Camping is a great activity to share with your family. It encourages bonding with the shared experiences it delivers, both good and not-so-good.
Camping is also a great way to encourage children to appreciate the natural world. Responsible camping practices also encourages stewardship of that natural world and the parks that preserve it. Without that bond, children grow up to be adults that do not place a great deal of value on parks and natural spaces, nor the flora and fauna that depend on them.
In addition to these concepts becoming part of your children’s world, they gain skills that will aid them in their entire life. While learning how to use a flint and steel may not seem important as a skill, it teaches a great deal more than merely how to start a fire. Learning that skill will deliver lessons in perseverance, as well as confidence in their ability to achieve success. Self-confidence and learning skills will always be useful.
While many people try camping once, and has a less-than-wonderful experience and write it off as a bad choice for an activity, that is not the smartest thing to do. Things can go wrong, and the less experience someone has with a particular activity, the more likely it is to go wrong. Chalk it up to experience, learn from it, and move on. Often, these less-than-wonderful experience becomes a family story that inspires shared laughter.
Rules to Keep Kids Safe while Camping
Just like the rest of life as a parent, it is a parent’s job to establish the rules for camping. It helps to know what the rules should be when choosing your own boundaries to establish. Certain rules are a very good idea, either for safety or for courtesy reasons.
1. Never leave camp without permission.
Younger children may need frequent reminders, as well as being shown the specific area they are restricted to. In this day and age, children should not even go to the restroom without their parents’ knowledge of when they are leaving and where they are going. If it is very far or the child is very young, they may need accompanied to the restrooms.
2. Do not wander off of the trail.
Most nature and hiking trails in parks are very clearly defined, which makes it easier to know which way to go. Not only can it be very easy to get lost once the trail is out of sight, but in high traffic areas, the vegetation cannot endure excessive foot traffic. It helps protect the nature you are enjoying if everyone stays on the trail.
3. Do not enter any body of water without permission.
Rivers, creeks, ponds, pools, lakes and any other body of water can be very hazardous for children. It is very important that they do not wander off and get into the water without a parent present.
4. Do not make a mess in the restrooms, showers, laundry areas, or any other common area.
Other campers, as well as park staff, do not appreciate dealing with childish pranks that affect their jobs or their ability to use the facilities. This includes mud, toilet paper, paper towels, or any other kind of debris that can be spread around.
5. Do not cut through other camp areas or touch items left in other campsites.
This is mostly courtesy, and while it may seem self-explanatory to many people, children are often very curious about items left within their view. If children know that it is off limits, it can prevent accusations of theft, vandalism, or damage, as well as suspicious looks and ill feelings. By not walking through other campsites, it allows your neighbors to enjoy privacy and their own camping experience.
6. Everyone helps with camp clean up chores.
Just like at home, there are housekeeping duties that somebody has to do even when camping. This can include everything from rolling up bedding to dishes to picking up small items from the ground.
It isn’t fair to expect the parents to do it all, and many chores are left for the mother to accomplish, which can result in her not being so enthusiastic about going on a camping trip. Assigning everyone chores to help with these tasks makes it quicker to get done, as well as teaching everyone responsibility.
7. Everyone helps with set up as well as take down of camp.
Even the youngest child can help with these tasks—toddlers can roll over the partially folded tent to squish out the air, even if a parent can accomplish it with less time, there is an element of fun, as well as satisfaction that they are “helping”. Everyone should help ensure that camp is cleaner when you leave than when you arrived, which is a very good rule to have for camping in general.
8. Be responsible for your own property.
This means that they keep track of the things that they have and where they leave them. Nothing can be more time consuming than backtracking for a coat forgotten somewhere, or a beloved toy left somewhere, if they are even where they were forgotten. It is a very good lesson for children to learn to keep their things together and in their proper place and makes packing up a much simpler chore too.
