3 Ways To Prepare Your Young Children For A Camping Trip
If you have a love of the outdoors, it’s only natural that you want to share that love with your children. However, camping and enjoying the outdoors with kids in tow is a lot different than when you used to go out on your own or with your significant other. There’s a lot of things you have to think about and consider when planning a camping trip with your whole family. To help you and your little ones enjoy the outdoors as much as possible, here are three ways you can prepare your young children for a camping trip.
Get Outdoors Beforehand
The outdoors can be a strange and intimidating place, especially for kids who haven’t spent a lot of time in that environment. Kids could react with fear, anxiety or anger when placed in a situation with which they’re not accustomed, and this is not something you want to find out after you’ve driven a few hours to a camping spot and set up your tent for the night.
To avoid this, REI recommends getting outdoors as much as possible with your kids before you actually go on your camping trip. You could accomplish this by camping in the backyard, spending time at a park, going to the lake for the day or other activities like this. These excursions will help you see how your kids may handle camping.
Plan Kid-Friendly Activities
Although going on the camping trip may be your idea, you still need to plan some kid-friendly activities throughout your trip to make this event fun for everyone. According to CampTrip.com, some of the best activities to do with your kids while in the outdoors are fishing, canoeing, looking at nature and wildlife, and playing sports or games. Planning to do some of these activities during your camping trip will help make your kids a lot more excited about spending a few days away from home.
Be Aware Of Dangers
While camping and experiencing the outdoors with your kids is a great way to help them develop a love of nature and create memories that will last a lifetime, it’s also important that they know of the potential dangers that could come from being outside. Catherine Greenwald, a contributor to Backcountry.com, advises teaching your children about fire safety, water safety, animal safety and first aid. Not only will this help them be safer and more prepared in the outdoors, but it will help you feel better about bringing them into this environment.
Raising children that love and appreciate the outdoors and spending their travel time outside is one of the best ways we can help protect our world for the future. To make sure this experience is memorable for all the right reasons, follow the tips mentioned above during the planning phase of your next camping vacation.