Are your kids going to camp this summer? Why not send them off with some colorful personalized stationery and a supply of stamps, and encourage them to write you and other family and friends regularly?

Well before it's time to head for camp, help each of your children choose a stationery design, and pack it away in a sturdy zip-lock bag with some matching envelopes, pens or pencils, and first-class postage stamps, You may also want to buy a coordinating address book with lots of space for entries, and help them fill it with the addresses of friends, family members, teachers, and other people they may want to communicate with while they're at camp. (Don't forget yourself!)

Once you arrive at camp, find the camp store and let your children choose a selection of post cards of the camp, along with postage for the cards; that way they'll be motivated to dash off a quick note to relatives and friends. Also encourage them to add the addresses and email addresses of their bunkmates and camp counselors to their address book, so they can keep in touch once they return home.

Encourage (don't force) your children to write to you daily while at camp and fill you in on the day's activities. There's a sneaky reason for this: You can keep the letters in a bundle or put them in a scrapbook and present them to your kids when they reach adulthood. If you also send your kids to camp with a collection of disposable cameras, you may find that you can match the photos they take with the letters they send, giving you lots of raw material for your scrapbooks.

Making it easy for your kids to communicate with family and friends while away at camp will help them maintain meaningful relationships while practicing important literacy skills. And if you keep the letters safe for your children until they reach adulthood, you will have helped them retain happy memories that will last them a lifetime.