Going camping with your children is an excellent opportunity for some real family bonding, through fun activities and a shared love for the outdoors. Be warned however, tent camping with kids is not all fun and games. It requires some planning and a little bit of patience to make sure that everyone has a great time, and gets their share of the activities they enjoy the most.
Get the kids involved with the planning
When you are planning for the camping trip, get the kids involved. Get them to suggest activities and meal ideas, and try to incorporate their suggestions into your camping plan whenever possible. If the children feel like they had helped plan the trip, they will be more actively involved, and that will go a long way towards making the trip successful.
Plan activities for the whole family
Plan activities in which the entire family can participate together. Sing-alongs and story-telling around the campfire are classics, and are perfect activities for the family to have a great time together and share a laugh or ten. You could go on a few nature hikes to explore the wilderness. Take along wildlife guide books, so that you and the children can have some fun learning about the trees, birds and animals you encounter on your hike.
Be sure to involve the children in camp chores. They would actually enjoy some of these out-of-the-ordinary chores, like gathering firewood and fetching water, and will feel like they are making a real contribution. You could even make games and contests out of these chores, to ramp up the fun and excitement even further.
Plan some individual activities
It is important to remember that not every child is going to want to participate in every activity. You should have something planned that each can enjoy by herself. It is a good idea to get your child to bring along a small backpack with her favorite books, toys, drawing pencils and papers, so she have can have some alone time if she wants. At this point, you will also want establish a “contraband list”, especially if over-texting or a Nintendo-obsession has been a problem at home.
Remember, you can’t control the weather – but you can plan ahead
Make sure you are prepared to deal with bad weather. A trip to the nearest museum or any other indoor venue of interest could be a possible solution, or perhaps a simple game of cards inside those family camping tents. You don’t need to pack a lot of equipment to deal with inclement weather, but you will need to use to imagination to figure out how best to keep the children entertained in a small, confined space for the afternoon. Engage the family in word games, which won’t require any additional equipments, or bring along a board game, and keep the family entertained through the rain.
Get trigger happy – with the camera
A good digital camera with long lasting batteries and ample space on your memory card is an absolute essential on your camping trip. Sharing the photographs with friends after you get home is the perfect way to relive those great camping moments again and again well into the future.
