For my birthday, my sweetheart Studly got some time off and took us on a fantastic family camping trip. It was Curls first time camping, and I must say that it all went very well! There's nothing quite like watching the look on your child's face when he spies a squirrel for the first time jumping between trees or a mama duck and her baby ducklings swimming across a creek near your campsite.
In preparing for our recent trip, I have to admit I was a bit nervous taking Curls for the first time, so I perused the internet for some helpful tips to see if there was any advice to hopefully make the trip go smoothly. There are tons of lists out there full of tips for camping with toddlers, but, being a seasoned camper, I already knew what to pack, so none of the 'tips' really helped me. So I decided to stop stressing and just go camping.
During our trip though, I got to thinking about those lists and how they covered packing, but not really camping itself. Once you get to camp, what's the best way to make your trip successful and make sure your kids have a great time? That's when I came up with my own list of tips for making sure camping with children is fun and successful. This isn't about what to pack, how to pack, or where to go. This is about getting away into nature and having fun. Isn't that what camping is all about?
1. Let them get dirty. (Better yet, encourage it!)
Camping is not the time to be following around your kids with baby wipes and begging them to keep their shirt clean. No, camping is all about playing in the dirt! Getting it under your fingernails, in your hair, all over your face...that's what's going to happen so there is no use even trying to fight it. On our trip, Curls favorite thing to do was to play in the puddle where our water supply dripped incessantly. He would stomp in it, sit in it, push his hands through it. At first, I tried to stop him, but it was all in vain. And what did I care that he got dirty? I couldn't think of any reason to make him stay clean, so I instead gave him some plastic spoons and let him dig around. He was in heaven. So forget about keeping them clean (you can always wipe them down before meals and bedtime!) and tell them to go play in the dirt! How much more awesome of a parent could you be after they hear you say that?
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| The camp's nearby creek was a beaver's home! |
2. Be willing to explore and discover.
On our recent excursion, we went to a campground we've never been to before, hiked trails that we weren't familiar with, and even crossed a body of water to explore the banks on the other side (while Curls rode on my shoulders!) Some people might think it's crazy, but in reality, it's the best thing we could have done! After crossing that water we found a rushing river and a calm pond that was perfect for rock skipping practice (Studly learned how to skip rocks for the first time!). While hiking the unknown trail we saw an adorable squirrel jump from tree to tree right ahead of us, and (the kids and I think best of all) the new to us campground had a beaver living out it's daily life right beside our camp! None of us had ever seen a beaver in it's natural habitat, and we probably never would have if we hadn't tried the campground out!
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| Dirty D was found some really beautiful rocks. |
3. Relax and enjoy the little things.
I am quite the busy body...I go just a little nuts if I don't have a project (or several!) to be working on. It's not very easy for me to relax when I'm home, because there's always something that needs to be done. When I'm camping though, I treat it like it is, a vacation. We do a lot of downtime where we just sit around joking, laughing, and being together. We don't have the computer or television or video games to 'relax' us, as if that sort of stuff really relaxes anyone. No, camping is the perfect time to teach your kids that they don't need electronics to entertain themselves when left to their own devices. Lead by example and show them how the burnt tip of a stick can be used to draw a hangman game on the ground, how sticks can be the X's and rocks can be the O's in a laid back game of Tic Tac Toe. Show them that it can be wonderfully relaxing to sit outside and tuck into a good book. They'll appreciate it all later on. Trust me. (Even if they lament about their video games the whole trip!)
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| Tents are perfect for pretend play anyway! |
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