How to Support Your Child Through Homesickness
(Without Making It Worse)
This post is part of a short series on homesickness at camp—written for parents navigating those first goodbyes. If you’re just joining, you may want to start with Homesick and Happy or Homesick, Part Two: When It’s Your Child, Not You.
Homesickness is one of the most common worries parents carry into summer camp, AND one of the most misunderstood.
When a child feels homesick, our instinct is powerful and immediate:
Fix it.
Remove it.
Make it stop.
But support doesn’t always mean rescue.
Often, the most helpful thing we can offer is steadiness—before camp begins and while our child is learning to navigate big feelings in a new place.
First, a Reframe That Matters
Homesickness is not a problem to eliminate.
It is a feeling to move through.
Children who learn they can experience sadness, uncertainty, or discomfort, and still be okay, develop confidence that lasts far beyond camp.
The goal isn’t to prevent homesickness.
The goal is to help your child build the skills to navigate it.
If you’d like a deeper understanding of why homesickness happens in the first place, you may want to start with The Truth About Homesickness at Camp.
Four Ways to Support Your Child (That Actually Help)
Over years of working in camps, and now as a parent myself, I’ve noticed that families who navigate homesickness well tend to do four things consistently.
Not perfectly.
Just intentionally.
1. Listen (Without Trying to Fix)
When your child says:
“I’m scared I’ll miss you too much.”
Our instinct is often to rush in with reassurance.
Instead, begin with listening.
You might say:
“That makes sense. Being away from home can feel big.”
Listening doesn’t mean agreeing that camp is a bad idea.
It means allowing your child to name their feeling without being rushed past it.
What helps:
Letting them talk
Reflecting back on what you hear
Resisting the urge to solve immediately
What doesn’t:
Over-explaining
Dismissing (“You’ll be fine!”)
Introducing worries they haven’t expressed
2. Observe (And Stay Steady)
Children process big transitions in different ways.
Some become quieter.
Some more emotional.
Some swing between excitement and resistance.
As camp approaches, this fluctuation is normal.
What matters most is your steadiness.
Repeatedly asking:
“Are you nervous?”
“Are you okay?”
“Is something bothering you?”
can unintentionally heighten anxiety—or even create it.
Sometimes what your child needs most is:
A hug
A calm presence
A simple reminder that you believe in them
3. Validate (Without Feeding the Fear)
Validation does not mean amplifying worry.
A child saying,
“I’m worried I’ll miss you,”
can be met with:
“Of course you will, we’ll miss you too. And I can’t wait to hear about everything you do while you’re there.”
Be mindful of letters or messages that list everything at home that misses them. While well-intended, those can undo a child’s growing confidence.
Instead, focus communication on:
Curiosity
Pride
Forward-looking connection
4. Equip (So They Know What to Do When the Feeling Hits)
One of the most effective ways to reduce anxiety is to remove the unknown.
Before camp, talk with your child about what they can do when homesickness shows up.
Simple strategies might include:
Telling a counselor or trusted adult
Hugging a favorite stuffy, then joining an activity
Writing a letter or reading a note from home
Crying for a few minutes—and then choosing something to do
The goal isn’t to avoid the feeling.
It’s to give your child options when it arrives.
When kids know what comes next, the feeling often loses its power.
What Support Often Looks Like at Camp
One thing many parents don’t realize is that great camps actively train their staff for moments like this.
When I worked as a camp director, we taught counselors a simple framework we called the 3 C’s:
Connect. Cope. Courage.
First, staff connect with the child.
They sit with them.
They listen.
They help the child name what they’re feeling without rushing it away.
Then they help the child cope.
This might look like offering simple strategies:
taking a few deep breaths
hugging a stuffy
writing a note home
choosing an activity
finding a friend
Not fixing the feeling — just giving the child tools to move through it.
Finally, they invite the child into courage.
Together, they make a small, doable plan:
Go to the next activity
Try playing with a friend
Give it until free time and check back in
There’s often a gentle time frame attached:
“Let’s go to the next activity, and I’ll see you later to hear how it went.”
That matters.
It gives the child a clear next step and a moment to look forward to.
Most of the time, by that check-in, the feeling has softened — not because it disappeared, but because the child took action with support.
This is what skilled camp staff do every day.
You are not sending your child somewhere unprepared.
A good camp trains its staff for these exact moments.
A Small Tool That Can Help
If you’d like something simple and printable to walk through with your child before camp, I created a short two-page guide called:
When You Miss Home: A Camp-Ready Plan for Kids + Parents
It helps families talk through what to do when homesickness shows up—so kids feel prepared and parents feel steadier.
You can find it here: When You Miss Home ($5 Homesickness Guide)
A Note for Parents (This Is the Hard Part)
Supporting your child through homesickness often means managing your own.
Before camp, it can help to ask yourself:
What do I hope my child gains from this experience?
Am I prepared to support growth, even when it’s uncomfortable?
Sometimes the most loving message we send is:
“I believe in you AND I trust this experience.”
If this feels familiar, you might also appreciate:
A Closing Thought (A Gentle Reminder)
You don’t need to eliminate homesickness for camp to be successful.
You just need to believe your child can move through it—with support, time, and trust.
That belief becomes part of who they are.
Additional Resources
Preparing for Camp: How to Set Your Child Up for Homesickness Success (Coming Soon!)
