Jaelyn Ellis remembers the details of her days at summer camp — the names, faces and places are very fresh in her mind. But Jaelyn, 10, knows that even the important memories will dull a bit with time.

Summer camp can mean new friends, new experiences and giant leaps in independence. Saving those precious memories is an important part of preserving the moment, and children and teens can do that in a variety of ways.

Jaelyn, a Columbia resident, is already an avid scrapbooker. The last three summers have included visits to South Carolina Girl Scout camps — with the first two years at Camp Congaree and last summer’s stay and Camp Wabak — and those memories fill the pages of her detailed scrapbooks.

Jamelle Ellis, Jaelyn’s mother, provides the supplies, but Jaelyn handles the scrapbook creation on her own.

“I like for her to do her own page,” Ellis said. “I do encourage her to write the names and the dates.”

Jaelyn crops photos and decorates her scrapbook pages with titles and ribbons. And she varies her photos to make sure she captures the feeling of camp.

“I like to take group shots and action shots,” she said. “I take pictures of people and sometimes of my surroundings.”

 She then uses different embellishments and borders to give the pages a unique look.

“I have a lot of different stickers,” she said. “I put a sticker and the girls’ names and the dates under the pictures like little captions.”

How camp mementos are kept is a personal choice, but with so many options available, today’s campers are bound to have some great campfire tales for their own children one day. Here are a few ideas for keeping this summer’s camping memories safe.

Create a scrapbook

Making scrapbooks like those created by Jaelyn can be a personal, creative way to detail treasured camp memories. Craft stores and online retailers have an abundance of papers, stickers, pens and decorations to make elaborate or simple pages. Items created just for scrapbooks are typically archival quality and will resist fading and yellowing for generations to come.

Go digital

For those who prefer an electronic approach, photos books can be the perfect choice. Digital photos can be uploaded and edited on a number of photo sites, such as blurb.com, or created using such software as Apple’s iPhoto, which is included free with Macintosh computers. Photo books offer a variety of backgrounds and layouts and can be personalized with custom covers. Tech savvy kids can manipulate the layouts and photos on their own, creating a one-of-a-kind keepsake.

Make your own

The goal in creating a camp scrapbook is to capture and preserve the memories of summer while they are still fresh and detailed — and that can be done on the cheap. A three-ring binder or a composition book can be decorated inside and out — or not, if that’s your preference — and filled with the details of camp life. Notebooks can easily fit into a day pack and travel to camp for daily journaling and for recording messages from friends.

Page by page

Loose pages, including daily agendas, craft pages, worksheets, certificates and more, can combine beautifully into an inexpensive keepsake. Arrange pages of the same size — adhere smaller sheets and photos to a larger page to maintain the book’s uniform size — and have the homemade book joined with spiral or comb binding at a local office-supply store or copy shop.

Start with some help

A variety of pre-made camp scrapbooks are available, such as the Camp Journal published by Peter Pauper Press. It includes photo and autograph pages, a pen, postcards, journal pages and address book pages for gathering contact information for new friends. This journal also includes tips for the outdoors and cabin-worthy games and jokes.

The Little Camper mini-journal from Campfire Designs is small enough to fit in a pocket and is great for boys who might prefer a less embellished memory book.

Corral it

If your camper isn’t into scrapbooks or journaling, parents can still store many details and bits of memorabilia. Corral them in an envelope or container for teens and adults who will appreciate those memories and may one day want to store them in a book.

A decorative tin, such as the type offered by Campfire Designs, is a handy place to store notes, trinkets and even pressed flowers that will evoke summer camp for years to come.

Keep it personal

Break the mold with a personal approach to saving camp memories. In addition to her scrapbooks, Jaelyn took a pillowcase to camp last summer and had her friends sign it. It has become a treasured possession. Canvas “autograph” stuffed animals are common and can serve the same purpose, as well as T-shirts (be sure to use a fabric pen) or fabric for quilt squares.

Hold on to those memories!

To find out more about the services mentioned in this article, check out these websites:For camp tins and mini-journals, visit campfiredesigns.etsy.com.

• EK Success products are available from local retailers or online at www.eksuccessbrands.com.
• “Camp Journal” from Peter Pauper Press is available online at www.peterpauper.com.
• Photo books can be created on www.blurb.com as well as at other online sites.
• For more information about Apple’s iPhoto books, visit www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto.