Below is some detailed information about what you and your child can expect while he/she is at camp. Click on these links to view the daily schedule and program area pages.

Letters and packages

Letters and packages to your camper can be mailed to our post office box, with your camper’s name and cabin number printed clearly on the envelope. You will find out your child’s cabin number on check-in day. We cannot release cabin numbers over the phone, so if you do not know it just be sure the name is printed clearly it will be delivered!

Mail is delivered to camp each day, and campers receive their letters during cabin time just before dinner. If your son/daughter receives a package, he/she will receive a notice during mail time and can pick up the package the following morning during the first free period.

Campers love packages! However, please do not send ANY FOOD in packages, as they encourage critters!

All packages are opened in front of a Coniston staff member. All food items, including gum, candy, and beverages are collected and discarded.

Example for a letter or package to camp using
US Postal Service:                            

Camper Name- Cabin B5 (if known)
YMCA Camp Coniston
PO Box 185
Grantham, NH 03753

Packages can be also sent via UPS or FedEx and must be mailed to our physical address:

Camper Name- Cabin B5 (if known)
YMCA Camp Coniston
24 Main Camp Road
Grantham, NH 03753

Daily Life

At some point while your child is away, you may find yourself looking up at the clock and thinking, “I wonder what (name) is doing right now?”

Our Daily Program page on the website will give you a glimpse of the daily schedule. Each session campers are scheduled for 8 activity areas during a two-week stay at Coniston, with 4 activity periods each day that are scheduled Mon-Wed-Fri and Tue-Thu-Sat. They are also provided with two free choice periods each day that provide the opportunity to take part in programs that are not on their schedule.

Daily Activities

The following are activities that your camper may be participating in (for full descriptions, please see the Program Page).

Acting, Archery, Arts & Crafts, Basketball, Campcraft, Canoeing, Dance, Drama, Drama for Production, Ecology, Games for the Mind, Gymnastics, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Landsports, Photography, Riflery, Ropes & Climbing, Sailing, Skeet, Snorkeling, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Waterskiing, Woodshop.

Group Time Activities

Campers also participate in large and small group activities at various times during the camp session. Some examples of these are:

Campcraft- learning camping skills, hiking, fire building, compass work, etc.

Landsports- various field and court sports such as street hockey, volleyball, Capture the Flag, softball, relays…

Ropes- group ‘trust’ and ‘initiative’ activities using our low ropes course. Campers also have a lesson to challenge themselves on the high ropes course (Climbing and Rappelling Tower).

Woodshop- working with drills and jig saws to create craft projects.

Vespers

Led by counselors, Vespers is a quiet time of reflection and camaraderie that is held just prior to dinner, and is shared by all campers around their respective campfire rings in boys camp and girls camp.

Overnight Camping Trip

Each session every cabin ventures out for an overnight camping trip at one of our camp sites around the lake. Our Overnight Coordinator plans their meals and activities, and each camper participates in making the homemade meal over a campfire. This is a special time for cabins, and many campers recall these trips as some of their most cherished times at camp.

From time to time the weather will keep us from fitting these in, however we do our best to make sure each cabin has this special experience.

Sundays at Camp

Sundays are special days at camp! We sleep in, enjoy inspirational messages at chapel, experience more formal dining at brunch, and have fun together during the afternoon program. The day is topped off with our much-anticipated ice cream social! (See the Daily Program page for the hourly schedule).

Meals

Meals are a time when we come together as a community to eat in the Coniston Dining Hall, and campers look forward to the fun of special Dining Hall traditions.

Meals are served family-style and campers sit with their cabin group at their assigned table. Our food service staff prepares all meals, and second helpings are always available. We also have a salad bar that offers alternatives to the main course at each meal.

The dining hall is open during the day, and campers can select a snack of fresh fruit in between meals if needed. Fresh water is also available all throughout the day in the dining hall.

We can accommodate some food allergies, each considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the office for details. Peanut Butter is not served at camp.

Homesickness

Letters home to parents expressing homesickness happen from time to time, primarily for younger or new campers. We take homesickness seriously and work carefully and attentively through these issues with each camper. If needed, we will certainly be in touch with you and discuss a resolution for your son/daughter. In the meantime, rest assured we are working hard so your camper will come home stronger and more independent, with great summer memories!

Cell phones and homesickness

It may be your instinct to send a cell phone to camp, or to call the office to check in with your camper to cut down on homesickness.  Our experience consistently indicates the exact opposite.

Talking to parents regularly brings up memories from home, and actually increases homesickness. This not only affects your child, but the children around them as well.

In addition, using cell phones at camp reduces the face-to-face contact connections your child will make during summer camp, and hinders their ability to make new friends. Camp is really about getting away from the day to day technology… the everyday routine… and getting to know new friends in person.

Behavior and Dismissal Policy

As a close-knit community, YMCA Camp Coniston expects all campers to respect themselves and everyone in camp, as well as our rustic facilities and surroundings. All members of the Camp Coniston community, including staff and campers, are expected to behave responsibly and appropriately at all times.

After reasonable efforts to modify irresponsible or inappropriate behavior (including but not limited to bad language, use of threats, fighting, bullying), a camper may be dismissed.  Direct threats of physical harm to self or others are grounds for immediate dismissal, as is the possession or use of tobacco, drugs, or alcohol.

Campers dismissed for disciplinary reasons are not permitted back in camp for the remainder of the summer, and may be asked to not return to camp in the future.