Camping Out Ideas

Any good ideas for meals, memories, tips and tricks for camping with kids 11 and under?

Public Comments

1. smoars
2. hamburgers and hotdogs, and smores
3. amping with kids is great family fun. We are all kids at heart when it's time to go camping, but when your camping trip includes young children some extra planning and precautions will make the trip more fun and memorable. Here are some tips to help you start thinking ahead about camping with children. Teach young children to stay within eyesight, and older children within earshot. Teach children to stay where they are if they discover they are lost. Instruct them to find a nearby tree and stay with it until they are found. Children over the age of four can carry a simple survival kit, or at least a whistle around their neck to call for help when lost. The standard distress signal is three blows to indicate "I'm lost" or "I need help." Sort and pack each day of your children's clothes within individual small plastic grocery bags in his/her suitcase. This way your child can grab a bag in the morning and have a full set of clothes for the day, and at night he/she can stuff the dirty ones back in the bag thus not mixing up the rest of the suitcase. Children get cold faster than adults. The key to comfortable camping with kids is to dress them in several layers, which can be peeled off as they get warm or added on as they cool off. Provide each child with a flashlight. To prevent any arguments, make sure each one has their own. Children love to play with the flashlights, and having one also makes them more at ease after dark. Flashlights are also handy when making trips to the restroom, for making shadow puppets on tent walls, and for reading before bed. Bring along a game you all like to play at home. Playing it outdoors with a lantern or flashlights will add to the fun. Teach your kids to treat the outdoors kindly. Make sure all waste is disposed of properly when camping or hiking along the trails. Camping with children is more fun when you bring a playmate along. Two or more children will entertain themselves for longer periods than will a single child Travel light Once they are on board for real, of course, you will need to make some practical adjustments. Travelling light is the first step. Opt for a tent that's highly portable, easy to erect and incredibly sturdy. Just add a few sleeping bags, a cooler box full of no-cook meals and hey presto - you're camping. In reality the stove, lantern, foldaway chairs and other gear is all optional. If you are planning on trekking bear in mind you won't be able to haul backpacking gear, plus your kids, plus your kids' gear. If they still need to be carried, you may well be better off exploring four wheel-drive areas and trying-out car camping. Simply pull over and set up tent. Once your children are old enough to manage their own day-packs, of course, you can head out on relatively lengthy day hikes (the rule of thumb is one mile a day per year in age) Just make sure they understand that whatever they pack, they have to carry. Planning longer stays Of course many countries permit free camping provided you are not too near anyone's home. However idyllic the setting, though, pitching your tent on open ground means your kids won't be able to rely on even the most basic of facilities. The problem of no washing or toilet facilities and no provisions nearby may seem trivial from the comfort of home or on a weekend try-out, but with kids in tow longer term it is wise to let them imagine the worst and discuss your options before plunging into total 'back to nature' mode. What are the options? Children, as every parent knows, have an innate desire to get filthy. Puddles hold a fatal attraction for them, as does mud, sand and grime. Unless your kids are partial to buckets full of cold water it is worth considering an area that is at least equipped with public loos and showers. Organised campsites, moreover, with full toilet and shower blocks, shops and entertainment, are ideal for families. What they may lack in privacy and even aesthetics, they certainly make up for in social interaction. Nowhere is it easier to meet other families. It is a real bonus, of course, when there are plenty of other children of the same age to play with. More civilised and hassle-free still are those sites where luxury tents come ready-pitched and fully equipped for use. Most family tents are large, apartment style, divided into separate rooms by zipped partitions. Most have all the mod cons; many even have their own separate toilet tent. Sites such as this usually give a great deal of thought to families, often providing organised children's activities, baby-sitting, baby-equipment rental, baby packs plus strict noise and speed restrictions. If you are prepared to compromise your love of 'raw' camping in exchange for a few creature comforts, it may well be worth the sacrifice, especially whilst your kids are that much younger or you are just introducing them to the scene. Do remember when comparing what tour operators have to offer, that the cheapest deal may not represent the best bargain. It is essential to compare site facilities before you book. These vary considerably, from the most basic to the sublime. The range of campsite amenities may be a major factor in helping you to make up your mind. You may want to check too how far the site is from the nearest town or beach; whether there is a regular bus service, laundry facilities, equipment to hire, a swimming pool or something for the kids to while away the hours if it rains. Setting off For most kids the anticipation of getting to a site is just about more than they can bear. Children have little appreciation of either time or distance. How they behave on the road largely depends on their boredom threshold and how well prepared you are to tackle the situation. If you end up getting agitated and bored, the chances are they will too. Anything that can keep your kids amused and self absorbed, especially on long car journeys, is worth taking along. Besides the obligatory bat and ball, though, keep a limit on bulky toys and books that will only weigh you down. Still, bear in mind that kids can take a while to adapt to new places. A few established favourites will give them an added sense of security. Remember, too, that children can get just as irritable camping as they can at home, especially if the weather's bad. One useful ploy is to keep a few pre-wrapped, stress-busting goodies up your sleeve for moments of intense boredom or when the going gets really tough. Try taking... - Snap together plastic construction toys, such as stickle bricks, Lego or K-Nex. - Hand puppets for their versatility and portability. They are always a mood lifter. - Non-stain, washable colouring pens. Enough said. - A disposable, automatic camera for a kid's eye view of the trip. - Pocket versions of the classic travel toys; Etch a Sketch, Scrabble, etc. - A personal stereo. Include a blank tape for older kids to record their own audio travel diary. - Hand-held video game. Over the age of 3 this has to be top of the diversion list, but keep an eye on battery consumption. Setting up With kids in tow you have to decide whether to share one tent or have separate ones. Although two tents offers you an obvious degree of privacy from one another, using one tent is more convenient in bad weather or if you have smaller children that you might need to keep an eye on. Equipped with their own tent, children can develop a sense of proprietorship, similar to their bedroom at home. Make it feel homely with their sleeping bags spread out, pillows with a familiar pillow-slip, toys plus their own pack of clothes. Pitch your two tents very close together with the children's directly facing yours. Spread mats out on the ground between the tents to form a safe play area. Get your children to sleep with their heads by the door where they can easily see you through the netting. Putting them to bed early when you still have a light on in your own tent helps. For early morning wakers, have books and toys ready for quiet playtime. Do - Let your kids participate in everything, even if it means more work for you - pitching tents, building fires, preparing meals, washing laundry. Make it a team effort. - Help kids build their own picture journals. Even very young children can have fun with this. Include drawings and treasures collected on outings, such as leaves and shells. - Try a family hike, however short. Motivate your kids down the trail with, a song ('The Ants Go Marching'), a story ('We're Going on a Bear Hunt') or try going a little way ahead, leaving treats along the way. Don't - Spend long hours on the road when campsites are just a place to spend the night. Nothing creates boredom faster in children.
4. Meals = campfire pies. White bread, pizza sauce, toppings, cheese. Butter up the pie iron, put your stuff in it, stick it in the coals for about 2 minutes, viola! Can do the same thing to make cherry or apple pies ~ white bread, pie filling, butter the pie iron, viola!
5. We've taken our 5, 8 amd 9 yr old camping twice. The thing they remember the most are the s'mores! The liked roasting weenies on the fire. They really enjoyed fishing too. They loved hiking too! Have fun!
6. I took my 7yr old son camping last summer. It was just the 2 of us. If it wasn't for son recriuting help with the tent I never would have gotten it up. I couldn't get a good fire started so we didn't have a great dinner. However, We got spend time together. That was the best part. I would totally do it again. If you have small children Camp Grounds are great. They have tons of activities planned on the weekends. I hope you have fun.