Essential Tips for Camping with Kids: Your Guide to What to Bring (like REALLY)
The inside of one of our tents
Wondering what to really bring when camping with the kids?
Well here are our hacks and essential kit guide for camping with the kids. What to bring, what to leave at home and what your kids will be forever grateful for if you put it in the car.
Like REALLY.
Because in an ideal world we’d all be screen free 100% of the time and we’d all be doing nature crafts and playing outdoor games, doing family walks and dancing under the stars whilst toasting marshmallows on the blazing campfire. But whilst that might be a reality for a lucky few, it’s not for the majority of us.
In my opinion, we all need a break sometimes. Because camping can be intense. With all of the family in a confined space, often with an early start or sometimes a broken night’s sleep, screens can be the answer AND THAT IS OK!
So let’s think REALLY what we need to bring for camping with the kids… screens and all…. (and gin…?!)
The bedroom set up
What to pack to help the kids sleep whilst camping
Yup. It is TOP of the list. Like TOP TOP TOP! And that is why it takes up about half of this blog!
I’ll let you into a little secret. I fell out of love with camping.
SHOCK! Why? Well, when I used to camp before kids, it was pretty basic. I’m talking two man tent, pillow that packed down to the size of a fist that kinda thing. Then we got a little more luxury… and I thought… why bother with the tent at all?! You sleep much better in a house…. (see how sleep is a theme with the whole family?!)
ENTER, the kids. Who LOVE camping and as it turns out… that many year hiatus has resulted in me ALSO loving camping again HOORAY! (And good news for this blog right?!)
What is my biggest revelation when it comes to camping in general. If everybody sleeps better, life is better.
And that is why my first and foremost priority when camping is always making sure everybody sleeps.
Layers. Yes, it even applies to bedding.
Here is how I set up our tent bedroom
I don’t bother with the two bedroom thing.
We have a zip door between bedrooms and it’s never zipped up. I gave up on privacy when camping years ago, and it’s far easier if the kids need you in the middle of the night (and it also helps if they can see you for those middle of the night bad dreams, and bonus, they may not even wake you up…. )
I have thermal bedrolls, all year round.
I use these on the ground underneath the airbeds, because it can be 25 degrees during the day, and baltic at night. A lot of the heat is lost through the ground, and these help to prevent that.
Good airbeds
This is more of a desire than something we have! We have two fantastic quality airbeds from Colemans, but the kids have smaller ones. In hindsight, I would have got all of us the Colemans and will do when the kids ones give up.
Thermal bedrolls as a base layer to the airbeds
LOTS of fleece throws
If it’s forecast to be cold (the coldest we’ve camped in, was 4 degrees at night), then pop a fleece throw under a fitted sheet that you can use to hold it in place on top of the air bed. Then put your sleeping bag on top, and then have extra blankets on top. This way you can add and take away as the temperature fluctates (a particular issue in the Summer when the tent can be roasting by 7am!)
Always take a hot water bottle
Even in the Summer it can get damp and cool in the evening, so always take a hot water bottle to put in the sleeping bag before bedtime to warm it up (you can also use them to warm up your red wine too….. just sayin’)
How do you fit all the soft stuff in?
Vacuum bags. This is a top tip from one of my family.
Vacuum pack your stuff! Then use your camp bed pump on reverse to vacuum pack them for your return journey.
The tent at nighttime
How to get your kids to sleep in then tent
Is an age old question asked by many parents since the beginning of time…
My two were 2&4 when they started camping and I reckon we stick to three rules…
Ditch the rules.
There are no rules.
Go with the flow.
Helpful right?!
It’s true, routine is all over the place when it comes to camping so go with the flow and get your camping ‘routine’ down!
Don’t fight the early rises
Most of the time, the kids just stay up until we all go to bed, or at least just a little before. When we camp we all migrate to bed earlier than usual because it can get cold, and because on a family site, most of the noise curfews are 11pm. This works out for the best ultimately, because you are bound to have early mornings!
Get some sleeping bag chill time in
A tip from us to you is to play a little bit of quiet music (from the ipad - not a speaker, a lot of campsites have rules about amplified music). This has the effect of distracting from the other campsite sounds and can help chill my two out.
Might work for yours - give it a go!
Fairy Lights and Bunting ARE essential
Ok, maybe not the bunting, but the fairy lights, I say absolutely are. Get some battery operated low white glow lights on a timer and pop them outside the bedroom. They provide a nightlight, and look pretty too! Or you can do what we do and get crazy multicoloured rave lights. They work too. (Perhaps a leeeeeettle less relaxing though - particularly when the kids put them on strobe!)
