The Roughing It Blog

The First Day of Winter Has Arrived!

Happy First Day of Winter! While it doesn’t snow often in Lafayette, we look forward to hearing about all our camper and staff travels to the snow! Send us a photo and you could be featured on Camper Caboodle!

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Happy Hanukkah

Today marks the first day of Hanukkah! We wish all our families the best as they start their celebrations!

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Cook Up More S’mores this Winter!

Hey camper families! D’juno it’s been 105 days since the last day of camp? We thought it would be fun to remember all the awesome things about camp by cooking s’mores, a famous Roughing It tradition. Here’s a great article on cooking up this camp dish indoors to avoid the

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Give the Gift of Camp – An Experience that Lasts a Lifetime

If you are looking for a gift to give your child that is remarkably different, not materialistic, does not require batteries and will last a lifetime, consider giving the “gift of camp” this holiday season. Between now and December 15 when you register your camper we will send you a special personalized Roughing

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Teaching Children About the Spirit of Giving & Ways to Donate

It is always important to teach children to be compassionate and concerned for people in need, which can be a real challenge today as many suburban children rarely see people who are homeless, hungry, or without adequate warm clothing. The holiday season is a great time for children to learn

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Donation Opportunities this December

Looking for ways to donate this holiday season? Roughing It is collecting for the following organizations: One Warm Coat, Toys for Tots, Bay Area Rescue Mission, and the Roughing It Foundation. Drop by with items any time between now and December 18th. Our address is: 1010 Oak Hill Road in

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Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is a great time to give thanks for what you have been given and one thing we will not forget to be grateful for are all our camper families. Thank you for spreading the spirit of camp all year round. Wishing everybody safe travels!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate all we are grateful for in our lives. At Roughing It, we are thankful for the opportunity to spend 43 magical summers at camp watching our campers grow. We are grateful to our campers, camp families and staff who have make up our camp

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Summer 2014 Photo Book

Keep the camp memories alive with our summer 2014 photo book. Preview and order a book today! This summer’s photo book is a great way for campers and staff to relive the joys of camp and can even be a fun gift for campers, staff and parents during the holiday season! View

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Life Lessons Learned as a Camper and Junior Counselor

Every year we receive requests from campers and staff to write letters of recommendation for college & graduate school applications, or a new job. This fall we got such a request from a former camper and junior counselor, Jimmy, who was applying to Harvard.  Jimmy included his college essay about

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Why Gratitude is Important for Children to Learn

With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, this is the time of year for family, friends, and a chance to reflect on everything we have to be thankful for.  The rush of the holiday season is coming up, and with all of the toy stores and media talking about

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Alumni Staff Kevin Returns from Serbia

Welcome home to Kevin Graham, our former Fishing Counselor, and Waterfront Director!  Kevin worked at Roughing It Day Camp for three summers as well has his sister, Moira (Saddle Club Director) and brother, Keith, also Fishing Counselor! Kevin just returned from his overseas assignment with the US Army in Serbia

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Congrats to the Giants!

We support our Bay Area team and were so excited to watch the Giants take the World Series title in the seventh and final game of the World Series. Congratulation to the Giants for winning for the 3rd time in the past five years. Amazing! 

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Trying New Things at Camp Isn’t Scary

Halloween may be fun, dressing up in costumes and eating lots of candy, but it can also be one of the scariest times of the year for children. All of the scary things around can remind us that new experiences can be fun, exciting and terrifying  to children all at

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