Nothing says summer like a night spent under the stars. A family camping trip is always a good idea… an even better one if you are fully prepared. Take time to learn and implement some simple tips for surviving a family camping trip and watch the lifelong memories roll in.
Ask a parent who has camped with children to tell you about their experience and I’m certain they could tell you tales to rival any spooky campfire story. Should I go first?
I could tell you about the time I took a four week old camping and had to sit up in a camp chair inside our tent just to nurse him all night. Or maybe the time we learned of a deadly plague found in the soil in our campground only to look over and witness the two year participating in some pagan ritual of covering every inch of himself in dirt by the fire ring. Then there was that night when it was the fantastic combo of 90 degrees AND gale force winds all while the neighbors partied with loud music well into the early morning hours at the end of a long camping road trip when we still had a full day’s drive the next morning. Ahh the memories.
The thing is, those aren’t the stories I would tell you if you asked about camping. I would want to tell you about the first time she tasted a s’more or the time they caught their first fireflies. I would tell you about reading stories by flashlight or how snuggly a kid feels when they crawl into your sleeping bag on a cool rainy morning. I would tell you about all the places we have been and then I would tell you about all the places we dream of visiting.
Because, yes, the bad stories are every bit true and bound to happen. But like any parenting experience, we only improve with time. And in the end, the good memories are the ones that shine brighter than stars on a clear night of camping.
What makes camping work is what makes any part of parenting work: learning and growing. After eight years of being a camping family I have gathered a few tricks to add to my camping box. If you want to give camping a try, or try again after a not so great experience, pack some of these up for your family on your next trip into the woods.
1. Give them a job.
Camping takes a lot of work. You are basically rebuilding a mini version of your home complete with kitchen, living room, and furnishing the beds. There’s a lot to do. We like to remind our children of this when we go camping, not to shame but to inspire teamwork.
Children are also very much like busy puppies. They do better when they have a focused job. But that doesn’t mean you need to rely on your three year old to pop up the tent while you lounge in the hammock. There are jobs to assign for all ages. Some kids can handle assembling the tent poles, opening up camp chairs, or collecting sticks for a fire. Even a two-year-old can drag sleeping bags from the car to the tent. I’ve even been known to request a toddler to gather rocks in his bucket in case we “need” them. The point is not to make your job easier but to keep them busy and feeling a part of the team.
2. Feed them well.
Understanding the right foods for camping takes practice. I like to focus on a few rules.
First, I choose food they like. This isn’t the time to try out that fancy wrap or worry about balanced meals. Prepping and preparing food while camping is hard enough, you don’t want to have to deal with whining or hungry stomachs. Pick favorite foods for main meals. Then you can add in the sides or sauces you like, let them fill up on s’mores, and just offer more green things when you get home.
Second, plan for a quick early morning breakfast for them and a bigger second breakfast for everyone. Kids wake up EARLY when camping no matter what time they go to bed. But there is no way to send them downstairs while you wake up slowly with your cup of coffee. I always bring a favorite breakfast cereal or breakfast bar and an easy fruit to grab to keep them quiet and happy while gradually waking up myself. The bigger breakfast later will also be a good way to give them energy for long outdoor exploring.
Third, create camping food traditions. Like holiday traditions, food memories are part of getting the whole family excited for camping. There are favorite recipes we only make when camping. My children know I will always bring M&Ms for hiking energy breaks. Pringles taste best in the woods. And it may be cliché but you have to have s’mores. It’s a rule.
3. Accept the dirt.
Tell yourself before you go that everything and everyone will be filthy. Your children, and yourself, will inevitably return home from a camping trip with the seven layer dip of dirt, sweat, bug spray, sticky marshmallow goo, fire soot, sunscreen, and lake water. Accept this and look forward to the best shower of your life upon returning.
But to keep it somewhat tamed, here are a few tips: Bring the ugly clothes, extra of everything, and a bag for all the dirty/wet stuff. Keep a no shoes rule for the tent and pack shoes they can slip on and off easily themselves. Bring wet wipes for wiping hands, faces, and bodies at the end of the day or a bunch of rags if you want to stay green.
