page. Camper’s name must be on the outside of the laundry bag.

• Arrange for pick up and return of your camper’s laundry. Call the camp number and let us know when you will arrive to pick up laundry. It will be waiting on the farmhouse porch. Laundry can be returned the same way. 

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Packages from Home

Packages sent from home are welcome. Address the item to your daughter. The camp address is: 

(Daughter's Name)
136 Cozy Lake Road

Oak Ridge, NJ  07438

Mail time is a very important part of our day! Please write often to your daughter and encourage her ahead of coming to plan to write back to you by sending self addressed envelopes as well as paper and stamps. See more for package tips and suggestions 

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Tips for Sending Packages from Home:

We have deliveries every day from Amazon, Fed Ex, UPS, etc. The Post Office delivers Monday through Saturday.

Counselors collect mail and packages and deliver them to the girls in their bungalow.
 

A personal package could have:

• ·         Personal clothing

• ·         Books

• ·         A craft for one

• ·         Personal care items

• ·         Cards and a rule book

• ·         A stuffed animal

• ·         Something she forgot
   

Please do not send food for your daughter. She cannot keep it in her luggage.

A Bungalow package (enough for everyone) could contain:

• ·         A snack for the whole bungalow

• ·         Coloring Books

• ·         Markers

• ·         Crafts

• ·         Temporary tattoos

• ·         Neon bracelets or necklaces

• ·         Stickers

• ·         Bubbles

• ·         Something she enjoys and would like to share

Snacks

Counselors collect all food items and store them in a safe, bug proof container. Snacks are given to the whole bungalow at rest hour, after taps, during bung times, and at counselor discretion. Enough should be sent for the whole bungalow to have, so check with Molly, a bung counselor, or your daughter as to how many this will be. Counselors request that you send everything the same rather than a variety pack. 

Unfortunately we have had to limit homemade items. If you send from a bakery, please be sure that the ingredients are clearly labeled.

Please do not send:

•  Food made with nuts or nut products

•  Peanut butter items must be clearly labeled

•  No Gum

•  Items needing refrigeration or freezer space (see Birthdays)
   

Snack suggestions:

Send just enough for the size of the bungalow.

Individually wrapped items are best but not required.

•  Crackers

• ·Cookies

• ·Roll ups

•  Chips

• ·Pretzels

• ·Candy

• ·Popcorn

•  Something special that your daughter loves

Note: Some of the packages from the camp care package companies are proving to be inadequate for a whole bungalow. Please choose your package with the entire bungalow in mind. The counselors have found that there is not enough of any one thing to go around the group.

Prop Room

Our totally fascinating prop room with costumes, gowns, great accessories, and fun props for all our shows and dress up times is ready to receive donations from your closets! We accept anything you no longer use which would be considered “dress ups” and be assured that they will be used and enjoyed for many years! Dance costumes and Halloween costumes are also appreciated. 

Homesickness

This happens to everyone! We prefer to use the term “missing home” because no one is actually sick!  Missing home shows up differently in every person, and we can help each one get past it and enjoy her time at camp. Some girls settle in right away, while others take longer. Sometimes it is three days before a camper suddenly misses the familiarity of home. The most important thing you can do at home is not set it up so that she can go home if she misses you. Encourage her to speak her feelings to a counselor so we can help her right away. If it seems your daughter is struggling, we will call you and discuss options and which one will work best for her. Every girl is unique and special to us and we want her stay to be the best it can be. Read more for tips and what we do.

Homesick tips and what we do:

What do we do at camp to help girls with homesick feelings get past them?
 

We treat each girl as an individual, getting to know her and what approach works best for her. We have some tried and true things we like.

The first one is to be busy. Do everything that Nyoda has to offer, and as each girl becomes immersed in the activities and in the camaraderie of the other girls, her thoughts of home will become less important.
 

Another is to listen. Here the counselors are experts. They listen to the stories of home, they identify when they can, and they help and encourage the girls to make new friends. Often a friend is all it takes.
 

Quiet walks and conversation is needed by some of the girls. They do not want to fall apart in front of others, so removing them for a brief time often helps them to get control. This is NEVER viewed as a punishment or consequence, but rather a way to help talk things out privately. Returning to the group is best done quickly, but we want to avoid any embarrassment over this.
 

How can you help?
 

It is very helpful if your daughter knows your expectations before she comes. If you expect her to stick it out, even when it is hard at first, and she knows this, our job is way easier. Make sure she understands that this is a commitment. Many of our 8 and 9 year veterans started with a homesick few days.

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Understand that this takes a while. One day is often enough, but sometimes it takes several days. Homesick feelings are unpredictable, and can show up anytime.

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Danger zones are frequently meals and bedtime. The food doesn’t look or taste just like Mom’s and it is a large table full of chatter. Encourage your daughter at home to try new things, and to adjust to a different spaghetti sauce or a different salad dressing. Special attention is paid to the girls at the table, and we make sure that they have choices and pick the foods they like. They are hungry because they are so active, so this really straightens out after only a meal or two. 

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Bedtime is always a vulnerable time. The girls are tired, and miss home more. Send a picture of your family so she can say goodnight to you. Tell her to send a nighttime wish home before she falls asleep, and that you will be sending one back. You both can write letters about your wishes. Send a favorite stuffed animal, blanket or pillow. A treasured nighttime ritual is that counselors say Good Night to each camper. If your daughter is struggling at bedtime, her counselors will be aware of it and help her settle and get to sleep.

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Letters can be very helpful. Write about the people and things she knows and loves, but make them funny stories. Ask a lot of questions about what she is doing. Make the letters short for the younger girls. Write often. On the other hand, don’t expect a lot from your daughter! The girls do have a time everyday that they can write letters, but many times they choose to read, play cards, or make crafts during this time. Often she will put the letters back into her box and you will find them when she gets home! If you don’t get a letter for a week, let me know and I will remind her about it. No news is good news!! But-- she will want letters from you!

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What do you do if you get a sad letter or one that states she is not very happy?

Please give us a call. It takes time to build trust between counselors and campers and perhaps your daughter, despite encouragement, is not quite ready to reveal her feelings to anyone but you. We want to partner with you and solve this with your daughter and it works best the sooner we catch it.

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You know your daughter best. So, should a homesick situation arise, and continue for more than a day or two, or seem to be getting more encompassing than less, we will call you, We have a big bag of tricks for easing girls into a happy camp life and we will discuss with you the best way to help her cope with her sad feelings. 

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Our goal is to have every girl happy at Nyoda. When we hear “I like it here but I miss my mom!” we know that time and attention can help this camper have a great summer.

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Thank you for trusting us to take care of your daughter. We are looking forward to having her part of our Nyoda family.