The Ultimate Guide To Camping With Family

Camping is the best budget-friendly holiday adventure for a family of all ages. It’s also the perfect opportunity for the family to bond and create the best memories for the kids. If you’re an amateur camper or never camped as a family before, follow our ultimate guide to taking the family on the great family camping adventure to make sure everyone has a great time!

1. Know Your Destination

Whether you are travelling with kids or without, make sure you know exactly what facilities the site has when you pack up the car. For example, if there’s no BBQ or cooking facilities, make sure you bring something to cook on!

2. Make A List

And check it twice! Often it’s the little things you need like sunscreen and insect repellent that gets forgotten and can change the whole experience.

3. Pre-Prepare Simple Food For The First Night

You will be spending most of the day travelling to your destination, then once arriving, familiarising yourself with the area and getting set up. Preparing ahead instead of rushing to get food ready will mean happier kids.

4. Consider Natural Entertainment For The Kids

Thinking about how the children are going to be entertained all day, especially when you arrive will help the first time little campers adjust to their new playground. While some kids will take to their new surroundings like duck to water, others may need activities or tasks to help them explore. Activities like a treasure hunt to collect items around them, arts and crafts, or making a nature scrapbook are always popular. Because you're outdoors—mess doesn’t matter! The more entertained the kids are, the more relaxing time you will have.

5. Delegate Tasks To The Kids

If they are old enough, involve the kids in the set up. It makes them feel really included and important to the holiday if they can help with little tasks like putting on the pegs, collecting firewood (if you’re having a campfire) or putting up their own camping gear.

6. Give Them Plenty Of Tent-Time

If your little ones are camping for the first time, it will be a great idea to give them plenty of time inside the tent during the day to get used to it. The first time they see the inside of the tent shouldn’t be when they go to bed. They will either be too excited by the new surrounds or too scared to get straight to sleep. Perhaps even get them involved in setting up their tent space or sleeping bag.

7. Include Some Of Your Routines From Home

Image: Chaotic Compendiums

If you read a story before bed, make sure you do the same thing while camping. It’s a great novelty sitting inside the tent with a flashlight reading a bed time story.

8. Relax!

It’s a holiday and you’re outdoors. Things may go wrong – it may rain (but it can still be great fun!), the kids may not have a bath every day and they may consume more marshmallows than you would allow in a month at home – but you will make memories that the family will treasure forever.

Hero image: Trespass

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