winging it mum

Rookie camping with kids trip

on April 2, 2012

Travelling with kids is something I am pretty accustomed to. We regularly go to our in-laws great beach house, we have flown a few times to Adelaide to visit my sister and taken Jas to Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and both kids recently to New Zealand. So with regard to road trips and flights we have built up a list of travel tips that work for us. However, in several days time we are embarking on a new adventure camping with kids.

A great opportunity has been given to us to go and camp on the foreshore with an onsite caravan, annex and tent! It’s a basic camp ground with only an ammenities block, but we are excited. Jas has been asking to go camping for sometime and I thought having a caravan may ease us all into the camping as a family experience. So my Mum, the kids and I will be setting off on Wednesday. Brett will join us on Friday. I am excited, nervous and curious as to how the trip will go.

When presented with this opportunity I jumped at it and was very excited and relaxed about it all. I loved the family camping trips we did when I was a child. Then on Sunday I woke up in the middle of the night and started thinking about the practicality of how this may work! Ok so when it comes to camping I will need to wing it!

At least we will have more than this on our site 🙂

I am after some CAMPING TIPS  from those that have survived a family camping trip – hopefully not all these people will be off camping at the moment:) Below are some things that I need to cover off on:

What are some do’s and don’ts? 

There is a chance of rain while we are away how do we cope with this?

What are some good camping activities to do with the kids?

For the kitchen what is a must have utensil or cooking item that I should take?

What are some items that I shouldn’t leave home without?

Thanks in advance for your help in our making our rookie camping trip a success!

Enjoy the holidays! If you aren’t going away considering pitching a tent in the garden; the kids will love it and you will save money and you won’t need to pack – actually maybe we should be doing this;)

Happy Easter too!!!

Em xx


6 responses to “Rookie camping with kids trip

  1. Love, love, love camping with the kids – UK here, so haven’t planned any camping for a while yet this year! Not sure how old your kids are? Last time we went, our kids were 5m, not quite 2 and just 4. So, onto your questions…

    What are some do’s and don’ts?
    ~ Don’t try and put the kids to bed at their normal bedtime – go with the flow and let them go to bed when they’re tired.
    ~ Do have a campfire!

    There is a chance of rain while we are away how do we cope with this?
    ~ cardgames or colouring

    What are some good camping activities to do with the kids?
    ~ collecting firewood for the essential campfire,
    ~ playing hide and seek-type games
    ~ washing up! Bizarre but true – they love it!

    For the kitchen what is a must have utensil or cooking item that I should take?
    ~ (beyond the obvious ones) a wooden spoon
    ~ tin/can opener

    What are some items that I shouldn’t leave home without?
    ~ matches
    ~ loo roll
    ~ blankets (versatile ones: to sit on, be snuggled into, snuggled under and to lie on!)

    Have fun 😀

    • embilee says:

      Thanks for all your brilliant advice! A heads up on relaxing about sleep times was good too. Can opener now packed also. Revised weather forecast looks like hot weather and when we leave the weather will turn bad. So fingers crossed -will let you know how we go.

  2. Patch says:

    Oh My boys absolutely LOVE camping but , as above, none done yet this year. I second all the above suggestions but would add…
    – Normal bedtime is definitely out, but don’t let it get too late either because you don’t get a lie in when camping.
    – sticker books, small craft activities, etc. for rainy days – try to get a collection together of lots of bits and pieces.
    – outdoor games like football, cricket, tennis but make sure you have a soft spongey foam type ball that won’t do damage to other tents or vans.
    – definitely take a corkscrew/bottle opener – you’ll need them after a long day!!!

    You will have a great time, i’m a bit envious.

    • embilee says:

      Thanks for your advice! Love hearing of people’s families who love camping as I am hoping mine will too:) I think you’re right an array of little bits and pieces are needed for indoor activities and when all else fails food! My kids will always eat;)

  3. Jodi says:

    Can’t wait to hear how it all goes as you know that I am thinking of entering the camping world so will let you make the mistakes and I will learn from you – hehe!!

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