Let's go Camping!

Camping!!!

One of my family's favorite things to do when we have a couple day and nights to get away.  I think it's just extremely relaxing and rejuvenating to get out into the woods.  There are some wonderful camping supplies we have discovered over our years camping, and some great books to get your kids excited about a camping trip, some with some tips for camping, and some are just great books to share.  I know school is just about back in session but summer isn't over, and if you live in a warmer climate camping in the fall can be fun as well.  I really hope this post inspires you to pack up the family, invite some friends and go escape to no TV, less cell phone use, and exploring nature near you, and really roughing it.  Trust me after 3 days of no plumbing, you will savor that first hot shower you have!

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping  by Melanie Watt

I love Melanie Watt books.  Just going to start with that, she writes funny stories for kids that teach them a lesson.  Scaredy Squirrel has a series and each is something I think kids can relate to.  Hey camping is a new experience, and you're asking the kids to leave their safe four walled house, TV, bed, and most of their stuffed animals and go outside someplace new.  I love that you can share this book with a child who hasn't gone camping, maybe hasn't even been hiking or spent much time in the woods and show them that it's OK to be afraid, but it's going to be a lot of fun.

To share some of the things that Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of:
Quicksand, bears, skunks, mosquitoes, penguins, and zippers.
This is a great opportunity to find out what your child(ren) is(are) afraid of and address those issues.  Write down their concerns and latter you can either research if you will have penguins where you're camping (more than likely not so don't worry), or what to do to if you will have things on the list that they are worried about.  Mosquitoes!  No one likes mosquitoes!  So be prepared on how to avoid being bitten.  We use candles, cat nip (when we remember to pack it), fly replers, and OFF.

Scaredy Squirrel has to leave his safe home and go on an adventure, so there's a page that shares his pack, and outfit.  This is great for you to talk about why he is bringing all of this and what you will need on your trip.  Get the kids involved in the prep work involved.

Our adventure squirrel makes a pan of action, and checks the weather and then he's off, when the unexpected happens! Scaredy panics and ends up going for a canoe ride and realizes that the outdoors is amazing and should be enjoyed.  I love how he overcomes his fear and all the parts that you can use to talk about your child's fear and what exciting things you will get to do.

 Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping is a great book to check out any time, but highly recommend for any first time campers to get them to address any anxiety they may have and to show them how fun and exciting camping is!

What Camping Can Teach Us: Life's Lessons Learned from the Great Outdoors

As you may notice there is not author or illustrator for this book, that's because it is a collection of quotes and stock images so in the credits there is a list of photos and the photographers who get credit for each photo.  Donnie Rubo designed the book and was published by Willow Creek Press.

I love quotes, so much so that I use to collect them in notebooks as a teen.  I still write down quotes that stand out to me.  This might mean that I'm partial to this book and want to share every quote in it with you (I really do, and it's painful not to), but the wonderful thing about a children's picture book that is only quotes is that it's not a journey of one person but a collection of revelations and thoughts of many and they are all relatable.  Each quote offers something for your family to talk about.  For example:

"It always rains on tents.  Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles against prevailing winds to rain on a tent." - Dave Berry

This quote is a great one to talk about before leaving on your trip.  What's the weather going to be? How are you going to be prepared for rain?   We have sent up camp, and broken down camp in the rain.  We have had our tent leak, or had to get up in the middle of the night to put the rain-fly on.  This is not fun while it's happening, but it is fun to look back on, laugh at and learn from for future trips.  Tip: we have learned that a large tarp helps with rain protection and offers shade.

Discussions are on each and every page of this 32 page book.  Talk about the beautiful photography of people camping, and wildlife.  What will you see?  What do you want to see most or not at all?  Take time to talk about past experiences and what you loved most as a child.

What Camping Can Teach Us is a book that is wonderful to get kids pumped to go into the Great Outdoors, and it's a wonderful one to read anytime and be nostalgic.


Now what are you going to do while you're camping?  Well I hope there are some fireflies out, and star gazing, and collecting wood for a campfire, singing songs, telling stories, cooking, reading, hiking, and relaxing.  There are hundreds of things to do while you're on a camping trip.  To help you out with some more ideas for your camping trip check out:

The Campfire Book


Written by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Illustrated by Heather Collins

This is the Pintrest for camping before there was Pinterest.  Published in 1998 there are some things in here that you might find dated or better ideas on Pinterest but this book is still a wonderful resource that you will want to get maybe over the winter to read though mark the pages and cross check online which of these traditional things you will want to do on your next camping trip.  This book will be a huge help in teaching children about how to build fires before you leave your house so they can be a help when you're out in the wood, collecting tinder and kindling and wood. Fire isn't something we think of now-a-days.  The stoves are either self lighting or electric, most fireplaces don't need to be started the slow way anymore, so if you have never built a campfire, check out chapter 1.
The Campfire Book moves on from how to build a fire and has many games, songs, stories, and even recipes. Looking for more campfire cooking books check out:



Usborne has many great nature books that you might want to check out or bring with you like:
Survival skills handbook  This is for kids 8-13 and goes over camping, dangers to spot, knots and more.  This is great.  We live in a world of comfort now, but what if they get lost on a hike, or there is some dooms day type of thing and they have to be out in the woods.  If it's something they are interested in why not learn together while you're camping practice some of the things from the book?
For the tiny tots what about a Nature Reference book?  You can look over what is in nature and when you go camping mark off what they find.

