At Home with Lora



As the school year is coming to an end and now it’s time to think about activities that children may be involved in throughout the summer months.  Often children want to experience an overnight camp during the summer to spend time with friends or meet new friends.  This can also be challenging as a parent to have or child away from you, whether it is for the night or an entire week.  The issue that comes up the most in these circumstances is the children begin to get homesick and want to return home.

Homesickness is not like an illness that you get from germs—rather, homesickness is when you may be upset or sad while you are not at home.  For some kids, they want to have fun at a friend’s house or an overnight camp, but when they get here they just feel sad, or even scared, and want to go home.  When some kids get homesick, they may feel headaches or stomachaches.  If is OK for your child to have homesickness.  Talking to your child about being away from home and ways to lessen that homesick feeling is a good idea if your child is wanting to have sleepovers or go to an overnight camp.

Here are some ways that may help your child stay and enjoy all the fun next time:

Bring a little part of home: For an overnight stay, it may be helpful for your child to bring something from home.  You may suggest that they bring a favorite toy or wear their favorite pajamas.  You may also want to pack a picture of the family that can be looked at from time to time.

Stay busy: When your child is busy having fun, they have less time to think about being home.  Talk to your child about the fun they will have, whether it is playing games or staying up talking.  If your child is going to an overnight camp, talk about all of the different activities that they will get to try and all of the new friends they will have an opportunity to meet.

Talk to someone: For some children, just letting someone else know that they are feeling a little homesick can make them feel better.  Whether it is a friend or family member, encourage your child to tell someone how they are feeling.  Perhaps the friend or family member will have a funny joke to tell or find an activity to do.

The age of a child may influence how comfortable they are with being away from home.  For most children, the time to start having sleepovers is between the ages of 6 and 8.  For children younger than 6, a sleepover at a relative’s house may be a good way to introduce being away from home overnight.  Children, age 8 and older, may be interested in trying an overnight camp for a few nights or even a week.  These can be a lot of fun and provide many adventures, but if your child have never been away from home, take that into consideration when planning how long they will be staying away from home.

Talk to your child about staying away from home, whether it is a night or a week.  Make sure your child knows what to expect and encourage them to try something new. 

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Contact Lora Pullin, Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences in Greenup County at 606-836-0201 or lora.pullin@uky.edu.  (Source Nicole Peritore)  Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.