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The beginners guide to family camping

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The Beginners Guide to family camping

Family camping is one of the best ways to spend time together as a family if you ask us. Its quality time where everyone is outside and WiFi is scarce, making it easier for all of us screen addicts (*raises hand and admitting that this is me) to be in the present. Its the perfect way to look each other in the eyes and connect.

I have been camping since I was five weeks, and our kids have all been spending all of their naps outside during the day (everyday without fail – this is a Danish thing), and we have been camping with them before they have been 6 months.

We are both scouts and have been hiking and camping for the past 25 years. While this gives us a lot of experience with tent camping in general, there were some things we had to relearn when we became parents 9 years ago. Through trail and error, and lots of trips over the years, we have jet to face a challenge that is to great to handle when we go camping.

What is family camping

Family camping is an outdoor activity, where you make a temporary camp and a shelter outdoors. You can go camping with an RV or with a tent. There are lots of different gear that you can buy to make camping even more comfortable for you. Family camping is the same as camping, only done together as a family. Here at One Mighty Family, we always talk about family camping even when its just written as camping.

Family camping is not for everyone, and some of the things that people often note about camping is that it is dirty – dirt gets in everywhere. It can be miserable if its raining all the time. Its lots of work, and it can be smelly – think kids and adults sitting around the fire and may or may not have access to a shower.

Okay – that is all true. But here is the thing – if that bothers you to much, it is probably not for you. If you like just being together, and you believe that kids can be washed and you believe that it has value to sit together in the rain and just spend time together, you will LOVE camping.

How to get started with family camping

Now I don’t want to be smart, but I saw this picture the other day said “go outside and stay there until morning”. It can be as simple as that 🙂

Of course, its not as simple as that. You want to know where your shelter will be, and how everyone will sleep. If you have NEVER been family camping before, go easy on yourself. Stay in the backyard. Consider renting an RV and stay the night in a local campground that has toilets and showers. Keep it light and keep your ambitions low. There is no need to go with camping with all of the best equipment on the very first trip.

When you have been on your first trip and you are ready for more, you might want to consider investing in some equipment. You can find our guide to finding our family tent here, you can find a guide to different family tents here. You can find our guide on what to look for in a sleeping bag here, and what to look for in a sleep pad here. We have a full guide on where to find plus size outdoor clothes here, and a guide on what we always bring when we go camping here.

You will need to consider the season of when you go camping. You can find our full guide for winter camping here, and our guide to layers here.

You also need to consider food, bring some simple snacks, but lots of them, and have some simple meals that are easy to prepare. Maybe some activities to ensure that everyone is having a good time. Think of your favorite game to play as a family, and then bring that with you.

Tips for Success with family camping

If you want to go camping, just do it. Make it happen. While you can just wing it, I suggest that you do a little research before you head out.

  • Look for a campground with toilets and showers, and maybe even a playground and other activities for the kids.
  • Don’t plan for to long. The first time you go should not be a 2 week vacation. Go easy on yourself and test if this is a way you like to spend time together.
  • Prepare all meals. If you do not want one of the adults to do food all day, everyday, you should think about ways to prepare some food, or at least keep meals light.
  • Bring enough clothes. There will be puddles that needs a good jumping session, and dirt that will be all over the place. An extra set of clothes will come in handy.
  • Make sure everyone sleeps well.

All in all, if this is the first time you go family camping you might want to consider some of the same things that we suggest for camping with toddlers.

 

Common Questions About Family Camping

  • What do you need for family camping

  • Whats the best family camping tent

  • Can you go family camping without a car

    • There are a lot of pretty campgrounds that you can access with either bikes, or going by train and bus. You need to be willing to carry the equipment, and maybe even invest in a wagon of some sort, but it is completely doable. Research where you want to go is the most important thing I would say.

  • How to pack for family camping

    • As light as possible, but make sure you bring everything so that you are prepared. How is that for vague 🙂 Lets just say that it depends on the seasons. We have a guide on what to think about when using layers to keep  you warm.

  • What to eat when you go family camping

  • How to plan for a family camping trip

    • To plan a family camping trip you need to go through your trip mentally. How many days will you be gone, how many meals do you eat or day, and how will you sleep. Those are just a few of the questions that will help you prepare everything for a family camping trip.

The Last Thing You Need to Know about Family Camping

Family camping is a blessing. I love sitting by the campfire no just do nothing but listen to the kids talking about their day.

Family camping can also be a very social activity. Depending on the type of camp ground you choose, you will meet lots of people that all love the great outdoors, just like you!

