10 things to Pack when Camping with children!
Ten things we take when camping with the children, this is our list of essentials we take on each camping adventure with the children!
- First Aid Kit
Yes it sounds obvious, but remembering your first aid kit and ensuring it is well stocked with plasters, bite relief cream and even things like calpol sachets can make the difference between a good camping trip and having to trek to a 24hour chemist in the middle of the night..believe me we’ve been there!
2. A Microfleece blanket
If you’re camping in the UK and the kids get drenched in the rain, a microfleece blanket is your best friend! It will dry them, warm them up, and best of all it will dry quickly! It may not be very technical (it really isn’t) but it’s a cheap and easy solution instead of cold soggy towels everywhere when it’s seriously wet outside the tent.
3. Laundry Kit
A tube of travel wash and a washing line will keep you prepared for when the chocolate ice cream ends up over their favourite tee! And whether you want to dry out swim stuff, or the soggy towels (see point 2!) a washing line in your laundry kit is worth remembering even if you don’t end up using the travel wash!
4. Entertainment
When it’s raining outside and you’re stuck in the tent, the children will get bored unless you plan carefully! So, pack a family board game or two and colouring books – not forgetting the colouring pencils! Yes, screen time is great too, but getting back to basics can be very rewarding for all the family! Charity shops are great for stocking up on board games, everyone seems to clear them out over the summer months!
5. Flip Flops or crocs..
Wear them in the showers, no fear of slipping! They double up as beach or pool shoes too.. so they’re more practical than slippers!
6. Torches
Give each child their own torch, it makes them feel a bit braver when it’s dark, and makes something which they might find a bit scary fun instead! We tried head torches when the boys were small, but have found lego key ring torches are more popular now the boys are a little bigger.
7. Snacks!
Take plenty of snacks, we like to have little plastic snack boxes and we decant snacks from bigger packs into the boxes each day – it’s amazing how hungry fresh air makes everyone! Taking our own snacks saves money and (usually!) avoids the grumpy mood swings our children suffer with when they’re ravenous!
8. Books..
My children still love a story at bedtime, so don’t forget to pack a book or two to read at bedtime! You might be out of routine, they might be staying up late, but sitting down to read the bedtime story might make the difference between you getting a quiet hour before you go to bed, bit of familiarity in their routine can help settle them come bedtime!
9. Portable Loo..
I really didn’t agree with our purchase of a portable loo, but when we were faced with being at the furthest point away from the campsite loos and hear the whimper “I need a wee!” at 3am I was delighted that we had made the decision to take our own loo! We did tell the children firmly that it was only for emergency use, and I think they only used it a couple of times over the 10 days we were camping, but it was well worth the investment!
10. A parasol
We all think of camping tables and chairs, wet weather gear and even sun cream but creating shade is rarely something which we think of as necessary to pack in our camping kit! A parasol has come with us on our last few camping trips and has been invaluable, providing shade while we ate at our table, and shade for the children to play or read under. It doesn’t take up much space and so if the weather isn’t great it just stays in the boot of the car!
So.. those are our 10 top things to take camping with children, what would you add?
