Awe the joys of summer are here! One of our families favorite things to do is, go camping and fishing together. I want to share with you my packing list for camping and, tips and tricks to help you have an enjoyable time with kids as well. It is A LOT of work to get everything all ready to go on a camping trip so, I hope my tips and tricks will help your family as it has helped mine.
First print off my camp packing list HERE, it is free!
Get everything you need on the list (these are just what works for our family, I would love to here other ideas that work for your family)
Some of the MUST NEEDS on my list that I think everyone needs are as follows:
Hand washing unit (LOVE THIS, LOVE THIS) we also use it to clean our dishes (thank you pintrest for the post HERE where I got this idea)
Carpet squares for in front of tent. I got mine at my dollar tree $1.00 store. They are heavy so they don't blow away which is perfect! You want at least 4 squares so you can have your kids have room to sit down and take their shoes off before entering the tent. You want you tent as clean as you can keep it since you will be sleeping in it :)
2 pop up hampers (also from the $1.00 store) for inside of the tent. These are AWESOME because you don't have to put your dirty clothes back in with your clean clothes or leave them all over the tent, and it makes finding all your laundry that much easier. They fold up in a small circle when done for easy storage.
Homemade play dough is nice and cheap to bring camping. It is super cheap to make and if it gets dirt and sticks in it, it's OK. Have the kids find rocks and make things out of the play dough. My boys chose to make blow fish out of rocks with their play dough.
Go on a nature scavenger hunt with them. Download my FREE one HERE
The paper is nice to let them draw in nature and do tree rubbings, trace leafs and such. Bring crayons to have them find rocks and color on them as well. They will LOVE it!
Encourage them and let them have an imagination.
Try to go camping in a place that has somewhere to go fishing close by. If you have boys, let them touch and hold the fish you catch. They think it is so cool. Girls on the other hand might not care to do this part :)
You can even go find some Crawfish to boil up (this was a first for us, they are really tasty) just eat the meat in the pincher's and tail. Boil in salt water for about 5 mins.
A good camp stove with propane. This is the one we have Coleman even temp 3 burner stove. I highly recommend investing in a good one because they will be great to use in an emergency to cook for your family and not just for camping.
You must always enjoy some junk food and, some S'mores with kids while camping.
Have your kids fall asleep one night on you sitting by the camp fire telling stories and singing songs.
Yes,camping is a lot of work and takes a lot of prep but, I encourage you to go camping and start building memories with your children. Kids love to be outside and have fun with Dad and Mom. I hope you enjoy my tips and tricks and again, if you have some ideas I would love for you to leave a comment and share yours with me :)
Don't forget to follow my blog, new followers make me super happy!!
Have a great day!
Selecting the right camp that fits into your child or teen's interests, special interests, special needs and abilities will be of the utmost importance.
ReplyDeleteCamping Guide
Love these ideas!! Tried to download/print the scavenger hunt and Scribd is saying I have to pay to download?? Any chance you'd be willilng to send it to me directly? gogogirl_10 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. That is weird it told you to pay that is supposed to be a free upload website. I will send it to your email. Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a great day :)
DeleteWe love taking the collapsible laundry hamper with us; it saves so much time. We also keep a majority of our "camping items" stored in Rubbermaid buckets that we can just keep stocked and grab when we're ready to go. We have one for dry goods, one for cooking supplies (pots, pans, matches, spices, etc), and of course, the cooler! Planning ahead takes some thought, but it's totally worth it when you get to the campsite and can just pull out your bins!
ReplyDeleteFor hand washing station, I prefer something smaller and use a gatorade squirt bottle (and a dishcloth). Yes, it needs to be refilled, but it takes up virtually no space.
ReplyDeleteDirty clothes go in a spare pillow case rather than those lightweight hampers (those things tear easily and are practically disposable). Who doesn't already have a spare pillow case at home?