Have you been camping with your family jet?? comment below with your best tips for family camping! I can’t wait to hear from you!

until next time

Malene.

The best tips for winter camping

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When winter camping with kids there are many things I always worry about. Are they warm enough, will there be enough for them to do – you know – worried mom things. But at the same time I love being outside together as a family, and as the weather turns cooler there are still experiences I want my kids to have, and I wish for you to have as well.

There are a few things that have been good to keep in mind every time we go winter camping with our kids. Here are our best tips.

A grown up and a child in winterclothes with snow all around them, happy together outside

You might also like: Tips for camping with toddlers

Tips for winter camping

Position your winter camp in the right spot.

Its important where you place your tent/camper on a site. Have a walk around the site before you chose where to set up. Wind can make a huge difference in how warm you feel when you go winter camping. If there is a shaded spot behind some trees or bushes, choose that over a great view over an open lake where the wind can run free.

Have enough warm clothes

One of the things we always prioritize is proper winter clothes that can withstand water and cold for longer periods of time. That is the outer layers though, and when we go camping we always bring enough dry clothes so that we can change if it gets wet. One of the things you can consider is chosing wool clothes. Wool keeps warm even when its wet, and therefore we love it for winter camping.

Always sleep warm.

This goes for any camping trip, but in winter its especially important. Consider bringing some of the clothes you would use for base layers, the layer closest to your body when you dress in layers. You can read all about layers here. I always bring warm socks for sleeping and a hat can be a good thing as well.

You will need a great sleeping bag as well. There are quite a few things to think about when you invest in a sleeping bag. You can read all of our considerations here.

You will need a great sleeping pad as well. If you are not protected from the cold of the ground it is imposible to keep warm during winter. You need to think about the size, weight, and type of sleeping pad you want to bring. You can read all of our considerations for buying a sleeping pad here.

Exercise.

Getting into bed warm is just as important as staying warm once you get there. Consider doing some light exercises before bed. I love yoga and I think this little practice from Yoga with Adrienne is perfect. Keep it light, you are going for a little heat but not to get wet from sweat.

Have a snack

Snack on something high fat/protin before you tuck in. When the body has something to burn of it works for you during the night at will help keep you warm.

Buy small heaters

These “hot hands super warmers” are genius and it almost feels like cheating. We bring these to place inside gloves or anywhere that is cold. Its a great way to heat up almost instantly.

Consider a tent stove.

If you are luck enough to have a camping tent that can use a camp oven, you could consider investing in one. We like this fronter stove from Aneway, but there are many others out there.

Have you been winter camping? If not, what is holding you back? If you have, what would be your best tip? We are always eager to learn more.

Until next time

Malene.

You might also like:

Read all of our posts about the outdoors

tent overlooking mountains covered in snow - winter tent camping hiker walking though a mountainpass with snow covered sides

10 things we always bring camping

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Having a list of 1o things we always bring camping makes it so much easier to get out the door, and actually go on a trip. Let me explain. Everytime we need to get out the door and go ANYWHERE it takes us two hours to get ready. This includes everything for everyone. Showers, getting dressed eating breakfast – everything.  If you then add to that, that we need to reinvent the wheel and think up a list of things we need to bring, two things can happen. Either we don’t go, this was the most likely option for years, or we forget something. After we made our permanant list of things we always bring camping, we are so much more likely to actually get going.

We find it easier to get out the door and away once we have established what it is we really need when we go camping. While your list might be a little different, these are some of the things that are good to think about when you go camping.

These are some of the things that we always bring camping You can also check out this list to see some of the not so common things that we like to bring if we have the extra space. You can read all about those things here.
A picture with a tent and a car, with an overlay of text reading "things we always bring camping"

10 things we always bring camping

A tent

Getting a tent that fits our family is one of the best investments we have done. While we camped in this Coleman tent for many years, with to rooms and lots of room, we recently bought a new tent, you can read all about that here, and we really love our family tipi. That is one of the best investments we have done into our camping trips.

Beds

Now while a trip in a tent is not the same as a good comfortable bed, we have invested in gear that make our camp beds come quite close to our beds at home. I really dont like it when everyone is grumpy because of bad sleep, and I love that we now have better equipment for everyone. For the adults we have older versions of this, Exped SynMat XP 7 – Large wide. It doesn’t get much better than that – and complete luxury with the extra length and width. For the kids we have self-inflating term-a-rest sleep pads. They work just fine for the kids, if they want bigger mats at a later date we will have to look into that. You can read our guide about what to look for in a sleep pad here.

