Discover The Many Benefits Of Camping With Yours Kids

Camping with your kids can be an unforgettable experience, both for you and for them. Camping with kids is much more than just a few days outdoors.  It is a unique opportunity to teach them imporant skills and enjoy quality time that is sure to be remembered for years to come.  Take a look at the many benefits of camping with kids.

Title: Camping with Kids

Author: Paul

There's nothing 6 year olds or older kids love more than being
in the outdoors. Camping is an outdoor recreational activity
involving spending one or more nights in a tent, a primitive
structure, a travel trailer or recreational vehicle at a
campsite with the purpose of getting away from civilization and
enjoying nature. National parks and other publicly owned natural
areas are popular venues for camping. Camping is often
restricted by law to designated sites in order to prevent
campers from damaging the environment.

You can use camping to teach the kids independence and
self-sufficiency. Survivalist campers set off with little more
than their boots on the roughest of trails–the idea being to
really gut it out. However, you might prefer to set up a tent
within a few hundred feet of a campsite. This can serve as base
camp from where you can set out on nature hikes, which include
fishing and swimming.

Camping usually is a breeze with kids this age. They can help
set up the tent and unload the car and can be trusted to remain
nearby without continual supervision. One thing though–every
child must have their own flashlight! Everyone loves making cool
shadows on the tent walls and all hell breaks loose if sharing
is required. Kids enjoy looking at the different kinds of
insects that they can find. They might even catch frogs and
minnows near the lakes and streams. You could let them examine
these creatures and return them unharmed to the wild. Also,
carry bug jars, nets, and buckets.

Hiking with six to eight year olds is generally a comedy of
errors. Buy some of those disposable cameras or provide your
kids with cheap cameras at the start of a hike. The novelty of
being able to carry their own cameras will get you through your
travels that day. Get the photos developed at a one-hour place
if possible while you are still traveling - and then make a huge
deal about their incredible pictures. Alternatively, you could
provide them with some of the latest digital cameras that give
an instant printout–however, you better be a "richdad" if you
decide to make this choice. The next time you hike, the kids
will be eager as long as you provide them with enough batteries
and enough film or digital storage media!

Pick a theme for the trips. It helps you organize activities
around a central concept. Much easier! Some favorites are
"Western" including a chuck wagon meal, corn bread muffins and
tea. You could come up with 20 ways to use a bandana around camp
and practice tying knots with one-foot sections of rope. At
night, you could have a small campfire with twigs and sing old
western cowboy songs, try some cowboy poetry and learn a little
about the stars.

The "Survivor" theme is another hit, focusing on
back-to-the-basics camping essentials. Children this age can
grate cheese, stir a cooking pot, fetch water, hand wash and
hang laundry, clean up around camp and even pitch the tents with
a little help. They love to hike (1 to 2 miles) with frequent
breaks. Be sure to take along a trail mix snack the kids can
make themselves. You could even make it a bit of a competition.
Kids love competitions.

"Explorer" themes like Lewis and Clark are great for this age
group, too. They naturally love to explore. Take along
magnifying glasses, containers, nets and plastic cups to catch
and examine insects. Set a firm, no touching policy for
reptiles, insects and plants until they've been identified–this
saves a lot of worry. Use handbooks to make identification.

Always involve the kids in the basics of the camp. If the adults
do all the preparing, cooking, and cleaning, the kids don't
learn. The look on children's faces is priceless when they've
made their first wood campfire or pitched their first tent. The
best advices is plan with the kids, but always leave plenty of
room for running, swimming, biking or just kicking around a
ball. Kids love to comb beaches, draw in the dirt and gather
rocks. Always have paper and crayons handy, cards are good, too
- but don't worry about entertaining the kids 24×7. Camping is
all about learning to entertain you without TV and games. Throw
in a book or favorite magazine for yourself, and use your
imagination to fill in the rest.

If the kids behave well, reinforce their behavior with a prize.
The prizes can be simple little things usually picked up at the
local five and dime store…i.e. bubbles, a comic book, a toy
car, a box of crackerjacks…etc. You could also shop for your
prizes online. Wrap the prizes to make it even more exciting.
Gift wrapping material is available in an assortment of colors.
With the short attention spans kids have, the new prize will
tide them over 'til the next stop.

Take the illuminated "glow" sticks (the kind in the foil cover
that you break and shake) to use at bedtime for night lights.
Tie one to the ceiling of the tent when the children retire and
untie and lower it when you retire. Bring one for each night of
camping. The soft glow becomes softer as the night wears on and
is gentle on adult eyes! You may prefer the green ones versus
the red one–the red are brighter it seems.

The camp journal. Take plain white paper - about 5 sheets per
kid. Get you kids to fold the pile in half and hold it together
with a paper clip. Get them to color the front cover and title
it My Camp Journal. Kids are very proud of their journal. If
there are some kids who can't read or write yet, tell them to do
pictures instead of writing in them. They will have a nice
memory of their first trip.

Bring cards. You can play many games with a simple deck of
cards. They can even be a deck that is missing cards. Young kids
don't know/care. Go fish, and war, and let the kids explore
their wild side under controlled conditions.

Pack lots of socks for each child–at least two pairs or more
per day. If there is a drop of water, or mud puddle of any kind
to be found, they will find it! Don't expect the socks to come
clean even with the best of detergents.

If you have an FRS (family radio service walkie talkies), one of
the neat things you and your kids could do, is a game of high
tech hide-and-seek of sorts… they can hide out, and you have
to find them (providing they can see you when they hide, for
safety's sake)… and vice versa… lots of fun, and you can use
the walkie talkies all the time, in stores when you go shopping
and she is with her stepmother, or other times. A walkie talkie
is a wonderful little gadget for kids!

Just use your imagination and remember what it was like to be a
kid… ideas of things, little things you can do to make
anything more fun will fill your mind almost instantly! One last
thing, when talking with a kid about anything serious, get down
to their level! Squat down or get them up on something high so
they can see eye to eye with you and not feel intimidated… hug
your kid, and be thankful everyday for the blessing they truly
are… they can be a challenge, but they are there for you
too… remember that.

For more information about parenting dads, please visit: http://www.greatdad.com  About the author:Paul B

We would love to hear about your camping vacations with your kids.  Feel free to share your thoughts, camping adventures, and camping experiences with us.

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