What to Pack for Youth Camp (besides duct tape & prayer)

Odds are that your youth camp is around the corner, and that means one thing:

You’re about to lead a week of sleep-deprived teenagers, questionable cafeteria food, and spontaneous spiritual breakthroughs — all while pretending you don’t have a stress rash forming.

To help you survive (and possibly thrive), we made a Camp Packing Checklist for Youth Leaders. It’s part practical, part ridiculous, and 100% made with your sanity in mind.

Here goes:

Extra snacks (hide the good stuff — teens will sniff it out)
A solid deodorant game plan (and some extra for that one middle school boy)
Your “I’m fine” face for when the bus AC goes out
A sense of humor (it’ll save you when everything else fails)
Duct tape – Fixes everything except emotional trauma (that’s what late-night campfire worship is for)
Earplugs – One cabin’s “midnight conversation” is another leader’s horror story
Sunglasses for your “I’m not crying, you’re crying” moments
Sticky Notes & Sharpies or labeling stuff, leaving notes, or passive-aggressive sign-making
Notebook titled “Camp Debrief/Things to Change” – So you remember next year not to let Kyle and Ethan bunk together
A “Camp MVP” award for yourself – Because if no one else acknowledges you, at least your imaginary trophy does.

This might be the most exhausting week of your summer. But it’s also where God shows up in unforgettable ways — in worship, in small group, during the message, prayer time and sometimes in the middle of a late-night s’mores fight.

You’ve got this. We’re cheering you on (from far, far away… in an air-conditioned office with real coffee).

Written by Nick Diliberto
Survivor of 20 youth camps, 6 cabin floods, and 1 raccoon incident (okay I made that up… but not the 20 youth camps part).

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