Camping is a great way to spend a few days away from the big city and to show your kids there is an environment different from the Internet and that it’s really worth exploring. Camping is usually associated with fresh air, delicious home-made food and lots of time spent bonding with your family, having actual conversations (you know, without TV interference) and reveling in the beautiful and breathtaking vistas nature has to offer.
Some time away from the constant information bombardment lets you achieve tranquility and peace with yourself, and even though you might enjoy the time off, your children might get bored easily. Luckily, there are tons of things you can while camping that will both let you rest well and entertain your kids. Here are some of the more fun activities you can perform.
Set up the tent
You will be surprised what the right approach can achieve with children. Even though setting up the tent is a job for the adults (obviously), you can be sure that your kids will want to help. And why wouldn’t they? It’s a fun new activity in a totally new place. It’s one of the most interesting things they can do at that moment.
It’s either helping you with the tent, or standing around, poking the ground with a stick waiting for you to check on them every 30 seconds and constantly listening to you telling them to stay near. Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? Of course, the children won’t have the time to rationalize all of this.
They will just want to help because children like being involved in the same activities adults are doing (that’s part of our learning process). So it’s safe to say your kids will want to help. Let them. Yes, it will take a little more time to set up the tent, but it’s fine – you’re not going anywhere and you’re not in a hurry. The kids will be entertained for a while and they will feel helpful which is enough to make them happy. After you set up the tent, you should also…
Build a fire
This is where it gets a little more dangerous, but the campfire is a classic. Most camp sites have pits already dug up, but if they don’t (or there isn’t one in that particular location), you can always make one. All you need to do is dig up a little hole (like I suppose you’ve seen people dig in movies), surround it with stones to make sure the fire doesn’t escape, and then gather some wood.
Now, the “digging a hole part” you kids will just love. Let them do it all. Guide them if you have to, but let them dig the hole and help them with the stones. Tell them what a good job they are doing and how much they’ve helped you. This positive reinforcement will make them want to help even more. Let them assist you with gathering wood. They will feel great for helping out.
Make sure they don’t disturb the natural order of things around and that they don’t break branches from trees – explain that they should help you gather wood that is already on the ground. Explain these concepts to them – why they should gather this type of tree, why they shouldn’t gather that type of tree – children love learning. If you know something about the area, talk about that, too.
Eating
After all that work, the kids will feel tired and hungry. A lot of time will have passed before you’ve gotten the camp up and running and the children will feel great that they were a part of the process. Now it’s time for the reward.
Eating near the campfire is a magical experience, possibly causing some primeval nostalgia. It gives us a sense of security and harmony and will definitely calm the little ones down. After they’ve eaten, they will probably want to rest for a bit and that will be about your first day there.
Exploring
There are a lot of interesting things to see when you go camping so you can spend some additional time with your children exploring the campsite and showing them different birds, squirrels and other small animals they are bound to find fascinating. Additionally, you can let them take some photos so they can show their friends when they get back.
Everything related to camping is a overall fun and exhilarating experience and you can spice it up even more. All it takes is a bit of imagination.
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Jessica Conars loves to spend time with her kids. In her professional life she works with Clean To Perfection as a professional cleaner. During weekends she likes to go camping with her family.