Sleeping bags.

I might as well tell it like it is, I hate being cold! – and Im one of those cold sleepers making me wanting a winter sleeping bag even in summer. Jens and the kids are warm sleepers so they dont need as warm sleeping bags during the summer. This is something you have to think about when you get a sleeping bag for yourself. Another thing I hate the feeling of being to tight inside my sleeping bag. This can be solved by an elastic sleeping bag or an added bag expander.

Kitchen equipment

We always bring something to cook on and things to prepare food. While you can rely on making a fire and cooking that way (if its allowed at the campsite of your choice, always check with local authorities), we like a smaller gas powered stove. We always bring our trangia. That is a quick and easy way to heat something. If we are away for a longer time, and we are not hiking there, we like to bring our dutch oven as well.

Ax and knife

We love a good campfire (Again – always check the local requirements for fire!) and that is just so much easier with a small ax and a good knife. Now we bring an ax and knives to a campsite, with kids, and to us it is just as important that the kids learn to be around knives, just like we have shown them how to build a fire from scratch. You want to be mindful about bringing these tools, and teaching your kids to be around them if you do.

Light

We always bring plenty of light. We want our kids to enjoy the vastness and the darkness only found in the great outdoors. But at the same time, in winter in Denmark we have very short days, and not bringing light would make everything unnecessary hard.  We do like to have enough light.

Clothes for everyone

We like to keep the clothes in big bags, inside a backpack. I always try to pack clothes for each day in a zip-lock bag, so that the kids just have to find a bag and change the clothes that is in there.

Matches, lighter or fire starter

However you want to start your fire, you need something to help you get that first fire going. Our cooking equipment requires a flame of some sort, and its no fun to leave home without it.

Table and chairs

We only bring table and chairs when we drive all the way to the campsite. There are some lightweight options that you can hike with, but with a family of 6 its just to much. If we are going on a longer hiking trip we just bring a blanket that will fit all of us.

Activities/games

We never go on a trip without at least a deck of cards. You can bet on that being bitter experience and having to spend a weekend trapped inside a tent in the rain, without anything to entertain. Luckily this was when we were young scouts and not with kids, but still, I’m betting that would be worse! Anyway, some games or activities are great when you are out on a trip and just have family time.

That is 10 things that we always bring – what do you have on your list? What would you always bring? Let us know!

Until next time

Malene.

You might also like:

Read all of our posts about the outdoors

 

11 things to bring camping that you didn’t think off

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Trying to figure out what things to bring camping? Somethings are nice to have when you go camping and somethings you need. Camping with kids, especially many kids, there are even more things that you need that  you didn’t need, when it was just you and the open road.

Now you need your personal items, clothes, sleepingbag, sleeping mat, tent and all that. If you have a toddler there are somethings that are amazing. But then there are things that you need to bring that you might not have thought of.

11 things to bring camping that you didn’t think off

Duck tape

Duck tape is a fix all, hold all type of thing that you absolutely need to bring. It can make a quick repair to most things while you are away. We always bring duck tape!

Zip ties

Zip ties have saved us more than once. A zipper that broke, something that you need to hang somewhere, something you need to hold together.. Zip ties are so versatile.

First aid kit

Accidents happen, but its so much more manageable when you are prepared for them. A good first aid kit is needed when you are camping

String – for a clothes line

Lets face it. Sometimes kids have the best ideas, and sometimes those ideas create work for the parents. Often during a camping trip we find ourselves in need of more clothes line, to try of clothes. Or in need of rope for something else – its just good to bring.

Baby wipes

Even if you no longer have a baby that need baby wipes, these are awesome. Please think about what kind you bring into nature though, some are better for the invironment than others. These from Jackson Reese are 100% biodegradeble – score when you are out and about!

In camp shoes – like crocks

With 6 people in the tent when we go camping we insist that the tent is a shoe free area. That is easier to keep for everyone if we have easy to wear in camp shoes. That can be something like these crocs or

Aloe vera spray

Sometimes you burn  yourself a little, or you run into something that stings or something 3rd and equally anoying. Its just good to bring a shoothing spray like the aloe vera spray

Bug spray

You want to be able to repell the bugs. Weather that be with bugspray or those clip-on bug-repellant things, that it up to you, but bring something to keep bugs at bay.

Wash-basin

You will need to have a washing station. We have a fold-able wash basin, but it doesn’t need to be fold-able. Just a place where you can wash up when needed.

Ax

We love a good campfire and would not go on a trip without a small axe like this one.

