FAQs

Our campers have traditionally come from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area, but we have many from across the country and around the world, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Israel, and England.

Our campers are assigned to live in bunks with other children that are entering their same grade following the summer. We have a Bunk Request Form which allows families to indicate up to 3 bunkmate requests and we make every attempt to honor requests. Only single mutual requests will be guaranteed. A great deal of time and care is put into the selection of bunk placement for your child so that he/she will have the best possible summer. We appreciate the trust families have in our staff by leaving final placement decisions in the hands of the Head Counselors and the Director.

NO MEDICATIONS MAY BE KEPT IN A CHILD’S BUNK. This includes vitamins as well as over-the-counter medication. In our ongoing commitment to meet the needs of our campers who require medication while at camp, as well as to comply with strict state regulations regarding medication dispensing for summer camps, we will be working with CampMeds, a pre-packaging medication program founded by a former camp nurse. CampMeds has been servicing the camping industry for the past 16 summers providing the convenient service of dispensing, packaging, and shipping medications directly to summer camps.

There are many ways in which Jewish values are incorporated into camp life at Kinder Ring. We have secular Jewish traditions that have informed and impacted our campers for four generations. In addition, we provide Jewish cultural identity-building programs, in age appropriate activities, for all campers. These take the form of dance, music, food, learning about our history, and our responsibility to be respectful and positive citizens of the US and the world. We strive to impact our campers with the values and traditions of the Jewish people and to educate them about how they are part of the larger Jewish community.

Camp Office Hours (during Camp season): 8am – 9pm
Main number: (845) 221-2771, x451
Emergency Number (for use in season when Kinder Ring office is not open and for true emergencies
only): (845) 221-2771, x300
Website and Email: www.campkr.com office@campkr.com

Mail

All campers love to receive “old-fashioned snail mail.” Please write to your child as often as you would like to and include the bunk number on the front of the envelope. Our mailing address is:

Camp Kinder Ring
335 Sylvan Lake Road
Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

eLetters

Parents can also send emails to their children via CampMinder. These emails (eLetters) are printed daily in the office and delivered to your child. Campers can write back to their parents on an eLetter Reply form, which will then be scanned and emailed back to their parents via CampMinder each night. There are fees associated with this method of communication and more information can be obtained from CampMinder.

Phone Calls

Campers entering grades 7-10 will have specific times in their divisional schedules during which they may use camp telephones. Times will be communicated to families at the start of the summer.

Children entering grades 2-6 will be allowed to make one phone call home during each session of the summer and these pre-determined dates are communication to families in advance for planning purposed. We do our best to have these calls between 6:30pm and 8:30pm on the designated dates. Sometimes a call home can be difficult for a child, so we urge families to limit the calls to about 5 minutes as they are geared for a quick chance to touch base. Our staff will supervise all calls so that any emotionally loaded conversations can be monitored and managed without subsequent issues.

Camp Kinder Ring has a policy that allows our campers to receive letters and flat envelopes. Packages of any kind are prohibited and will not be distributed to our campers. If your child needs a replenishment of an item, or forgot something at home, they can utilize our Camp Store to purchase what they need. If your child has a summer birthday, a single birthday package (shoebox size) will be allowed. At all times, no food is permitted in the bunks. Sports drinks or drink mixes are not allowed. These policies are in place for safety purposes.

In order to maximize the camp experience, devices that can send or receive phone calls, emails, texts, or can access cellular data in any form, are not allowed in camp. No camper is allowed to access the internet for any reason, although we understand that most devices do have such capability and that some children require music or other diversions to fall asleep. These devices must remain inside the bunk areas, and can only be used at night while campers are in their own beds.

During the summer, we surprise our campers with some camp trips which have included local amusements and attractions, ice cream outings, bowling, and more! The older campers (Grades 7-11) go on at least one overnight trip per summer. Our trips include multi-day visits to Boston, Canada, Washington, DC, and California.

While we provide all that our campers need while in camp and on trips, some additional spending money may be utilized by campers in our Upper Camp divisions while on overnight trips. The recommended amounts for spending money are provided to families in advance. The spending money is collected on Opening Day and/or on Visiting day and kept in our camp safe until the day of the trip or event.

Although camp tuition covers all activities, food, and entertainment during the summer and canteen accounts are utilized for purchases within our canteen, campers may utilize additional spending money during the summer for purchases at our Camp Store, purchasing beverages from our vending machines, or buying souvenirs from visiting entertainers (the most expensive souvenir from these entertainers is $20). Additional spending money is entirely optional. Our recommended amount for campers to have in their accounts is $50 and this CASH ONLY is collected on the Opening Day of camp

While all campers should come to camp with enough supplies and toiletries to get them through the first session of camp until parents can replenish on Visiting Day, campers will be able to purchase items at our Camp Store such as batteries, stamps, toothbrushes, toothpaste hairbrushes, and the like.

Campers typically wear shorts and t-shirts – simple and easy-to-maintain clothing – throughout the summer. Camp laundry is done by a private vendor who picks up laundry from all campers on a weekly basis. Laundry is returned folded on the following day. Each individual camper’s laundry will be done separately.

Campers and Staff are required to wear ALL SOLID WHITE clothing on Friday evenings

On Saturdays and Sundays – Kinder Ring Spirit Days – campers wear items with a KR logo or Kinder Ring written on it. To access an awesome selection of Kinder Ring clothing, families are directed to purchase at least two items from our Bunkline store. (Enter Kinder Ring in the camp search box.)