The moon rise

At night after the sun has set it's a whole new world watching the stars come out and gazing up.  One of the best parts about camping and being so far away from town, is that there is less light pollution so you see many more stars than normal (unless you're lucky and live out in the country).  My oldest has this great glow in the dark book:
The Glow in the Dark Night Sky

by Clint Hatchett
Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi

I'll be the first to admit, while I love looking up and seeing the night sky, I am probably the worst person to find constellations with, because I can only find the big dipper.  Therefore this is why I like this book, the kids can look and see what the constellations look like and go out and look for them on their own.  The book doesn't offer the full story behind each constellation, or many words for that matter.  It's a very simple and easy to follow star finder.  You look up what season you're in, and see what you can find.  On one side there are the constellations just with the stars and line and named, on the opposite page you see the same constellations with illustrations of the picture of them.  I like the illustrated side the best.  The cool factor of this book: take a flashlight shine it on the page you want to look at for a minute or two and then shut off all lights and see the page glow!  Now you can take the glowing page and look up at the sky and find that constellation and use the glowing book to help you!

If you're looking for more books about the night sky and constellations and space (because being under a big open sky is a great time to talk about space and all of this) check out these couple books:
What are Stars?

The moon at sunset

Big Book of Stars and Planets

I have one last fun book to read before camping, or to take along for a bedtime story:
The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest

by Stan and Jan Berenstain
I grew up with The Berenstain Bears they are a classic series that I think have timeless lessons that all can relate to.  With this book, the little cubs go out on a camping trip but before they leave Papa bear tries to give them a scare by telling them about spooks out in the woods.  Well you know kids and of course they are going to now be on edge.  Papa came up with a plan to scare the kids, but their troop leader saw him and came up with a spooky surprise of her own and scares Papa Bear in front of the cubs.
I love this book.  It's one we break out for camping, and around Halloween because it's a all in good fun book that is about scaring each other and how there are no ghost out in the woods.  It's just a fun story to easy worried minds.

make shift sling 

I would like to leave you with some tips we have learned over the years and some memories of my own.  As you can tell camping and being out immersed in nature is something we as a family are passionate about.
* Be prepared for anything!  We went camping up in the middle of no where,took a 30 minute off road trail to get to the campsite, my oldest broke her arm!  Apparently this is a very common injury among children because my youngest fell and broke her arm this year!  The bone wasn't sticking out of the skin, there wasn't even a mark, but she was complaining of pain after falling on a log.  Make sure you pack Ibuprofen, and children's pain reliever, and Benadryl.  Tip: use a pill container to keep meds in a handy place in the First Aid kit that takes up less space than a bunch of small bottles.
*Camping with others is a lot of fun!  This past weekend we camped with 2 other families, there were 6 adults and 8 children.  We had a blast!  But camping with a large group take planning, make sure you plan out your meals, and find out who is going to bring what.

Three families camping together 

*Night time is the most fun camping, bring glow in the dark items.  Glow necklaces attached to children, and dogs will help you locate and count them!  Also glow in the dark balloons and light up balls are lots of fun to play with as are sparklers.
*Know where you are going and what there is to do, if you aren't going hiking or fishing, have things for the kids to play with because they don't relax the same as adults do, giving them a book and telling them to sit back and just relax isn't going to go well.  Games, cards, and travel dollhouses are some wonderful ideas.

*Food!  The Campfire Book had some good recipes and tips in there, we love pinterest and have done many foil packets that work out great! Also a sandwich press is fun and tasty, popcorn over a campfire was a new one we had this weekend that was a lot of fun.  A new favorite we have started is the smores cones with fruit!  They are delicious.  Tip: if you want the kids to go to be somewhat early, do smores or the cones for an afternoon snack instead of at night, or for them to have one before dinner while they are waiting for the food to cook.  Another Tip: eggs in a clean creamer container is most definitely the way to go!

*Don't forget the coffee

I'm using welding gloves to cook breakfast

*Welding gloves will save your hands! You can reach in and move logs that are burning, and touch all the hot cast iron while keeping your hands nice and safe!
*The tent you have really does matter!  We had a small one for years that worked when it was just my husband and I, and even when we had a baby, but with 4 of us it was too small, so we recently upgraded and the tent has the poles built in and a sun room area, it's one of the best things we bought for camping and has made set up and break down much less stressful and I'm in love with it!  So do yourself a favor and shop around and find the best tent for you there are plenty of options, also invest in a good camping mattress. And for hot summer nights the Coleman Cool fan is great to have!

our new tent! 

May your next family outing be a camping trip filled with some amazing adventures and wonderful memories!