Plus when the timer goes off, they turn off themselves!
Do we use ear plugs?
No. The kids certainly don’t and I don’t think they’ve ever needed them. They listen to a bit of music before going to bed if they go to bed before me.
Me? I always forget them or lose them when we get there, so I think I’m used to it! Plus family campsites are often silent by 11pm.
Your choice, but I’d not say they are essential (unless you are camping at a festival obvs!)
What do the kids wear to bed whilst camping?
Again, if it’s going to be chilly at night, we take thermal PJs and a onesie on top. If it’s going to be super cold (like 4 degrees cold) we also wear a sweater between the PJs and the onesie and pop a hat on too as most of your heat is lost through your head.
Bear in mind that my kids are 9 & 7 so are able to take off layers themselves if they get too hot in the night.
I am nesh, as you can tell. I hate being cold and I particularly hate being woken up by the cold at night so I always overcompensate for layers with the kids, but so far, no complaints and on the whole the kids sleep really well in the tent.
Camping food always looks better in a pretty bowl
What food do we take camping with kids?
So priority number one with kids…. Sleep. Priority number two?
FOOD!
Pretty much on a par with sleep right? This year, we are embarking on our longest ever camping sesh with a three night music festival chased up by a week of camping. No break. (Yes, I shall be letting you know how we get on!)
But before that, the longest we have camped with the kids is for three nights away. I have done this solo, I have done this at festivals and I have done this with friends and family and we have approached the food part in different ways for all three ways.
Batch cook and freeze before you head camping
This is a classic and makes life super easy for the first couple of nights you are there. Dishes like campfire chilli, curries or bolognaise work well and they also serve as extra ice blocks for your ice box too. All you need to do is heat them up and serve when you are there!
This one is not as handy for festival camping, but can work if you plan it into your day.
BBQ Kings and Queens!
Top Tip! Check about whether you are a) allowed to BBQ at your campsite b) whether they have BBQs for hire/ borrow before you head off on your trip.
A lot of campsites will allow you to take your own, BUT be aware that when camping, particularly somewhere like the National Parks in Summer, that there isn’t a ban due to prolonged hot/ dry weather.
On our last camping trip, a friend brought along a pretty snazzy flat pat BBQ which was amazing! I want to say it was from B&M, but don’t quote me on that!
This is a good one to consider on the last nights as many campsites will have handy BBQ food in their camp shops (check before you go).
Don’t underestimate the power of the supernoodles
Emergency food
I say emergency food. But what I mean is food that doesn’t require cold storage, that can be grabbed in a light bite must eat something now emergency. So late night snacks basically. And standard life with kids. Great for festival camping.
Stuff like Supernoodles. Or even easier Pot Noodles (we can’t have these, as one kid is allergic to peas. Yes. Peas). Porridge pots are great as they only need hot water too.
Cans of beans, or hoops on toast (use the firepit or frying pan to toast the bread), or cans of soup and cuppa soups, all work well too!
Feeling fancy? This is a friend’s top shout for quick and easy camp bites. Pizza wraps, which are Tortilla Wraps and ketchup with pre-grated cheese, heated up on a dry pan and cut up into quarters. Lush.
How do you keep the food cold with no electric hook up?
We have never camped using electric hook up to date.
But how do we keep the food cold?
First, we have an amazing ice box from Colemans. Then we just keep adding ice! A top tip is to freeze any mineral water, milk or yoghurt that you plan on taking to slowly defrost as you camp. These act as extra ice blocks. Then make full use of any freezer facilities that you have on sight by rotating and freezing ice blocks throughout the trip.
We also have an inflatable mini paddling pool, to put drinks and cans in to keep them cold. One tip we discovered last time we camped was to rotate freezing some of the large water carriers from the deep freezer on site, which acted as a gigantic ice block in the water.
You also need to be pretty organised with your eating. On the last days, perhaps plan to eat more substantial meals out, or plan to use ingredients that don’t require a fridge, for example classic campfire grub, corned beef hash, pasta and packet sauces.
It’s no lie that it’s an effort to keep the food cold for longer, but it is do-able!
Other top tips for camping with the kids
An organised tent is a happy tent…
My absolute BIGGEST hate from camping (particularly with the kids) is when nobody can find the things that they need. Because they’ve put it down and then it’s got sucked into the black hole of the bedroom, or it slid underneath a pile of stuff in the living area….
