Grownup camp care package

August 20, 2016 7:26 AM

My 42 year old sister is going to camp. I want to send her a care package appropriate for a kid at camp in the 1980s.

My sister is going to adult summer camp next weekend and I want to send her a care package that is reminiscent of the kind of care packages we got as kids. She went last year, so she's prepared and aware of everything that she 'needs' so I want to sent her stuff that she totally doesn't 'need' but would be fun or silly to have.

The camp is only 3 days, so I don't need anything to sustain her for weeks, but I also don't want to just send candy. I want to send silly child-like things that she can have fun with and ideally share with her other campers, but are cheap and easily consumed or discarded at the end of her stay. Things that would have made other campers jealous when we were kids. Things that we would have made you think 'her parents [sister, in this case'] are so much cooler than mine for sending her that package full of cool stuff'. Toys, candy, games, etc, that are easily available (and small and cheap) that are reminiscent of what kids in the 1980s would have wanted to get at camp. Get my drift?

They are not allowed any kind of tech/communication so anything along those lines is out. Though I will send her one of those disposable film cameras for sure.

I have to ship the package by Tuesday, so must be able to be purchased at a brick-and-mortar store in New York City before then.

Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!

posted by greta simone to Shopping (40 answers total)

Of course, you will need something like this.

And Pringles. Lots of Pringles.
posted by 4ster at 7:30 AM on August 20, 2016

Best answer: Well, hell. I missed the no tech part. My apologies, but I stand by the Pringles.

Oh, and this.
posted by 4ster at 7:33 AM on August 20, 2016

You might have trouble finding anything in the time allowed but you couldn't possibly do better than some New Kids On The Block fan merch: buttons, posters, etc.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 7:37 AM on August 20, 2016

Definitely a plush toy stuffed with contraband candy.
posted by pintapicasso at 7:38 AM on August 20, 2016

I'd try to find some roll-on lip gloss and go to a used book store and get her a book like The Outsiders. I'd also go to a good candy store and get some old candies like jolly ranchers, hubba bubba gum and spree candies.
posted by ReluctantViking at 7:39 AM on August 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Magic Slate and Wooly Willy
Plastic Charm Necklace
Jelly Bracelets
Friendship bracelets (or the thread to make some - with instructions)
Glow sticks
Gum
posted by Sassyfras at 7:45 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker SPF 24 Lip Balm
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:47 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Pop tarts, red hots, stickers, silly putty, and a yo yo!
posted by mochapickle at 7:52 AM on August 20, 2016

Response by poster: Oh crap I just realized I have to send this stuff today! Any suggestions of where in New York would be the best place to go to get all this stuff? Target's toy section kinda sucks.

I love the suggestions so far!
posted by greta simone at 7:53 AM on August 20, 2016

Stickers. Garbagepail kid cards (and other similar collectable cards). A pound puppy. Candy (giant chewy Sweet Tarts and pixie sticks were king at my summer camps). Temporary tattoos. Stationary and SASEs with a stern admonition to write home. A deck of cards and a book covering classic card games. A Judy Blume novel. Slap bracelets.

Depending on your relationship with your sister, underwear with her name written on the back of the inside of the waistband.
posted by Candleman at 7:53 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh and maybe some jacks? I loved playing jacks.
posted by mochapickle at 7:53 AM on August 20, 2016

Best answer: Mad Libs. Now that Barnes & Noble is largely a gift shop, there are tons of things like that, and cute notebooks, pens, stickers and so forth. Look for the back to school displays, and the kids department for Mad Libs. Also, current magazines.
posted by BibiRose at 7:59 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh, yes, middle grade novels. My favorite summer read is The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh.
posted by BibiRose at 8:00 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was a camp counselor in the '80s! We forbade candy, though. So people sent things like:

mixtapes
Archie comics, especially Double Digest
Magazines like "Teen Beat" and "Seventeen"
Stickers
plastic "gimp" for lanyard making; also, several skeins of embroidery floss for friendship bracelet making
Cute hair ties
Ribbon and metal barrettes for making woven barrettes
Anything fortune-telling-related, like a deck of fortune telling cards, a palm reading guide, etc.
White t-shirts and some Rit dye for tie-dyeing
White Ked-style sneakers and some craft paint for spatter painting
Colored pencils or markers - especially scented markers
Set of jacks and a jumprope, single or long
Set of "Chinese" jacks and/or a "Chinese" jumprope
Uno game
Barrel of Monkeys game
posted by Miko at 8:09 AM on August 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Big books included Sweet Valley High, The Nancy Drew Files, R. L. Stine books; also frequently passed around were "dirty" books, especially Flowers in the Attic. and Judy Blume's Forever.
posted by Miko at 8:13 AM on August 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Puffy paint.
posted by Miko at 8:14 AM on August 20, 2016

Best answer: Mad libs, a multipack of cheap nail polish for sharing, definitely a stuffed animal with candy inside!
posted by Valancy Rachel at 8:20 AM on August 20, 2016

Best answer: Pop rocks candy or candy cigarettes if they still make those.

