Camping with Children: All you need to know

Family Enjoying Camping Holiday On Campsite

By Oceana Setaysha

For many, the idea of camping with children is a far off dream that, in reality, has proven to be something of a nightmare. But it doesn’t have to be like that!

Contents

Plan The Trip Together

The first step for getting kids involved, no matter their age, is to involve them in the planning process. Kids will always feel more like they ‘own’ the trip if they’ve had a hand in planning it. Talk to them about the activities you might do, the food you might eat, and the games you’ll play in the car. Involve them at the beginning and it will be easier to maintain their interest throughout.

Do Your Research Before Deciding On The Spot

It’s important before you embark on your camping trip to make sure the spot you’ve picked is appropriate for your children. Avoid obvious dangers if your younger children tend to wander, like proximity to a body of water, or a large forested area. If this is your first trip start with a simple outing to a maintained campground with some facilities, to get everyone used to the process.

Camping with children - find the right spot

Do A ‘Test Night’ Camping In Your Backyard

If you’ve never camped with your kids before, get them really excited by having a ‘camp out’ in your own backyard. If you don’t have a backyard, just set the tent up in your living room and spend the night camping out and enjoying non-electronic pastimes like card games, storytelling and so on.

 

Make The Car Ride As Fun As Possible

Having kids in the car, especially if it’s a long journey, is often a struggle for parents. While it can be tempting to just buckle in and bear it for the journey, both you and your kids are likely to arrive at camp pretty grumpy and overdone. That’s why it’s a good idea to provide some in-car entertainment. For younger kids, audiobooks and colouring is a great idea, while for older kids something interactive like trivia testing, sing-alongs and reading are perfect (as long as they don’t get carsick).

 

Involve Them In Setting Up

Just as you involved your kids in the planning process, so too is it a good idea for them to be involved in setting up camp. It gives them more ‘ownership’ over the space and also makes it easier to wrangle them into packing up later. Try and give each of your children a chore to do in setting up, whether that’s collecting firewood, putting out chairs, or unpacking bedding from the car.

 

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Camping with Children: Be Safety Conscious

There are a lot of things to be cautious about when travelling with children. You should make sure that you bring with you a first aid kit, extra warm clothes (in case of a washout), a torch for each individual (including one spare), some itch relief cream, sunscreen and sun protection. Also, make sure you take the time to explain to your children about the dangers of eating berries and mushrooms they find around the campsite. Ideally, you should do a walk around with your kids when you arrive, to make sure they’re familiar with the general area, and know where to go if you aren’t around and they need help.

 

Plan An Activity (But Have A Backup)

Camping in itself can be a fun thing to do, but it’s always nice to have some kind of special camping activity to look forward to. Depending on where you are, this might be bird watching, nature sighting, fishing, canoeing or swimming. Hiking, walking and geocaching are also good camping activities for active kids. However, make sure you have some kind of backup entertainment, like books, a board game, or something else simple you can do just in case it rains.

 

Plan Familiar Meals

Kids are likely to use a lot of energy when they’re running around having fun on a camping trip, and so will you chasing after them. That’s why you should provide high energy foods for them during the trip. Remember camping foods should be simple to pack, cook and clean up. Familiar meals are best, so try to adapt a meal you cook regularly, that your children like, to be cooked on a campfire, BBQ or camp stove.

 

Bring The Camera

Family camping trips are full of fun, excitement and memories, so make sure you bring your camera to capture some of these moments. Investing in a hardwearing camera, something shockproof and even waterproof can make the process of capturing those memories less stressful. It’s great to have a camera that you can take with you anywhere your family goes, that can put up with your kids using it, and that takes a picture you aren’t soon to forget.

 

Mother and daughter

So, when’s your next trip?

 

Blogger & Multiple Contributor at

Oceana Setaysha is a hiking-lover, geocacher and outdoors fanatic who loves nothing more than a long walk on a cool day, sleeping in a dome tent under the stars, and cooking on an open fire.

She lives in Darwin within Australia’s famous Northern Territory and is always on the lookout for new adventures, new walking trails, and new geocaches.

She moves around Australia a bit using her photography skills which you can check out on her website http://oceanasetaysha.com/

12 thoughts on “Camping with Children: All you need to know

  • February 4, 2020 at 9:36 pm
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    I have the best memories of camping trips when I was little! That was before iPads and portable DVD players. We always played the alphabet game. We used to camp out in the backyard for slumber parties a little too. Great memories!

    Reply
  • February 4, 2020 at 5:50 pm
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    Great post!! I remember I loved going out for camping when I was a small kid, not a lot has changed I loved going camping back then and I still love it. I don’t have kids personally so I might not fully appreciate what parents might actually have to deal with but it was interesting to read.

    Reply
  • February 4, 2020 at 2:47 pm
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    Camping with children is a completely different ball game all together and I can understand how much minute planning is required. Reading your blog makes it look simple if one has done proper research.

    Reply
  • February 4, 2020 at 2:20 pm
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    Some amazing tips that you’ve shared here. Camping trips with kids can be quite daunting if kids don’t cooperate. In-car entertainment for longer road trips and involving kids in small activities are some good pointers. I have never been to any of the camping trips so this post was quite insightful

    Reply
  • February 4, 2020 at 8:54 am
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    Nice blog on the tips you have to note for camping with children. In your post, you have nicely described a few important things on this very nicely like – do proper research before going for any campaign with children, because they seem to wander around a lot. Camping with children is never a simple task, but in your blog, I came to know that it’s not so hard task as well. Your blog will be helpful for all traveller moms and dads those who want to go camping with their kids.

    Reply
  • February 3, 2020 at 8:52 pm
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    I love the idea of a test night camping in the backyard before camping with kids. I always love reading your blog, I always learn new things about camping.

    Reply
  • February 3, 2020 at 7:44 pm
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    I have very fond memories of camping as a child, it felt like an adventure. Camping in the back garden is a great way to get children excited about a trip and help ensure you’ve got everything you need. I think geocaching is a great activity to do as a family, thank you for the recommendations.

    Reply
  • February 3, 2020 at 6:16 pm
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    I like it, so many interesting and useful tips about camping with kids. I like the idea “test night” in a courtyard and involved kids in setting up camp. It’s a great idea to go to a camp with kids. It develops kids’ activities and creativity.

    Reply
  • February 3, 2020 at 5:24 pm
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    I’ve not been camping with children, but I definitely feel more prepared after reading this! Doing a test camp is a great idea, as is preparing familiar meals. Involving them in the setup is really good tip too. ‘ll share this with my parent friends!

    Reply
  • September 9, 2018 at 10:17 am
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    This is a great post and I would love to try and go camping with the kids. I have never tried it and your post makes me more n more wanting to try this. Thanks for top tips.

    Reply
  • April 15, 2016 at 12:26 am
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    Great article. Its always good to address the basics that are often overlooked. I find you site great, even thought I am male and have been camping for years. Keep up the good work.

    Reply

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