Camping With Kids - Five Tips

Camping with young children can either be a fantastic experience for everyone, or a total disaster. Most children love to sleep in tents and camp trailers, enjoy sitting around the campfire and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and the experience of the outdoors.

If you nurture this love, camping with them will be fun and they will have lasting warm memories of their days spent at the campsite. On the other hand, if you don't give kids the little extra special attention they need, it could be a miserable time for both you and the children.

Some tips to keep in mind:

1. Make them feel part of the planning.

If children feel apart of the planning process, they will feel responsibility for making the trip enjoyable. Get them involved in deciding where you will camp. Plan the meals with them and take them shopping with you when you head out to buy the groceries for the camping trip.

2. Let the kids help!

Children have a natural desire to learn and do new things. Don't suffocate this desire. Have some patience and let them help you set up the tent or trailer, even if it takes a bit longer than you doing it yourself. When children are helping with the chores that need to be done, their own excitement grows and they will take pride and ownership in the enjoyment of the experience.

3. Have boundaries but don't create fear.

Sometimes it is too easy to put fear into our children when we give them rules. We tell them all the bad things that could happen to them if they don't follow the rules or stay within the boundaries. Instead of fear, make them feel responsible for you too. When my son was younger, we had a rule that neither of us would stray where we could not see the other. In other words, the boundaries weren't set just for my son but for me as well.

4. Take along board and card games.

We always hope that the weather will cooperate and each camping experience will be nothing but glorious sunshine and warm temperatures. Unfortunately Mother Nature is not always so kind and camping trips can have days of rain and inclement weather. Plan ahead for such days and take along some indoor games the kids enjoy for those days when hiking, fishing and the campfire just isn't going to happen.

5. Don't forget the children's needs.

It may be silly to you that your child wants to bring along "Teddy" or a special toy, but don't deny them this because you think camping should be like "roughing" it. Bring along Teddy or another toy for the child will give them an opportunity to have something comforting and familiar.

Finally, have fun! Don't holler at your kids - not only will they not appreciate it, the other campers in the campground won't either. Spend time teaching them. Don't forget the camera as taking photos and having them to look at later will reinforce the great experiences the kids had and they'll look forward to the next trip.