The best age to take a child camping is whenever you feel comfortable. Babies right through to teenagers love and enjoy the camping experience if you take few considerations. Different ages will have different needs and desires when it comes to camping. Be aware of how and when these might pop up can help you have a successful camping trip with your kids.
How To Start Camping With Kids
If you want to start camping with your kids you may want to start small. Don’t try and skip all the way to a 4 day hike through the mountains on your first foray into camping. You will likely come home and never want to attempt a camping trip with your kids again.
Start in the Backyard
The backyard is the perfect place to start our camping with your kids. You can do all the fun camping experiences like toasting marshmallows and sleeping in tents. However you have added the security of home a few feet away. This is also a great way to try out all your camping equipment and be sure your know how to set it up and that you have all the right tools that you will need when you are at a campsite.
Stay Local
Once you have mastered the backyard campout it is time to branch out a little further. Head to somewhere fairly local. We live in an area where there are a multitude of places to camp within and hours drive. It is close enough to home so that you can get back quickly if you have forgotten something. Nonetheless it is far enough away that you feel like you are really out and adventuring.
Spread Your Wings
Now it is time to fly further a field and go somewhere exciting. You should have ironed out all the flaws in your camping skills by now and feel confident with your equipment. The kids will know what to expect and how the whole camping experience works. Your will also have a fair idea on how well your kids cope/don’t cope with certain things and have remedied those situations. Our daughter can not deal with horrible outhouse long drop toilets. So we make sure we camp at places with decent toilets for her.
Involve Your Kids in the Planning
We will always preach about involving your kids every step of the way. When kids feel like they are really a part of creating this experience and getting to be involved they get so much more out of it. Let them help pick where to camp, take them with you to pick the tent up, let them choose their own camping equipment etc. Once we have nailed down the area that we will be staying in we get together as a family to decide on the activities that we want to do. Youtube is great for this!
Tips For Camping With Kids
We want to leave you with a few of our best tips for when you are first starting out camping with kids. Whether you are an avid pre-kid camper or if you are a total novice these tips will definitely be useful on some level
Keep a Routine
Keeping your kids in some sort of routine similar to their home routine will often make or break a trip. This has been our experience from our many travels and what always tell people whenever they ask what our best tip for traveling with kids is.
Children thrive on routine and know what to expect. If your toddler is used to having a nap before lunch plan your day around nap time. Throwing off a sleep schedule can result in very tired cranky children which in turn means exhausted and defeated parents.
As for older children try to keep the bedtime reasonable. It is okay to call lights out at 8pm. Plenty of rest for kids is vital on a camping trip and they will thank you for it the next day when they are well rested and able to enjoy the activities of the day with full enthusiasm.
Pre-Pack Outfits
Pre-packing organised outfits for each day is genius. There is no way that a child is going to keep a set of clothes clean enough to wear again a second day and it will just make your life simpler if each day they have a new set of clothes.
Before you leave home set out a full set of clothes from underwear right down to socks for as many days as you will be away. Each set of clothes then goes into its own little baggie all zipped up and ready to be pulled out each day. As for pyjamas just make sure you have them put them in their sleeping bag or pillow when they change in the morning.
When an outfit is taken off at the end of the day put it back in the bag so it doesn’t become messy and disorganised in your tent or accomodation. When you are short on room, being organised is going to go a long way in making it a successful trip.
Bring a Baby Bath
A baby bath is the perfect piece of equipment for camping even if you don’t have a baby. Some campsites have showering and bathing facilities which is fantastic but there are always dirty feet. We find a baby bath to be perfect for washing feet and grubby hands just before jumping into bed for the night. It just seems to help with the wind down for the night and it is always best to be getting into bed somewhat clean.
If your campsite doesn’t have any bathing facilities then a baby bath is going to be even more essential in being able to wash all the kids. There is only so much that you can do with wet wipes, at some point they will need to be scrubbed with some soap and water.
A neat trick we learnt was to fill the bath with water in the morning and let it warm up in the sun so it is toasty and warm for baths later in the evening. Little ones will also love it if you fill up the bath during the day for some fun water play.
We recommend getting a collapsible baby bath like this one. Space is important and highly valuable the less space something takes up the better. This baby bath is multi-use, and you will find plenty of other uses for it around the campsite including storage, dishes, laundry etc
Pack Entertainment
If it is possible we highly recommend bring your kids bikes if they have them. Camping grounds and RV parks are teaming with kids who love nothing more than riding around with friends and cousins. Bikes add a bit of independence to the trip and kids love independence! Riding around with friends, exploring new places and creating memories will keep them entertained for hours each day while you take a chance to relax or hang out with the adults at the campsite.
Bringing some favourite toys from home is also a fantastic idea, but perhaps leave the very special ones at home. We spent a few hours hunting in the sand for a very very special Lightening McQueen car once and learnt our lesson. If you child love cars and trucks then it might be a good idea to pick some cheap dollar store ones up before you leave.
Older kids will love card games. The all time favourites of UNO and Monopoly deal are always winners but think about trying something new. Exploding Kittens and Throw Throw Burrito will become fast favourites for years to come.
Don’t Stress
I know, easier said than done but trust us. Things will go wrong and there will be things you forget or wish you had done differently but that is all a part of the experience. On our last camping trip we forgot the pillows! NEVER forget pillows! Apparently my husband saw them still on the beds and thought we were going to be “roughing it” so didn’t put them in the car.
Every time you camp you learn something new and create difference experiences and memories. The memories and experiences are what your kids are going to embrace and remember.
Kids will take your lead on how to act. If you are not enjoying yourself then they follow right along with you. Some of the best advice I have ever received was “if you act enthusiastic you will be enthusiastic”. Even if things are going pear shaped, hold your head up and fake the happy and you will find that it will turn everything around.
Where To Take Kids Camping
The world is your oyster when it comes to where to take kids camping. You have two main options. The full camping experience with limited amenities in places like national and state parks or RV parks. If you want to read the full write up on the difference between the two then this post will be a great resource.
If you have younger kids and you are all new to camping we recommend heading to an RV park to start out with. There are plenty of amenities and they are incredibly family friendly. Many are equiped with games rooms, pools and playgrounds. RV parks are fairly reasonably priced and are found everywhere from big cities to tiny remote towns. This post will give you a list of some of the RV parks which are the ultimate for fun!
When thinking about actual locations, anywhere with water is going to be a winner with kids. There are many RV parks that are near beaches, lakes and rivers. Some have beach front sites where you can walk right down to the beach from your site. It all really depends on what your family enjoys. Colorado has some great camping where you could visit all the hot springs and so some great hiking. Utah and Arizona have beautiful red rocks and canyons. Florida for the beaches of course. It really does not matter all that much WHERE you go but WHO you are with that really matters. Whether that is in your backyard or in the middle of nowhere.
Bucket List Locations
If your family has a bucket list, which we definitely think they should then look for an item you want to check off the list and find at place where you can do that and head there. One of the items on our bucket list is to go kayaking as a family. We are heading to New Zealand over Christmas this year and have found a great company who does family kayak trips so that is where we are heading.
Camping is one of the best gifts you can give your kids. They will remember it for the rest of their lives. I have vivid memories of the many camping trips we took as children and they remain some of my most treasured memories as is our hope for our children.
Camping with kids can be done at any age. Remember the best age to take a child camping is whenever you feel ready. Take your babies, take your toddlers, and take those teens before it is too late. We promise you that you will never regret it.