9. Be courteous to other campers.
Some people may be friendly, others may prefer solitude. Respect others, and be courteous, even when they may be trying your patience. If the other campers are preventing you and your family from enjoying your camping experience, contact the rangers, park office, or local sheriff’s department, as appropriate.
10. Observe park rules.
This is very important. Not only are park rules to protect the park and other users’ experience there, but they can also result in civil or criminal charges for serious infractions.
Minor infractions can result in your family being asked to leave. This includes “quiet time” rules that define the hours which noise must be kept to a minimum. For listening to music, playing video games, etc., use headphones during this time.
11. Restrict cell phone use.
Your family is camping to enjoy nature, and while we all love our cell phones, this can become a problem when attempting to engage the entire family.
Both adults and teens are often guilty of being more concerned about text messages, phone calls, and social media than what is going on around them. By limiting use, cell phones remain available for emergencies, while keeping the family engaged with each other and the camping experience.
12. Do not feed or approach the wildlife.
Human food is not good for animals, and eating it can make them sick. In addition, animals that become accustomed to eating handouts can become pests in campgrounds. This can result in their deaths, either from accidents or to reduce danger to other campers.
Animals can also carry a variety of diseases, and any animal that is not behaving normally is apt to have one. Some of these diseases are ones that can be transmitted to humans, and are potentially fatal. Other animals, especially large carnivores and omnivores, once accustomed to humans, are potentially dangerous in their own rights.
This is obviously not an all-inclusive list of rules, nor are they set in stone. It is up to each parent to establish rules and enforce them.
Camping Preparation
The preparation for camping is the portion that can seem a lot like work. But it is essential for the trip to go off without problems. Start with the basic gear—your tent, sleeping gear, and campsite accessories. Make a list, but don’t forget the tent needs some special attention, whether it is new or this is your old standby about to start another season.
If everything is packed, the day before departure, then actually loading up and leaving will go much smoother. Typically, a weekend camping trip means leaving Friday after everyone gets home from school and work, and arriving at the campsite Friday evening. This means everyone is likely to arrive very hungry, as dinner is postponed until after the camp is set up.
Loading
The actual loading process is almost a fine art, as it invariably is a case of trying to fit a size fourteen foot into a size eight shoe. It is therefore very important to make sure things are packed in the order that they will be needed.
This translates to ensuring the tent and at least one lantern is packed on top for easy access. The remaining gear is packed to ensure a best fit, and typically has the coolers on the bottom.
If you are fortunate enough to have a small cargo trailer that is also hauling the family’s bicycles, putting the coolers on the trailer can create space that may be sorely needed.
If a car top carrier is being used, this is often a good location to pack lighter weight items, such as your tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and duffle bags.
Setting Up Camp
This can be tricky, as it is usually accompanied by whining and hungry children and grumbling, tired parents. Nonetheless, if a routine is established and everyone knows what to do, it can often be accomplished in minimal time.
The following is the order in which most people set up camp. It is not set in stone, so vary it as it needs to be to suit your family.
- If it is dark, turn on a lantern.
- Select the location for the tent.
- Spread the ground cloth out on desired location.
- Unpack the tent, setting the poles, stakes, and rainfly aside.
- Spread the tent out, with the door facing in the desired direction.
- Stake down the tent.
- Insert the poles.
- Erect the tent and adjust any stakes that were incorrectly placed.
- Put on the rainfly.
- Stake out the guy lines for the tent and rainfly.
- Unload remaining gear.
- Put sleeping bags and gear into tent.
- Set up kitchen area.
- Place coolers in desired location (usually near kitchen area).
- Set up stove and begin preparing dinner.
- While the camp cook is preparing dinner, the remaining family members set up chairs, table, and any other camp furniture.
- Serve dinner.
- Clean up after dinner and do dishes.
- Clean out fire pit, if necessary.
- Light campfire, if desired.
- Lay out beds in tent in preparation for bed.
- Place each person’s duffle bag in specific location.
- That should take care of the basics of setting up camp.