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Industry playbooks

Promotional products for summer camps

A summer camp is one of the most concentrated seasonal accounts in the country. Order volume runs from late winter through May, peaks in May-June for shipment before camp starts, then goes quiet until October when the next year's planning begins. Camp shirts, staff apparel, parent-event giveaways, and end-of-camp keepsakes make up the order. Get the tee-shirt SKU dialed and the camp reorders for years.

What every camp orders

Session tees: 100-300 youth tees per camp session, with a custom design per session. Comfort Colors 9018 or 1717 youth, Bella+Canvas 3001Y. Some camps run six-week sessions; some run one-week sessions back-to-back. The volume per session is similar.

Staff apparel: matched polos for camp counselors, custom whistles with lanyards, branded sun hats. Sized to the staff roster.

Parent-event giveaways: branded items handed out at parent-orientation events. Custom mugs, water bottles, fridge magnets.

End-of-camp keepsakes: a session-end gift handed to each camper. Custom water bottle, drawstring bag, journal, or a small printed photo book.

CPSIA and youth-blank compliance

Every item handed to a camper needs to clear CPSIA standards (lead/phthalate, flammability) for items targeted to children under 12. Youth blanks from major suppliers (Bella, Comfort Colors, Hanes) are CPSIA-compliant; confirm before quoting.

How to set the account up

The camp director is the buyer; the head of programming places orders for individual session tees. Build a portal with the camp's default tee SKU and decoration locked, plus a quick-add for new session designs. Net-30 is unusual; most camps pay card-on-file.

A summer camp is a 4-month buying season followed by 8 months of quiet. Lock the tee-shirt SKU and the staff-apparel program once and the camp reorders for years.

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Last reviewed 2026-04-27. Spot something inaccurate or out of date? Email hello@decade.promo and we will update it.