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Camping with the family can be the perfect way to spend time together – it’s just you together without any distractions so you can enjoy one another’s company and the natural surroundings you’re in, and that can be the ideal way to make memories and have fun. However,as much as camping together is a fantastic thing to do, it can also become a bit chaotic to say the least, and keeping everyone happy, comfortable, and entertained can be a challenge. With that in mind, here are some family-friendly camping hacks you need to know to make your trip a positive one. Read on to find out more.
Invest In A Comfortable Sleeping Setup
Sleep is the one thing that can really make or break your camping trip – after all, a family that’s all grumpy because they got a terrible night’s sleep isn’t going to be much fun, no matter what great activities you’ve got planned. So if you want to get a good night’s sleep (and make sure everyone else does as well), you’ll need to invest in a comfortable sleeping setup.
One of the best investments you can make is a quality camping mattress that offers lots of support but that’s also easy to pack – with a good mattress, you’re not going to be able to feel every stick and stone on the ground, and that’s priceless. Plus, you’ll also need a good sleeping bag, plus some extra blankets – with blankets, you can layer them up or remove them as you need to, adjusting your own temperature to exactly how you like it. And for the kids, it’s a good idea to bring along their favorite stuffed toy and perhaps their own pillows from home as it’ll make them feel a lot more comfortable and at ease.
Pack A Campfire Cooking Kit
Food just tastes better outdoors, doesn’t it? But in order to get that great tasting food, you’ve got to prepare it, and that’s where things can get tricky – and the harder it is and the longer it takes, the more and more hungry – and hangry – your family will get, potentially leading to arguments and upset. No one wants that.
To make things as easy as possible, it’s a good idea to create a campfire cooking kit so you know you’ve got absolutely everything you could need with you, including foil, cooking oil, spices, utensils, and anything else you might want to cook with. And if you pre-chop all the ingredients at home and bring a cooler so it all stays fresh, that’s half the job done anyway, making the whole process a lot quicker.
As for what food you bring, it’s got to be something your kids are going to eat – your camping trip really isn’t the right time to experiment with new dishes and flavors. Things like hot dogs, burgers, sausages, and eggs are a good option here – if they eat, they’ll be happy, and this is one time when it doesn’t matter what they’re eating as long as they get some food.
Create A Kid-Friendly Activity Box
Keeping the kids entertained when you’re camping depends a lot on the children themselves – some love being out in nature and can use their imaginations to enjoy themselves or perhaps jump into learning more about how to prepare for camping and learning new skills. Others who aren’t so sure about being outside or who need a little help getting used to the idea might need some extra things to do, so creating a kid-friendly activity box makes a lot of sense.
What should be in the box? That’s quite easy – and quite a fun thing to do. You’ll need things like crayons, coloring books, scavenger hunt cards, adventure games, books, and so on. Don’t include any electronics because part of the point of being out in nature is to disconnect from devices, plus you might not have anywhere to plug them in and if you’re relying on the internet, that might be a problem too, leading to frustration and more grumpiness. So stick to things that don’t need power and do need some imagination and you’ll be on the right track.
Leave No Trace
If you’re going camping with your children, it’s the perfect opportunity to teach them some important life skills that can help them but that will also benefit the planet – and those are skills they can take with them wherever they go, and perhaps pass them on to their own children if they have them.
One of the most important skills to learn is to respect nature, and showing them how to clean up after themselves is crucial – you’ll want them to leave the campsite as clean as they found it (or even cleaner, if it comes to that). You can make it fun by turning cleaning up into a game like who can pick up the most litter or who can clear and clean their own section fastest, for example, and it’s a simple way to instill some pretty important habits for the kids.