NNNNNNGHGGHH!
Enter…. THE PACKING CUBES!
Love these. Literal game changer. Each person has one for their clothes. There is a separate one for swim/ outdoors wear. There is one for warm layers for the evening and there is one spare for BITS. You know the bits that get left around because they don’t have a home, but are totally necessary and provoke a nationwide search when they can’t be found? Yeah?
Like battery packs, charging cables, sunglasses, hairbobbles, and hair brushes…
Then when they’re empty, they pack down flat and you can vac—pack your dirty clothes and put them in the car for the journey home.
Chilling by the fire pit
What to bring for the kids when camping?
The games
It’s so easy to fall into this idea that the kids will suddenly be earthling children who only want to make daisy chains and read books with crowns of wildflowers in their hair. But let’s be real here.
Screen time is fine too.
We ALWAYS take the IPads. Just make sure they are loaded up with games or films before you head camping in case the Wifi can’t take the strain! (Or there is no Wifi at all!) We generally have them first thing in the morning when the showers and brekkie are being done, or later in the afternoon after we’ve been out for the day. But use them we do and use them we will!
So you need battery packs for charging purposes. We take two and a car charger, so that the battery packs can be recharged on any car journeys you make.
We also swear by card games or tiny games that pack down small.
We take a standard pack of cards and games like Dobble and Uno, that both the grown ups and kids enjoy playing together. We don’t bother bringing much else, but a packable frisbee, a ball, boules or bubbles are a good shout as well as a couple of books.
I’m realistic. I’ve gone through packing hundreds of outdoors toys and games about a quarter of which the kids play with. Most of the time we are out exploring during the day, so I have greatly reduced the amount of stuff we bring.
Proof that the kids can also read!
Camping with Kids hacks that always get left off the list…
Here you go, my little list of miscellaneous bits and pieces that make camping with (or without) the kids easier!
Foam jigsaw mats
We take four to create a muddy/ wet shoe area inside and outside the tent, just secure them with camping pegs so they don’t blow away. And remember to take flip flops, sliders or wellies, dependant on your forecast. The easier to put on the better, as it appears the desire to run out onto wet muddy grass in only your socks, is stronger than the incredible Hulk.
A teeny tiny dustpan and brush
You may laugh, but it’s no laughing matter when somebody decides it’s a good idea to smash through an entire tube of Pringles in your bedroom. THE CRUMBS!
Oh and use a box with a secure lid with a bin liner inside for a bin to stop any critters taking a rummage through in the night.
Clothes Pegs
These are great for pegging out wet tea towels, swimming costumes, towels or any washing you do when you are there (like the hundreds of muddy wet socks….) . We also have a retractable washing line. Don’t have washing facilities? Take hand wash and a collapsible washing up bowl.
Blowing bubbles on the campsite
Carabiners
For hanging stuff up. Great for hanging lights, torches, keys or anything that you want to keep safe and off the floor, which is always essential for kids who constantly lose stuff!
BUG SPRAY
I always find it funny when reading campsite reviews, that people complain about the insects. I literally hate insects, and I always react terribly to insect bites, but when it comes to camping and well…. being outside generally, you will encounter insects. Midges, horseflies, mosquitos whatever. So take your insect repellent and use it! We also have a rechargeable bug zapper that hangs from the roof of the tent from Mountain Warehouse.
And tell the kids to SHUT THE BLOOMIN’ BEDROOM DOORS (That’s a well practiced one from home, nobody wants to see THAT level of mess!)
Comfy chairs
We have super sized chairs, ones you can tuck your legs onto. These are my favourite things! They a huge to pack, but worth it. We have Vango Titans. The kids steal them all the time.
But not for long….. Mwah ha ha haaaa!
Toasting marshmallows (or toast…. yes, one kid doesn’t like marshmallows!)
So there you have it!
I’m sure I’ve forgotten something (much like when we go camping) but I hope you’ve found at least something useful amongst the ramblings!
Everybody has a camping hack, so if you have one, then pop them in the comments section!
Usha Gap Campsite
If you like this…
Why not check out our blog about camping at Usha Gap Campsite in Muker, Swaledale, The Yorkshire Dales National Park
Our review of Studfold Camping Pods in Nidderdale, Yorkshire Dales
Or our Review of Masons Campsite in Appletreewick, The Yorkshire Dales National Park