Small shovel

We never go camping without a small fold-able shovel. Remember to check the restrictions on the campsite to see if digging is allowed.

What do you bring on a camping trip that others should know about?

Until next time

XO Malene.

Tips for camping with toddlers

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You love the great outdoors, but now that you have a toddler that’s put on hold right? I don’t think so. Camping with toddlers is doable, but bringing your toddler on a camping trip does require a bit more planning than just going with adults or even with older kids.

collage of toddlers going outdoors with a caption of

We are a family of 6, our kids being 8, 6, 2 and 5 months, that love the great outdoors. We have plenty of experince camping with a toddler. While many toddlers are easy to please and get excited about new things, there are some things that you can do to make sure your camping trip with a toddler is a success.

Practice camping with your toddler

First off your toddler doesn’t know what it means to go camping. If at all possible practice going camping in the backyard. It can be as simple as just putting up a tent, and hanging out there for a few hours. You can read our thoughts on buying a tent here. That way your toddler will see what it’s like to be in the great outdoors and you will get a sense of what is needed to entertain them.

It might seem like a lot of work to put up a tent to just sit out there and talk about camping but this will help them prepare them for your trip. You can talk about where everyone will sleep what you were doing all night and how they will sleep maybe even bring out a sleeping bag so they can have a nap.

Ensure good sleep

Speaking of sleeping bags- you want to make sure that your toddler can sleep in a sleeping bag. Sleeping in a sleeping bag is actually quite different to sleeping with a cover. Your legs are not free to stretch like your used to, and some kids are great at worming their way out the top of the sleeping bag.

If sleeping in a sleeping bag is not a good thing for your toddler you will be better off investing in a sleeping cot. We have one, this one from Deryan, and it’s been fantastic in every way. I love that you can zip it up all the way and our little one stays nice and warm, and easy to reach.

Now daytime naps is a different story. Depending on the weather you might not want your toddler to nap inside the tent. The deryan is still a good choise to bring outside. For naptime while out exploring we have the chariot CX2 or we simply go from a-b in the car during nap time and they sleep there. The important thing is to try and stay relaxed about Naptime changing a bit while you are out. As long as you toddler is not grumpy- try to go with the flow on this and add an extra nap if needed!

Warm clothes for sleeping

One of the worst things about being outdoors is getting cold. I hate it! And in turn I hate it when my kids are cold. Getting cold at night is the worst because getting warm again is so hard. There is no sun and keeping a campfire going through the night can be hard as well. So you want to make sure that you bring enough warm clothes for sleeping. I love wool clothes for my kids, because that’s a great warmth for the kids, and I make them sleep with socks as well. You want to make sure you adjust the clothes for the climate you are in and you know your child. If your child is a warm sleeper you want to adjust to that.

 

changing station

Changing diapers in the great outdoors is not always a good experience. As with everything else in our family I try and respect my child when they need a diaper change. That means making sure they are not exposed to the elements, I try and shelter them as best I can. If at all possible I set up a changing station inside the tent. I have a soft waterproof mattress and plenty of wetwipes.

 

Backpack with toys

While there are plenty of things to play with in nature, we always try to bring some toys that are recognizable. One small backpack that our toddler can carry himself. We have this Fjallraven Campus Ace 6L Backpack. It also serves as a great trainer of times to come, our older kids now carry a little more of their own equipment, and they will carry more as time goes, and they grow.

You might consider packing a few books. Here are some of our favorites about camping.

Bring more clothes – seriously MORE

Toddlers are adventures by hart, and while they explore they will get, wet, dirty and cold. A fresh set of clothes will be needed ALL THE TIME. While you are camping washing might not be an option, so bringing alot of clean clothes is a great idea. That and lowering your standards of what clean is 🙂

Lower your ambitions

Now while a great camping trip out into the middle of nowhere is what you dream of, that might not be the best place to start. Start small, close to home or at least a place you are familiar with, bring easy to make food, something that you know your toddler will eat, just go for a night or two, and try to not to have to many plans.

Scout your destination

Make sure that you know where you are going, and what the facilities are there. If possible, drop by to check it out. That way you are prepared to talk to your toddler about what to expect, what games you will be able to play, and it will be easier (easier, not easy :-)) to establish some rules.

What is your best experience about going camping with a toddler??

Comment below – i would love to hear all about it.

 

Until next time,

Malene.

 

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Tips for camping with toddlers - Camping can be made a better experience if you are prepared - here are some camping hacks for camping with toddlers. #toddlers #camping #campinghacks

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