Posted by Becca Larsen on Aug.14, 2009

ⓒ iStockPhoto - morgani

Camping is the all-natural, all-American summer recreation.  Before kids, getting back to nature for a weekend was easy You could take off Friday straight from work and roll in after a weekend of adventure without a care in the world, refreshed and rejuvenated from fresh air and exercise that didn’t feel like a workout.

With kids, just getting ready for a weekend is an adventure in itself.  Your junior adventurists become less than pleasant when a meal is late, let alone forgotten, and they crave a new experience nearly constantly!  Camping is the perfect outlet for all that energy, and with a little advanced planning, it nurtures wonderful memories and shows them up close what being Green is all about. 

Camping with kids doesn’t need to be as ambitious as hiking the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest. With little ones, you can make base camp at a state park campground or other established camping facility and take day hikes along well-marked trails.  Or let them simply ride their bikes around the campground and explore around your campsite. As the kids get older and can follow the rules of the trail, you can start roughing it more.

Prepare Kids for a Camping Trip

Begin by giving kids their own daypacks.  They need responsibility and enjoy feeling grownup.   Pack the essentials and teach them good stewardship of nature. Start with a kid-sized backpack. Last year’s school pack works, since it’s already broken in, after all.  In the daypack, include:

•    Full water bottle or canteen
•    Jacket.  You don’t want caught in unexpected weather
•    Snack.  Gorp, a mix of raisins, chocolate or carob chips and nuts is a great, quick energy snack treat. 
•    Magnifying glass.  Soil, leaves, ants and tree bark become even more fascinating magnified.
•    Insect jar, if your kids can leave the dangerous ones alone!
•    Flashlight. Their own little flashlight is always exciting come nightfall and good for emergencies.
•    Whistle.  A whistle, blown three short times, is a universal distress call and louder than yelling.  Be sure they use it only in emergency.  
•    If they are small, a spare outfit is a good idea for change if they fall.

Prepare Yourself, Too!

Don’t fill a child’s pack with more than just a few pounds.  No more that ¼ of their body weight is a good rule.  They need the responsibility of their own supplies, but not the burden of too much weight.  In your own rucksack pack any overflow from the kids’ packs and also some essentials:

•    Sunscreen
•    Insect repellent.  Our family finds Burt’s Bees Herbal Insect Repellent very effective, or try the Insect Deterrent Synergistic Blend following
•    Basic first aid kit
•    Your own flashlight, water, snack and jacket.  (How many parent fully equip the kids and walk out without their own coat?  I can attest to that one!)

Trail and Camping Etiquette

Green isn’t just about recycling.  Camping provides an excellent extension for bringing the Green lifestyle full circle.  Good stewardship of our Earth is perfectly illustrated while camping.  So, don’t forget to pass along good etiquette. 
•    If you pack it in, pack it out. 
•    Keep food out of tents and secured to avoid wild visitors. 
•    Tread lightly.  Keep to established trails and campsites.  Build small fires in established fire pits.
•    Leave your trail and campsite as clean or cleaner than you found it.  A great camping chore for even a toddler is to pick up any trash around the site as the adults secure the load.

If you pack your own firewood, be sure to check fire regulations and regulations for transporting firewood into the area. Some areas restrict burning during the summer fire season and some areas restrict the movement of firewood to control the spread of Emerald Ash Borer, a damaging insect.

Insect Deterrent Synergistic Blend

4 drops Thyme essential oil
8 drops Lemongrass essential oil
4 drops Lavender essential oil
4 drops Peppermint essential oil

Dilute 2 drops of above blend per 2 teaspoons of oil or lotion and use the day before and while camping.
-From The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, by Valerie Ann Worwood

Read more about Nature Deficit Disorder in Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

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Posted under Family, GDM Kids, Tweens, Teens.