Try Walgreens for a nice selection of random-ness or maybe a dollar store?
posted by hydra77 at 8:25 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Lanyard string to make lanyards! I bet Michael's sells it. At least online they have a book.
posted by radioamy at 8:49 AM on August 20, 2016

Silly string!
posted by missriss89 at 8:49 AM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Zinc sunscreen for her nose!
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:06 AM on August 20, 2016

You don't get more 'summer in the 80s' than this.
posted by Miko at 9:16 AM on August 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Several cans of cheap shaving cream for shaving cream fights.
posted by SLC Mom at 9:20 AM on August 20, 2016

Cheap neon-framed sunglasses.
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:41 AM on August 20, 2016

Go to a drug store with a cheesy toy section. You might be surprised at what you find; we just had a great time with some rubber band / whirly bird / light up thingies I found there for quite a bargain.
posted by amtho at 9:44 AM on August 20, 2016

Seconding glow sticks, glow bracelets, etc.
posted by clerestory at 10:11 AM on August 20, 2016

Smurfs!
posted by warriorqueen at 10:27 AM on August 20, 2016

Michael's is surprisingly great for little gifty things. Last time I was there they had an endcap full of plastic charm bracelets/necklaces really similar to the ones I had as a kid in the 80s. You can get embroidery floss for friendship bracelets while you're there. And a few tubes of puffy paint and a blank t-shirt or two!
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:28 AM on August 20, 2016

Bubbles. Well-wrapped for leakage. And you can't mail anything in an aerosol can. I'd suggest crazy nail polish, but that can't be mailed either. Candy, snacks, coloring books of the era, stickers, friendship bracelet stuff (and maybe some instructions), craft supplies, and similar. Don't buy stuff that when they ask at PO, 'Does this contain anything hazardous, etc' you have to say yes or all your efforts will be for naught. http://about.usps.com/posters/pos37.pdf Some PO workers have no sense of humor & can be ruthless with regulations.
posted by Nosey Mrs. Rat at 10:49 AM on August 20, 2016

Best answer: Squirt guns?
Halloween stuff is out now someplaces, look in that section. A package of little plastic spiders would be perfect. I don't know if you have Big Lots out there, I got some great Halloween things there recently and they have weird candy and little girl stationary and stuff. Agree with the stationary suggestion above, maybe a cheesy postcard, addressed and stamped.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:05 AM on August 20, 2016

Pixy stix! In a platic baggy in case they break.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:09 AM on August 20, 2016

Can you get to Economy Candy ? They should have some throw back stuff.
posted by cestmoi15 at 11:32 AM on August 20, 2016

Lipgloss. They just started making those lipglosses in a slider tin again.
posted by vunder at 12:05 PM on August 20, 2016

My mom always sent me homemade chocolate chip cookies. If you're shipping today, you probably don't have time to make some, but I'm sure a bakery will have you covered.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:15 PM on August 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Lisa Frank. (Oh god...)
Pipsticks sticker subscription.
posted by jrobin276 at 2:52 PM on August 20, 2016

Evian water spray. So stupid, so very stupid -- but I remember my bunkmate had it at camp in the 1980s.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:10 PM on August 20, 2016

Glow in the dark stick on stars!
posted by jaksemas at 3:28 PM on August 20, 2016

I've been to Camp Grounded in other locations -- definitely send a costume-item of some sort! Funny hat, novelty glasses, colorful knee high tights, etc. They will come in handy!
posted by egeanin at 4:38 PM on August 20, 2016

Oh man, I know I'm a day late, but NYCers should all know about the Balloon Saloon. Perfect party garbage heaven. Their Tribeca store is a wonderland of silly toys, pranks, party favors, etc!
posted by oh.ghoulin at 5:08 PM on August 21, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: And FYI for any future lurkers, her favorite thing was a tacky cheap chinese hand fan, because it was hot and humid!
posted by greta simone at 2:29 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]