by Gina Lawton

Created on: April 25, 2010

The air is crisp; the aroma of the previous night's campfire still hangs heavy in the air. I throw my sweatshirt on, and emerge from our pop-up to see my twelve year old already gathering wood for a breakfast campfire. I hear the other children rustle in the near-by tent, giggling and sharing dream stories. I smile, pour the coffee grounds in the readied pot, and sit down, breathing in all that is camping with my children.

Camping is one of the number-one family activities in this country. The opportunity to unplug, share experiencing and simply relax for a while is attractive to modern, over-scheduled families. And while there are challenges in taking children - especially small children - on a "wilderness excursion" (even if that means a KOA camp with all the amenities), the benefit from camping with kids is exceedingly "worth it."

What we've learned in our nineteen years of camping with our kids is varied and valuable:

First, the secret to successful camping with kids is preparation. Both my husband and I grew up camping, but our parents were more "weekenders," who threw us and a few essentials in the car on Friday and pitched a tent at a not-too-far away spot. As our own children came along, we decided to get a bit more adventurous. So, started by asking friends with more experience to share some of their secrets. Such tricks as pre-packaging children's clothing in outfits, zipped up in large plastic bags made mornings in the wild more enjoyable and less chaotic. All the clothes needed for that day were together, matched, and ready to wear. Another planning trick that made camping with the kids fun - easy meal planning. Use the fire as much as possible. Or, if the weather's going to be warmer, plan lots of cold salad meals (sometimes with pre-cut ingredients from home) and sandwich variations. We also always packed family games - cards, dice, favorite board games - for the inevitable "rainy day" salvation activity. Also, don't forget essentials like rain jackets (great for playing out in a warm summer rain, as well as hiking easy trails regardless of the weather), a basic first-aid kit (heavy on the band aids, for the numerous scrapes and cuts that come with wilderness kids), and a camera, to keep track of family adventures.

The next thing we learned was, to give our kids the best camping experience, we had to relax ourselves. No one benefits from stressing out about things like getting dirty (you are camping, remember?), burning

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>