Family Camping (especially with littles...)
First of all, taking small children camping is insane. I don’t care how prepared you think you are, at least five times you will think to yourself “what on earth is wrong with me, why would I do this”. So good luck with that part.
Second of all, it can be awesome. A new adventure with the kids, enjoying nature, getting out of the house? Sounds awesome right! Only if you are prepared. And be prepared, like realllly prepared.
We decided to go camping in Grayling MI. It’s a really nice campsite with only about five or six actual “sites” which means fire pit and picnic table. It’s very secluded, no electronics allowed at all. You even have to park your car and walk about half a mile to the campsite. There is a vault toilet and that is it. It doesn’t have a beach for swimming, just a fishing site and a bunch of “rough foot trails”. So maybe we didn’t pick the BEST site for camping with small children but it really was beautiful and the kids could run and scream as much as they wanted!
So that is definitely my first advice, pick a campsite you know is good for kids. Bathrooms probably, a beach if your kids like to swim or play in the sand and maybe not a long walk back and forth to your car.
Second would be, plan ahead. If you are going to visit any parks or attractions make sure you plan when you are going to, where and what you will need for it. Plan when you will go to the beach if there is one, when you would like to go hiking, etc. Also, if you are going with kids, you might want to stay within your usual routine or not go to far out of it. (Example, let the kids stay up to enjoy a bonfire but have a set time they go to sleep.) Kids live for routine and the younger the kid, the more comfortable they will be with a routine.
Third, bring toys. I had a small backpack for each of my kids with some of their favorite toys, a stuffed animal each and some chalk, bubbles, coloring stuff, and light up toys. This saved our lives so much. My kids are too young to really enjoy being outside and just hanging out so having stuff they liked to do helped a lot.
Fourth, food. We had a cooler with no ice just for snacks, kids eat when they are bored and you really don’t want to not have enough food! (Cooler snacks examples: baked chips, breakfast bars, fruit snacks, trail mixes, fruits.) Plan dinners, lunches and breakfast ahead of time so you can make sure you have enough food and everything to cook with. These meals don’t need to be extravagant or expensive. Easy clean up meals with enough food to feed everything is really all you need. (Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Grilled chicken, sausage, eggs, cold sandwiches.) Bring a pan and a pot so you can cook over the fire! Lots if throw away utensils, garbage bags, water bottles and cooking essentials-cooking spray, tin foil, spatula. We also used an empty beer four-pack for all of our silver wear! S'mores in an easy grab box or container for by the fire!
Fifth, clothes. This one is hard, bringing enough clothes for kids who always get dirty when you can’t wash them. You will need warm PJs, pants and long sleeve if you go hiking, swim wear and shorts and tees for running around. Bring a few for each and LOTS of socks and undies. I would bring sandals plus tennis shoes as well. You can pack lighter for yourselves but the kids will need all of theirs! We brought a laundry basket that breaks down flat to put dirty stuff in, so when we got home we could throw it right in the laundry room!
Sixth, comfortable camping. It’s hard calming with kids. It won’t be as relaxing as going without them, of course. But bringing the right stuff will really help. Bring bedding for everyone, sheets, blankets, pillows. Fold down chairs for the beach or fire. A portable charcoal grill was helpful, 20$ at Walmart. A blowup mattress was nice too, also 20$ at Walmart! A floating bed blown up makes a great bed for kids! An empty Lysol container holds plastic bags great too. I made “fire starters” before we left, toilet paper roll holders filled with lint! We brought a fold down stroller, our one year old wasn’t so into walking the whole time so it was helpful!
Seventh, clean up as you go. Throw away garbage. Bring a basket or bags for dirty clothes. Organize at the campsite so you know where to put stuff back, keeping it clean and organized will help when you have to pack up to leave!
Camping was pretty fun, even if it had some bumps! Camping with kids can be done! Best advice, plan everything out in advance, food, what you want to do, packing list, etc. It might seem like overdoing it but when all is said and done you will get the most relaxation out of it after! Try not to OVERPACK. Making a list of essentials and organizing it by box or bag you will take it in is a great way to not get frustrated. Highlight it as you pack to make sure you have everything and you won’t have to worry about forgetting!
Any tips or tricks you have for camping with kids you can drop in the comments to help other mamas out!
