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Playing outside is an important element of your child’s physical and social development. Following these safety tips can assist ensure that your children enjoy Mother Nature without incident.
Learn how to make your backyard less unsafe and how a monitored home security system may improve the overall safety and security of your family.
Simplify Your Camping Experience
Kids simply want to have fun! My husband and I quickly realised that our kids enjoyed vehicle camping 10 minutes from our house just as much as they did camping 8 hours away. We also realised that they’d keep themselves entertained all day with a bucket, a few sticks, and their bikes… and Voila! Camping for lazy moms was born!
Also, if your children are anything like ours, they prefer cereal, watermelon, hotdogs, and marshmallows every day and aren’t interested in sophisticated campfire feasts.
I’ll confess that my perfectionist attitude sometimes gets the best of me and causes me to over-organize, but I’m soon reminded of how simple it can be when I start asking kids things like: what do you want to eat, wear, or bring?
If you and your family enjoy camping, print up the simple camping checklists. Use these while planning and packing to remind yourself that all you actually need are the necessities… You’ll also get a set of camping checklists for kids to aid with packing!
Family Camping Essentials You’ll Need
Sleep
You’ll need a place to sleep. Unless you’re fortunate enough to discover a rented cottage, you’ll need a camper, RV, or a tent… Unless you’re feeling very daring and want to sleep under the stars!
If we’re talking “only the essentials camping”… rather than “glamping,” make sure you pick something large enough to accommodate your family. Remember, youngsters aren’t interested in frills.
Yes, make sure you’re comfy, but don’t worry too much about your child’s comfort. Kids are surprisingly resilient, and as long as they’re safe, they’re happy sleeping on the floor of a camper, sharing a mattress, or crammed into a tent.
If tenting works for your family and climate, I recommend having a tent with a vestibule that you can stand up in (the little covered area outside the tent door). The vestibule section is useful for storing clothes and shoes and aids in keeping the tent clean.
If you intend to use air mattresses, think about how you’ll fill them with air at the campsite: an electric pump (will there be electricity) or a hand pump (how long will it take)? My spouse and children are perfectly content sleeping on camping beds, and your children may be as well.
Most camping mattresses will also keep you warm on cold nights. Regular air mattresses do not have this feature. If it’s chilly outside, you might wish to put an insulating layer under or over the air mattress to keep warm. This will not be an issue if you live in a hot climate.
- Your sleeping space such as tent or trailer.
- Your sleeping comforts such as sleeping bags, pillows blankets and air mattresses
- a pump for your air mattress
- sound machines and sleep stuffed animals
- Extra tarps and extra rope
- folding chairs
- Mosquito spray, or a mosquito tent (or both)
Wear
Camping is unsanitary. Your garments can be reused and filthy as well.
When we go camping, we anticipate our children to wear their clothes more than once. They are each permitted to bring one bag or bin for their belongings. Their clothes, as well as any extras they choose to bring (stuffies, books, toys, etc.), must all fit in the same bag.
Each child will be given their own camping packing list prior to the trip. I go over it with them, send them packing, and then have them show me their choices before anything goes into their bags. This method saves me time while also giving children some responsibility for camping preparations.
I’ve stopped re-checking the kids’ luggage as they’ve gotten older (though I might take a peek if I’m truly worried). Allowing them to arrive at the campsite without a few goods, on the other hand, was a terrific learning experience, and they tend to pack more carefully the next time.
What kind of clothing you should all bring depends on the weather and your destination. Remember to bring swimsuits, caps, sleeping garments, and additional if the nights are cool. Also, keep in mind that younger children will get their garments too soiled to reuse more than older children.
Eat
This is when camping may get daunting for many families.
Is it really necessary to have special sandwich makers, sophisticated hotdog roasting sticks, coffee machines, and beautiful little spice organisers? Maybe if you’re staying at the campsite for weeks at a time.
However, this is lazy mom camping… Remember, you’re attempting to make your family camping vacation as simple and uncomplicated as possible…
To begin, make a meal plan and select simple items that your children will like eating. Decide which camping kitchen essentials you’ll require once you’ve created a plan and ideas.
Do you require a portable camp stove? Can you just use the campfire or your camper’s stove, if you have one?
All additional tools should be kept to a bare minimum. Remember that you may wash and reuse dishes rather than packing extra.
If you intend on taking a few camping trips this summer, consider filling a ‘kitchen camping tub’ with all of your kitchen supplies.
If you can gather enough goods to store as camping extras, you will save a lot of time when preparing for a camping trip because you can just grab the tub and know you have everything you need.
You’ll need food in addition to the culinary essentials. Remember to plan how you’ll pack your food and keep it chilled. Use one large tub for all non-cooler goods, and then pack cold foods into a cooler or fridge.
Consider how you’ll keep the cooler cold. Instead of relying on ice, try freezing water, juice boxes, and pre-made meals to help keep other goods colder for longer.
- good quality cutting knife, forks, spoons, butter knives
- large serving spoon, bbq tongues, spatuala
- can opener, cork screw/bottle opener, scissors
- salt, pepper, sugar, tea, coffee, hot chocolate
- tin foil, plastic wrap
- plates, bowls, mugs
- Camping pots and pans
- water bottles, coffee thermos
- kettle or coffee maker
- dish tub, scrubbie, soap, dish towel, wash rag
- cooking stove and fuel
- paper towels
Gear
Put all of the other miscellaneous family camping necessities in your camping tubs as well. Bug spray, flashlights, matches, and a first-aid kit, for example. The less goods you need to gather for each camping trip, the easier and less stressful camping packing becomes.
If you use a simple camping checklist, mark the ‘already packed’ items on your list so you know what you have for your next trip… Emptying all the camping tubs to see if you left the toothbrushes in or took them out is a tremendous pain in the butt!
- plastic bags for garbage and recycling
- hand sanitizer
- Toilet paper
- bug spray, bear spray
- matches, fire starter materials, axe or hatchet
- cash in small denominations and coins
- first aid kit
- roasting sticks
Toiletry
This area can be tough because you won’t have extras of many of these items and will need to buy them on each trip… That is, you cannot simply leave them in the camping tubs for convenient grab-and-go packing.
Medication, the book you’re reading, baby items like diapers and soothers, sunscreen and additional toiletries, sunglasses, bear spray, pet care materials, your ID, and money are examples of such items.
- toothbrushes, soap, hairbrush, elastics
- sunglasses, sunscreen
- bath towel, facecloths
- hats, coats, rain boots
- books
- wallet, phone
- medications
- Baby hygiene – potty, wipes, diapers etc
- pet care items (leash, food and water dishes, etc)
Bottom Line
If you and your family intend to go camping frequently, I strongly advise purchasing separate camping equipment and keeping it all stored and ready to go. To be truly organised, have a camping supply list of everything in each tub fastened to the lid of that tub, as well as a separate list of all the stuff you need for grab-and-go.
If camping is something you only do once in a while, make it as simple as possible for yourself: prepare, be organized, and remember that kids just want to play outside, get filthy, eat snacks, and stay up late…. That is the essence of camping.