10 reasons why you should take your kids camping
If you have kids, and they’ve not been camping with you before, its something you should bump up the priority list. Whether you are a seasoned camper from way back or you’ve never spent a night in a tent before its a great adventure for the family and one that your kids will remember for a long time.
Who knows, you might even get the camping bug, and end up with a Camper Trailer, or a Caravan in a couple of years! You don’t know what you don’t know, and there’s a lot of people who’ve really appreciated falling in love with camping!
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Why should you take your kids camping?
It’s a new adventure
Life can be pretty mundane, and full of routine. When the weekend rolls around, its so easy to fall into the usual trap of not doing much around the house, and taking your kids camping breaks that routine and throws it all out the window, for the entire weekend.
The idea of sleeping in a tent, let alone miles away from home is hugely exciting to children, and they see it as an adventure beyond anything else they’ve done.
It creates independence
Teaching your kids to tackle certain things on their own is hugely important, and camping does exactly that. Depending on their age, you can get them involved in packing, what’s needed for the trip and so forth.
When you are at camp, the kids have a bit of additional freedom to explore on their own, and as long as its safe and done with the correct supervision its a great tool to grow independence.
They love it
Our kids (and my wife!) are forever asking to go camping, and they do this because they love it. They love the freedom, the new experiences, the family moments, the different food and the list goes on and on. We’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with Camp Cooking with the kids involved!
If you go with other children, they’ll have even more fun as its rare to be able to spend extensive time with others.
Its a break from technology
With the number of phones, tablets and TV’s around today, and how much time is spent on them nothing is better than taking your kids away from the screens and into the open air, miles away from the nearest digital attraction.
I guarantee you’ll be surprised at how much fun your kids will have with very little when out camping; they don’t need screens to keep them entertained. I will say though, for long trips between camp sites they are a good distraction, and worth having. It’s all about balance.
It leads to new adventures
Once you master the art of camping, you’ll realise that its just the tip of the iceberg, and there are lots of new options for adventure. Bush walks, surfing, swimming, bike riding, building cubbies, visiting local attractions, snorkelling and fishing are just a few of the adventures that your kids soon want to be involved in and it just snowballs from there.
Our kids are at the age now where they love to spend a bit of time fishing, and although its not easy they have fun and the looks on their faces make it so worth it.
The family bonding is priceless
When we do solo trips, the family bonding is amazing. You’ll have great times, and average times when things don’t quite go to plan, but you grow as a family. However, we also love to travel with other family, and a lot of our camping trips have my brothers or parents along with us, or Sarah’s brothers or sisters.
As long as you have your own space, there’s nothing quite like a group cooked meal, or kicking back with the whole family around a camp fire as the sun goes down.
It can be a cheap holiday
Caravan parks have become quite expensive today, but if you are clever with the gear you buy, and where you camp you can head away for a weekend for very little money.
Some of our weekends literally cost us under $100 in camp fees and fuel. Food is virtually the same cost as you’ve still got to eat at home, and you can’t do much for $100 these days.
They learn a huge amount
When you travel and camp, kids pick up so much. There’s a reason that home schooling while travelling has become such a big thing; you just have to supplement the knowledge they naturally gain when on the road.
Our kids are always asking about how things wash up on the beach, wind turbines, light houses, animals, fuelling the car up and so on. It’s all part of travel, and they pick it up as you go.
Your perspective will change
One of the reasons we love camping so much is you can leave the business of life behind, turn your devices off and kick back in a beautiful forest somewhere, or next to a perfect beach. Your day to day thoughts quickly disappear and you get a fresh perspective of what’s important, and what’s not.
Life can be pretty challenging, but kicking back with your family away from it all gives time for your perspective to be re-adjusted, and I think its almost a necessity today. You’ll find you feel better, relax more and are happy by the end of the camping trp.
Everyone gets reattached to nature
We live in a pretty incredible part of the world, and there’s something special about camping in nature. The stars, tree’s, animals and amazing scenery is good for your body, and we love nothing more than being re-attached to nature.
Camping with kids isn’t always easy
I’m going to be brutally honest here. Camping with kids can be extremely difficult too, and there’s generally a period where they need to re-adjust. Here’s 35 ways to make camping with a toddler easier.
We had some interesting times with our two when they were younger, and even today they can be a handful. I will say though, despite the hard work its always worth it!
We are always itching to head away, and there’s a good reason for that; its one of the best ways you can spend your days as a family!