Last tip, enjoy your kids. Enjoy whoever you go with. Enjoy the trip. Try to relax, unwind and don’t stress, camping is supposed to be fun! Even if it doesn’t go as planned, memories are being made.
Enjoy!!
We decided to go camping in Grayling MI. It’s a really nice campsite with only about five or six actual “sites” which means fire pit and picnic table. It’s very secluded, no electronics allowed at all. You even have to park your car and walk about half a mile to the campsite. There is a vault toilet and that is it. It doesn’t have a beach for swimming, just a fishing site and a bunch of “rough foot trails”. So maybe we didn’t pick the BEST site for camping with small children but it really was beautiful and the kids could run and scream as much as they wanted!
So that is definitely my first advice, pick a campsite you know is good for kids. Bathrooms probably, a beach if your kids like to swim or play in the sand and maybe not a long walk back and forth to your car.
Second would be, plan ahead. If you are going to visit any parks or attractions make sure you plan when you are going to, where and what you will need for it. Plan when you will go to the beach if there is one, when you would like to go hiking, etc. Also, if you are going with kids, you might want to stay within your usual routine or not go to far out of it. (Example, let the kids stay up to enjoy a bonfire but have a set time they go to sleep.) Kids live for routine and the younger the kid, the more comfortable they will be with a routine.
Third, bring toys. I had a small backpack for each of my kids with some of their favorite toys, a stuffed animal each and some chalk, bubbles, coloring stuff, and light up toys. This saved our lives so much. My kids are too young to really enjoy being outside and just hanging out so having stuff they liked to do helped a lot.
Fourth, food. We had a cooler with no ice just for snacks, kids eat when they are bored and you really don’t want to not have enough food! (Cooler snacks examples: baked chips, breakfast bars, fruit snacks, trail mixes, fruits.) Plan dinners, lunches and breakfast ahead of time so you can make sure you have enough food and everything to cook with. These meals don’t need to be extravagant or expensive. Easy clean up meals with enough food to feed everything is really all you need. (Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Grilled chicken, sausage, eggs, cold sandwiches.) Bring a pan and a pot so you can cook over the fire! Lots if throw away utensils, garbage bags, water bottles and cooking essentials-cooking spray, tin foil, spatula. We also used an empty beer four-pack for all of our silver wear! S'mores in an easy grab box or container for by the fire!
Fifth, clothes. This one is hard, bringing enough clothes for kids who always get dirty when you can’t wash them. You will need warm PJs, pants and long sleeve if you go hiking, swim wear and shorts and tees for running around. Bring a few for each and LOTS of socks and undies. I would bring sandals plus tennis shoes as well. You can pack lighter for yourselves but the kids will need all of theirs! We brought a laundry basket that breaks down flat to put dirty stuff in, so when we got home we could throw it right in the laundry room!
Sixth, comfortable camping. It’s hard calming with kids. It won’t be as relaxing as going without them, of course. But bringing the right stuff will really help. Bring bedding for everyone, sheets, blankets, pillows. Fold down chairs for the beach or fire. A portable charcoal grill was helpful, 20$ at Walmart. A blowup mattress was nice too, also 20$ at Walmart! A floating bed blown up makes a great bed for kids! An empty Lysol container holds plastic bags great too. I made “fire starters” before we left, toilet paper roll holders filled with lint! We brought a fold down stroller, our one year old wasn’t so into walking the whole time so it was helpful!
Seventh, clean up as you go. Throw away garbage. Bring a basket or bags for dirty clothes. Organize at the campsite so you know where to put stuff back, keeping it clean and organized will help when you have to pack up to leave!
Camping was pretty fun, even if it had some bumps! Camping with kids can be done! Best advice, plan everything out in advance, food, what you want to do, packing list, etc. It might seem like overdoing it but when all is said and done you will get the most relaxation out of it after! Try not to OVERPACK. Making a list of essentials and organizing it by box or bag you will take it in is a great way to not get frustrated. Highlight it as you pack to make sure you have everything and you won’t have to worry about forgetting!
Any tips or tricks you have for camping with kids you can drop in the comments to help other mamas out!
Last tip, enjoy your kids. Enjoy whoever you go with. Enjoy the trip. Try to relax, unwind and don’t stress, camping is supposed to be fun! Even if it doesn’t go as planned, memories are being made.
Enjoy!!
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