Family Camping: Tents, Bugs, and Fun in the Great Outdoors
by Sheila Somerlock Ruth
I'm not generally the outdoors type. I've been camping a few times in my life, but my idea of a great vacation usually involves a hotel with a swimming pool and a port for my laptop. So I was a little surprised when my son asked to go camping. He was very excited about the idea, so I bravely set out to learn what I could about camping.
For my son, camping boiled down to three important things: sleep in a tent, eat s'mores, and find cool insects. Any other details were unimportant to him. But we wanted to make sure that he had a good experience, so my husband and I spent a lot of time researching and planning the trip.
The trip was a big success, and we all had a great time. We slept in a tent, ate s'mores, and found lots and lots of cool insects, including, to my son's delight, ant larvae (oh, joy). We also hiked up a mountain trail, found frogs, tadpoles, and little fish, canoed on a lake, and cooked dinner over an open campfire. Surprisingly, I enjoyed myself so much that I'm looking forward to our next trip.
If you've never camped before, or haven't camped in a long time, I urge you to take the plunge and go for it. You'll be glad you did. I wanted to share with you some of the lessons that we learned to help make your trip more successful and enjoyable.
1) Decide where to go
There are many choices of campgrounds, and many different types of camping. Before you decide where to go, you need to decide what type of experience your family is looking for. Do you want to sleep in a tent, a cabin, or an RV? Do you want a prepared campsite or do you want to camp in more of a wilderness area? Is electric hookup important to you? Do you want a campground with activities for the family or do you want to get away from it all? Some campgrounds have lakes with fishing, boating, and swimming; if your family enjoys these activities, then you want to look for one of these campgrounds.
It's easier than ever to find the right campground thanks to the Internet. Many campgrounds have websites with information about the features of the campground. At the National Park Service web site you can search for parks by interest. Most of the state campgrounds are also on the Web, as well as many private campgrounds.
There are many campgrounds to choose from, and if you can't decide where to go, you can always ask your friends and coworkers for a recommendation. In fact, once you mention that you are planning on going camping, most people who have been camping are eager to tell you about their favorite campground! We selected our campground from a recommendation. A friend of my husband recommended Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland, and after looking at the information on the Maryland Department of Natural Resources web site, we decided to go there. It has a lake with a beach and boat rentals, and activities such as nature hikes and crafts for families who want to participate. It is kind of a summer camp for families! If you live in or near Maryland, and enjoy these kinds of things, I highly recommend it.
2) Be organized
It's amazing how much preparation goes into planning such a rustic experience! It may be romantic to think of a spur of the moment trip, jumping in the car and heading out to the wilderness, but in reality it takes a lot of planning to make sure that you have everything you need. I'm not an organized person, so this part was difficult for me. I started out by making lists of equipment we would need to take with us. There are a couple of lists of suggested items in the related resources at the end of this article.
3) Get the right equipment
It's important not only to have all the equipment you need, but to have the right equipment. One of the lessons that we learned was that you need to make sure to buy a tent that is large enough. Most of the tents are labeled with the number of people that the tent can hold. We discovered the hard way that this number is the maximum number of people the tent can hold, not the ideal number. Just because a tent says that it can hold three people, doesn't mean that it can hold three people comfortably! The three of us did fit in our three person tent, but it was tight. I was hit with an attack of claustrophobia in the middle of the night and got up and slept in the car for a few hours. So be sure that you buy a tent that holds one or two more people than will actually be sleeping in it.
Another "must have" item is sleeping mats. These can make the difference between a comfortable night's sleep and a stiff morning following a restless night. There are several varieties of sleeping mats, from foam mats to inflatable mats. The best kind are lightweight, self-inflating mats that can be rolled up and easily carried. We were on a tight budget, so we opted for some inexpensive inflatable mats that were not self-inflating. As a bonus, they could double as floats in the water! When I first suggested them after reading an article on the Web, my husband scoffed at the idea. But even he admitted after our trip that the sleeping mats were a good idea. Real campers do use sleeping mats!
Finally, you may want to bring your own firewood or call the campground to find out what is available. Most campgrounds don't want you chopping on trees, even dead trees which may be homes to animals. Some campgrounds have firewood for sale.
