Program Info

Brighton Woods Day Camp has been in operation for over 40 years, with a focus on getting campers outdoors, working together on camp skills and having lots of silly fun. We have four mascots who represent our first four directors: Harriet the Hippo, Civvie the Frog, Flo the Flamingo, and Peggy the Penguin. These lovely ladies come with their own “creation” myth and feature prominently in our antics and fun at camp! Some of our traditions include the mascot hunt where campers search and find mascots hidden around camp to earn prizes from Headquarters, awarding Flo the Flamingo to the unit of the day, and more.

The program of camp is heavily scout led, with our teen staff stepping up to lead most activities. Campers vote on almost everything and participate in choosing various aspects of the program so that they are vested in all that they do at camp. They also choose their ice cream flavors, menu for the overnight, and more.

What to Wear

Dressing for camp is key to having a good day at camp! Your camper will be walking on uneven, rough ground, in woods full of ticks and other assorted creepy crawlies. That’s not even mentioning the poison ivy! We won’t police what campers wear except to ensure safety; for example not having sturdy closed toe shoes will mean a call home for new shoes!

• comfy cool short sleeved shirt
• bandana or hat or other head covering
• knee high socks
• comfortable shorts or leggings
• sturdy shoes

Daily Packing List!

• Water bottle and holder
• Two masks per day (optional)
• Two bandanas per day (for drying hands)
• Lightweight rain poncho
• Lightweight backpack
• Campers in 5th grade and older may bring a pocket knife
• Lunch: insulated bag with ice packs! NO NUTS please
• Mess Kit (for snacks!- can be stored at camp)
• Emergency meal: Nonperishable and must include a drink. Will be stored at camp for emergencies, and come home at the end of camp if not used. Please DO NOT SEND NUTS in this emergency lunch.

Bus Info

Bus pickup and drop off times are between 8 and 8:30 am, and 4 pm and 4:30pm, depending on the location of your stop.

Bus stops will be at or in the vicinity of these locations:
Grove Shopping Center (near Shady Grove Metro)
Goshen Safeway
EB Wood MS
Cloverly Safeway
Eastern MS
Pinecrest ES
St. Peter’s Church

Car Rider Info

We are phasing out our car rider option; if you are someone who was a car rider and none of the bus stops worked for you, please email us! We are working on providing a bus stop near camp for those of you who were car riders, possibly in Ashton.

Overnight Info

All campers of every age are allowed to sleep over on our all camp overnight. For many campers this is their first time camping, or being overnight away from parents. Only the parents of the child can really decide if their child is ready for an overnight; campers who leave early will be able to return for breakfast the next morning.

Campers will sleep in our glen shelters; these are wooden structures with a roof but no cots or beds of any kind. A bed roll or pad of some type is a great thing to send with your camper for their comfort… but most kids do fine without it too!

Please keep in mind while packing that campers should be able to carry their own gear! Sleeping bags will be taken to their unit by their leaders; but they will need to carry their own bag with their clothes/toiletries/overnight items. Let them help pack so they know where everything is, and let them help practice carrying it!

Even more overnight info is here!

And the overnight permission form is here!

Overnight Packing List

• bedroll (a sleeping bag or 2 warm blankets), and a sleeping pad or waterproof cloth
• sleepwear and a change of clothes for Wednesday and a plastic bag in which to keep clothes
• warm sweater or jacket (even in July, it gets chilly at night!)
• washcloth, small towel, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste (in plastic bag), comb, and brush
• flashlight or headlamp with fresh batteries and bulb
• mess kit containing an unbreakable plate, bowl, silverware and cup
• drip bag (hosiery, onion or other mesh bag, with drawstring) to air dry dishes
• insect repellent (cream or lotion)
• bagged supper — a main meal is cooked by campers at lunch. Can be anything your child will eat for dinner, kept cool with an ice pack.

Emergency Info

We use Remind to send texts to all parents in case of emergency. Please make sure you sign up for our all camp remind as well as the remind for the bus or car riders; staff will use those to let you know if a bus is running late or any other information you may need last minute.

2024 Remind Lists are Coming Soon!

Camp Phone Number

The best way to contact camp is via email: bwdc.team@gmail.com. When you receive your unit information you will also receive contact info for your unit leaders and camp directors!

Medications at Camp

Bringing Medication to Camp Form
You may have already filled out the necessary forms on CampDocs! If you need to fill out a form, we should have contacted you. If you are sure you did not fill out the form on CampDocs, the forms are linked below.

For most medications, please administer them before or after camp; thus no form is needed for us! If your camper needs a medication at camp, please download and fill out this form and send it in with the medication in a ziplock bag clearly labeled with their name and unit number. The camper will need to turn that in to First Aid and it will be kept there.

If your child needs to bring an Epi Pen or emergency inhaler to camp, please fill out one of these:
Asthma Inhaler form/action plan
Epi Pen/Allergy Info

SWAPS!

What are SWAPS? Swaps are a Girl Scout tradition and an acronym that stand for “Special watchamacalits affectionally pinned somewhere.” If you haven’t encountered swaps before in your troop, here is some information about the history of swaps in Girl Scouting. At camp, we as camp give out a lot of swaps! Unit of the day gets a swap, there is usually a theme related swap, there may be a swap related to various activities we do. On the last day of camp, during our camp party, everyone is able to swap with everyone else; which is a great way to really get kids talking to each other and getting to know each other and to have something to remember each other by during the year. It’s great to have a place for campers to put their swaps! Some campers put them on their water bottle holders, or on a hat, or on a piece of fabric they hang on the wall; there are tons of ideas if you google “girl scout swaps!” Swaps do NOT need to be expensive or extremely time consuming. As for how many swaps to bring to camp, that really depends on your child and how much they WANT to swap; 50 swaps is a great baseline, but at least 15-20 to be able to participate. Generally speaking we try to provide time for campers to work on swaps during camp, but it’s great for them to have an idea about what they’d like their swap to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve read all of the above and still have questions, maybe it is answered here…!

• Partial attendance:
  So your child can only attend part of camp? That is totally fine, however you will still pay the entire camp fee. We do not have the capacity to do partial payments. If you have any questions about attendance, please email Ravenclaw!
• Camp Fees:
  Camp costs $275 per camper unless you are a volunteer. Volunteers receive a discount for their campers and a reduced rate for their pixies and boys.
• Overnight: My child doesn’t want to stay over!
  No worries, you can choose a pickup option that works for your family. That information will be sent out in our overnight permission form.
• Allergies:
  We will work with each family on a case by case basis to ensure their child has whatever they need to be safe and successful at Brighton Woods. We should have all your child’s allergy information via your CampDocs forms, but if you have any questions or more information that can help, please email Chickadee to discuss!

Buddy Requests

Most of our unit assignments will be based on age/grade of campers, NOT on buddy requests or troop membership. Due to space restraints, we may be unable to meet buddy requests; generally if campers are the same age and both have registered, they will be placed together. If your child has a special/extenuating circumstance please let us know, but we can only do our best based on the space we have.