4. Find water.
You know the rule as a parent: when in doubt add water. The same rule applies for camping. Always choose a camping spot near a body of water. It’s necessary for those warm summer afternoons when you don’t have air conditioning in which to escape. Even in the cooler spring or fall days you’d be surprised how long a child can be entertained by tossing in sticks or rocks and watching for the splash. Water is just as much magical as it is necessary. Be sure to add it to any camping adventure.
5. Bring simple activities.
It’s so easy to get worried about boredom. I am guilty of this. But the point of camping is to teach our children, as much as ourselves, the joy of being bored and how to overcome that simply. I pack a few activities and leave the rest up to imagination. I’ve never met a toddler that wasn’t easily entertained by a bucket (see jobs rule above.) We always throw in a ball to kick or play catch. Rainy afternoons are perfect for card games and coloring books. You could even save these in your camping box so they are special for the trip. Beyond that, let their imaginations roam.
For one new idea, try building fairy houses. My children collect sticks and leaves and rocks and create little villages. If I’m being the good mom I might pack glitter and a little trinket to leave from the fairies overnight. But more often than not I forget and then I make up some story about how tidy the fairies are and how they leave things just as they found them so you might never know they were there. Practicing imagination is good for all ages, even adults.
6. Use sleep help.
Sleeping in the tent might be the hardest and most terrifying part when camping. Bedtime is hard enough and then you add in a room without real walls, a night sky that never truly gets dark, weird sounds, and uncomfortable tight quarters. I suppose the first rule is admit you are just not going to get good sleep. Camping is great for many things but sleeping is generally not one of them. But that being said, there are some things to make it a little bit easier.
First, get kids excited about their sleeping bags by sleeping in them at home before going camping. My kids like to build blanket forts in their rooms and sleep in their sleeping bags.
Second, bring favorite pillows, stuffed animals, and even a pack n’ play for the littlest ones. Make it seem as familiar as possible. I even bring along a sound machine to mask noise. Sure, it’s fun to listen for the hoot of owls and the whir of cicadas, but it won’t be any fun if no one can fall asleep.
Third, give everyone a small flashlight and bring lots of batteries. Flashlights are as much as fun as they are useful. When each kid has their own there are fewer arguments between siblings, and you will always have one for yourself.
Fourth, be prepared to lay in the tent with a child if they are really struggling. Bring a book to read or headphones to listen. Camping stirs up weird sounds to scare any child’s imagination and sometimes you just might have to help them feel safe.
Finally, when in doubt, use melatonin. I save “sleep gummies” for camping trips to help with all of the overstimulation camping can bring. I never regret it. Be sure to check with your doctor first, of course.
7. Set realistic expectations.
Camping with children is much like any other trip with children—it’s more relocation than vacation. The best way to get through it all is to set realistic expectations. Set small goals, one or two nights of camping at a time. Accept the dirt, the grumpiness, the exhaustion. Recognize that with each trip and as a child grows, it gets easier and easier. Grow with the experience. Keep lists of what works and what doesn’t. Grant your children so much grace when they are too loud in the morning or too wild at bedtime. Grant yourself even more grace when you lose your cool or forget something important. Don’t expect too much from anyone and in the end you will be surprised by the experience.
8. Remember why you camp.
As I finish this up, we’ve been back from a week long camping trip for less than 24 hours. The fourth load of laundry just went into the washing machine. I’m worried it will go on strike. The tent lays in our backyard airing out from packing it away sopping wet after nights of soaking rain. We are all sore from sleeping on the ground, there are bug bites covering every surface, and while I had a shower, I know I’m going to need another one. It takes a few washes to clear out all the layers of outdoor living muck.
So what I’m saying is talking to you about the joys of family camping trips is kind of like asking a sore, messy and oh so exhausted mother when she will have another baby moments after giving birth. I’m pondering just burning it all to the ground and never stepping foot into the woods with my children again.
Except just like I know what it feels like to forget about childbirth and long for another baby, I know I’ll be planning our next trip with great anticipation very soon. And I know this because of one important rule in camping with children: remember why you camp.
This “why” could mean different things to different families. Maybe you like to escape the city. Maybe you like to socialize with friends. Maybe you like the wild nature or to see new parts of the country. Whatever it is, decide what matters for you about camping and focus on all the ways to make that one thing work as well for your family as possible. And then let the hard memories go down the drain in your much needed shower upon returning home. Or second or third shower, depending on how many it takes.
You’ll be back around a campfire under a blanket of stars making good memories before you know it.