4) Plan meals
A lot of our preparations went into planning food for the trip. Hotdogs cooked over an open fire may be fun, but most people get tired of them quickly. You will probably want to plan a little more variety for your trip. If you are hiking out into the wilderness, you will probably want to rely on freeze dried foods and things that are easy to pack. If you will have your car, however, you can pack a cooler and a variety of foods. Many people take a camping stove with them, because it is difficult to cook foods over an open fire. We didn't take a stove, but we purchased a rack to hold foods above the fire and an iron skillet. We actually didn't need the rack, because our campsite turned out to have an adjustable height rack built into the fire pit. This was really useful, because it allowed us to get the food at the correct height for cooking.
5) Review safety rules
Camping with children can be a lot of fun, but accidents can happen. Be sure to review the safety rules before you go. You may want to review them again at the campsite, after you see the layout. You probably have your own safety rules, but here are some things you may want to consider talking to your children about:
- Fire. Your children may never have been around an open campfire before, so you need to make sure they understand what fire can do, what they should never do (like touch it), and what to do if their clothes or something else catches on fire.
- Getting Lost. It's easy to get lost, even at a fairly civilized campsite. Review with your children what they should do if they get separated from you. With younger children, you may want to consider having them wear a hospital style wristband with your name and phone numbers, including mobile phone numbers and pagers, and your campsite number.
- Animals. Children are naturally fascinated with animals, and may not understand the difference between wild animals and tame animals. While most wild animals will stay away from people, animals at campgrounds can become accustomed to people, yet they are still wild animals. Also, animals with rabies can behave in strange ways. Be sure your children understand never to approach or touch a wild animal.
- Water. Even children that can swim can have an accident in the water. Younger children should always be supervised around lakes and other bodies of water. Older children and teenagers should be taught to use the "buddy system" in and around the water. Even people who can swim should use life vests when boating or canoeing.
6) Keep the trash in the car
We left our trash bag out at the campsite by mistake when we went for a hike. When we came back, we discovered a squirrel contentedly munching on the leftover corn cobs that it had fished from the trash bags. We were lucky that it was just a squirrel; in some places we could have attracted bears.
7) Don't forget the marshmallows
I committed a grave mistake as far as my family is concerned. I forgot to bring the marshmallows and chocolate bars for s'mores. Luckily for me the camp store was still open and had plenty. Don't make the same mistake!
So what are you waiting for? Make your list, pack your gear, and head out to the wilderness. And most importantly, have fun!
Related Web Pages
National Park Service web site
Search for parks by interest.
If you are planning on a camping trip with kids, this is the site for you. It is a whole site dedicated to family camping. You'll find tips for camping with kids, campsite games, recommended campgrounds, and more.
This is another good site for family camping. It has camping checklists, recipes, and resources, as well as articles on topics such as camping etiquette
These waterproof bracelets come with an insert for writing identification information and medical information. If you become separated from your children while camping, these bracelets can help someone locate you. TIP: write your campsite number on the insert. A mobile phone or pager number (if they are not out of range at the campsite) would also be helpful.
Camping Checklists
- Printable Camping Checklist from MyParenTime
- The Big Packing List from Camp-a-Roo
- Camping Checklist from About.com Camping Guide
- Family Camping Equipment List and Tips
Related Books
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Kid Camping from Aaaaiii! to Zip This McManus Books edition of "Kid Camping from Aaaaiii! to Zip" is nearly identical to the original, which was a selection of the International Reading Association for 1980. Some of the information has been updated and a bit of new stuff added. For example, a host of web sites now exists where kid campers can view and even order a slew of neat camping information and equipment, not exactly Grogan's War Surplus but still interesting. Aaaaiii! is the sound you might hear yourself making if you find a Crawly Thing sharing your sleeping bag... "Oops!" is what you should try not to say too often while it's your turn to be camp cook. Patrick McManus's descriptions of the circumstances that can produce these responses are hilarious. Along with the humor there is practical advice for beginning campers, dispensed with a generous helping of common sense. Here you will find answers to hard questions such as how to tell the difference between hard-boiled eggs and raw... how to keep your matches dry... what to do if you encounter a cow-or a bear. In alphabetical order, these self-contained entries are capsule adventures in camping. Whether your kind of camping is sleeping out in the backyard or hiking to rugged country, you will be better prepared when you've read Patrick McManus on Air, Clothing, Dogs, Emergencies, Macho Guys-and he'll keep you laughing all the way to Zip. |
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Kids Camp! : Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness The author of Kids Create! provides more than one hundred illustrated projects and games that make camping fun and educational whether it is in the backyard, a national park, or a neighborhood school yard. |
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The author of Kids Create! provides more than one hundred illustrated projects and games that make camping fun and educational whether it is in the backyard, a national park, or a neighborhood school yard. |
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