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3 Tips for Camping with Kids

Camping with kids can be more work than vacation. They need constant supervision and entertainment when in a campsite setting. Nature in all its beauty can be dangerous. When the children aren’t well supervised you can guarantee they will find those dangers.

I want to share a few tips for making your camping trip with kids safer and easier so you can all have fun.

PREPARE

The more prepared you are, the less work you will have when camping. (besides corralling kids - which is a full-time job!) To be able to relax, you should prepare ahead of time. Most importantly, plan a menu.  If your kids are like mine, they get HANGRY.  When you plan foods your kids will eat, they won’t whine and complain.. as much. This can be difficult when planning your meals around cooking over the fire. The meals you prepare are for the family sitting together and enjoying time relaxing around the fire.

    *A helpful hint - pack lots of their favorite healthy snacks for the kids. They will be too busy playing and exploring to eat anyway and want to eat on the go. 

You want to be able to sit and relax as well, so make sure you prep all your food before you pack it. If you can, cook your meat at home. Cut up your veggies and other time-consuming preparations at home and then freeze everything that can freeze. By freezing what food you can, you don’t need to worry as much about always stopping for ice for the cooler. If you are in an RV freezing the food is also a good idea because you never know when the fridge will go out. This site has lots of yummy premade camping meals, /www.shtfpreparedness.com/25-make-ahead-camping-meals/

CAMPFIRE RECIPES

Here are a few of my personal favorite camping recipes:

     1- My family’s all-time favorite meal is the Tin Foil Dinner. You can add almost anything to a sheet of tinfoil and throw it in the fire for 30 minutes.

 We love using potatoes, onions, peppers, and lemons for seasoning. Then we use Stew meat, diced chicken, ham, and pork tenderloin. Add some of your favorite seasonings. We use Lawry's seasoning salt, lemon pepper, and steak dust.

 *I usually cook the potatoes halfway through so they don’t take so long.

 Then we create a “make your own” line and fill our foil sheets with what you love most. (I have also used pie tins. These are sturdier for eating on.) My daughter only does potatoes, and my husband only does meat. Whatever they will eat..

 Make sure you have a permanent marker to write names on them. You don’t want to be opening each packet to see whose is whose. I usually open them to cool down for a few minutes, dump them into a bowl, and voila! Tin Foil dinner!

*The kids like to add ketchup to theirs before they eat it. 

The best part is that you get to sit and visit while you wait for it to cook. But make sure you start it early enough that the ravenous wolves can wait for half an hour.

This site has some fun variations to try www.sixsistersstuff.com/30-delicious-tin-foil-dinners/?epik=dj0yJnU9bGR5YlEwMHVjWVQ4ZWZXR0d1RTFoY3BxUGJmRFVzR1omcD0wJm49MlM0TTVCdkEzLXNsMFVzcEkzaTFUZyZ0PUFBQUFBR1h5QkZR


     2- Breakfast is our favorite campfire meal. There is nothing better than a skillet over the fire with bacon and french toast sizzling on it while bundled up sitting in a camp chair drinking hot cocoa and waiting for my plate. But if you are a Dutch Oven enthusiast I suggest a breakfast casserole.

Add 2 pounds of ground sausage into a well-oiled Dutch Oven.

Throw in a bag of frozen hashbrowns

Whisk up a dozen eggs and pour it over the hash browns,

Load that baby up with cheese

Set it on some nice hot coals for 20 minutes or so.

*Again have ketchup on hand for the kiddos!

I usually refer to this site for instructions

www.lodgecastiron.com/recipe/mountain-man-breakfast


     3- I don’t want to state the obvious here, but hot dogs are a must-have when campfire cooking. Anything you can put on a stick and shove into the fire will make any child happy. But if you are looking for a little bit more, try one of these ideas:

  •   Think Kabobs - literally anything you can skewer will work!  

  •   Breakfast Kabobs like bacon or even refrigerated cinnamon rolls   

  •   Dinner Kabobs are a treat even when you aren’t camping. Steak, chicken, and pork with peppers, onions, corn on the cob, etc.  

  • Dessert Kabobs are a great way to please the kiddos. Get creative by adding cookie dough or brownies with your marshmallows (you can even sneak in some protein with peanut butter). 

  •  This site has great ideas for cooking on a stick. littlefamilyadventure.com/camping-recipes-food-stick/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Family+Fun+for+Everyone&utm_campaign=Camping+-+5%2F11

  • Everyone loves s’mores, but they are loaded with sugar and then the kids are wound up when you want them to sleep. Consider making s’mores a lunchtime activity. It could even be a fun breakfast item to help them wake up. Instead of serving s’mores at night try our favorite Woof ‘ems. I learned about these several years ago. I made our own sticks and everything! You can buy them nowadays though.

  • www.madetobeamomma.com/woofem-campfire-treat/#_a5y_p=1814286


FAMILY ACTIVITIES

I also want to share some of our family's favorite activities. Nighttime is the best part of camping and being outdoors for the kids because they don’t get out often. Everything looks so different at night. Planning some night activities can help focus that excitement so they can wind down and sleep.

1- Strap on your headlamps and go for a walk. Everything looks so different at night. If you’re lucky enough to get a clear, starry night, everything appears magical. 

Here are a few of our favorite nighttime games:

  • Star tipping -   This game is played on a clear night when the stars are visible. 

Everyone forms a circle. One person is chosen and stands in the middle of the circle. They choose 1 star in the sky to focus on while being spun around 30 times (until they are dizzy). Someone standing in the circle then quickly shines a flashlight in the dizzy person’s eyes and they fall over. Thus the star is tipped. Then another person takes the place in the middle of the circle until everyone has a turn.

  • No Bears are out Tonight - www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuXoxVU5kyI

First, you need to designate a home base. Then 1 person is chosen to be “the bear” and goes to hide while the other players gather at the home base and count to 30. Then the players sing “No bears are out tonight, my daddy shot them all last night” while they go looking for “the Bear”. When the players get close enough, “the Bear” jumps out and tries to tag one of the other players before they make it back to home base. When “the Bear” tags someone they become “the Bear” and the next round starts again.

  • Sardines - This game is the reverse of hide and seek  - 1 person is designated as “it” and goes to hide. The other players separate and quietly go out to look for “it”.

When they find them, they hide with them, eventually, everyone is hiding with “it” until the last player finds them all. Then the last person becomes “it” and goes off to hide and start the next round.

    2- We love a good scavenger hunt. Depending on the ages of your littles you can give them a list of things to find and try to make it last the whole stay long. If they are little, print (I would laminate them for easy reuse) some pictures up and hide them around the campsite. Another suggestion is to make a list of items to take selfies with that are great for the "tweenagers."

Here are some of our favorite scavenger hunt sites:

    3 - Be sure to pack a few gallon-sized Baggies and then go for a nature walk and collect different items in nature: sticks, rocks, leaves, and wildflowers. Then go back to the campsite and glue them down to paper to make a nature scene. For less mess, try buying sticker paper and just sticking them down (just make sure you design your picture first). 

Camping with your kids can be a great experience and a good way to unwind from the stresses of everyday life. Try to unplug and leave the devices at home so you can get the full, healing benefits of being in nature.

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