Camp, a truly delightful Christmas gift!

The best gifts don’t always fit in a box. Giving the gift of summer camp is one that keeps on giving. Over Strong Rock Camp’s 21 summers, we’ve heard countless former campers, many of whom are now adults, say that camp changed the trajectory of their lives. Camp makes you a different kind of person in the best kind of way!

Speaking of boxes, it’s just not going to be possible to fit the entire camp experience in one when you give it for Christmas. When you register between November 20 and December 28, 2025, we will send you a gift certificate and a Strong Rock sweatshirt blanket you can wrap up. This blog post will give you more fun ideas about how to let your camper know they’re headed to camp, whether they are a first-timer or a returner! We will also post more fun ideas here over the next few weeks. For new campers, you could choose one of these reveal ideas:

Create a mini “Strong Rock Camp” experience in a box. Fill it with s’mores ingredients, a flashlight, a toy canoe or bow and arrow, and some pinecones and fake leaves, and the gift certificate! (We’re glad to send you a camp brochure to include as well.)

Wrap up a new duffel or camp trunk (a large Rubbermaid container works well too), and place inside it a water bottle, camp stickers, brochures, and/or a camp t-shirt (we can send these to you!), their new camp blanket, a beach towel, a small caddy for toiletries, a Bible and journal, and the gift certificate for camp.

Create a short video to be played on Christmas morning of family members pretending to be a camp counselor, a friendly camp horse, a skill class instructor for a class they will really love, and a new friend, and end it with, “See you at Strong Rock Camp this summer!”

Here are some ideas for returning campers:

Give them an ornament themed to something they loved last summer; an archery target, a canoe, a fishing rod, climbing gear, a horse, or a miniature campfire. On the back or bottom of it print, “Strong Rock Camp 2025- Return Trip Confirmed!”

Create a tribe spirit kit with Awahili (blue) or Waya (red) items that can be worn and used by friends to be tribal game ready! Useful items could include bracelets, face paint, socks, shoelaces, tutus and ribbons, colored sunglasses, capes, wings, hair chalk, silly hats, glow sticks, temporary tattoos, beaded necklaces, kazoos, foam fingers, or any other slightly ridiculous or fun accessory that helps them show tribe spirit! The message included could read, “Your tribe needs you back…Strong Rock 2025 awaits!”

Be looking for another post soon to give you a few more fun ideas about gifting camp for Christmas!