Camping With Children; Experience and What to Bring

Going camping with children is a fantastic way to take advantage of holidays with children to the fullest. If you have never gone camping, the first thing I want to tell you is that camping sites have many more services than you expect. In fact, to go with children is a wonder not only for the open space, but for the activities and sociability that they can experience.

Which campsite to choose?

We have been camping many more times, before the children were born, and we were not so worried about the camping choice. But with children we have had more things in mind when choosing camping:

• Have a supermarket

• Have several areas of toilets and showers

• Have a pool

• Have direct access to the beach

• That the plots are large and shaded

• That has children's areas

After deciding the campsite, you can start to plan the camping trip.

What to Take On A Camping?

This is like any type of trip, so you can go with the "basic" or with a thousand things. If this is your first time, you probably don't have these basics:

Tent - with inflatable mattresses, sleeping bag, pillows...

Camping gas: pan, lighter, cooking basics - oil, salt…

Chairs and dining table

You could really spend your first camping experience with the children with the basics. As we are already having materials, we have carried many things:

Shop cart with blankets / sleeping bags in addition to the sheets, winds, pickaxes, broom, light extension, bulb, flashlight ...

Fridge: a small one.

Camping gas with its furniture that is also a closet, including pans, oil, salt, sugar ... cutlery, glasses, dishes, scrub kit, wash kit (basin, lizard soap), etc.

Chairs and dining table

Clothesline and tweezers, insulating tape, scissors.

Box with food stuffs: pasta, rice, canned food boats like green beans, white beans, chickpeas...

We also take a hammock of these that are tied from tree to tree, but because of the characteristics of our plot we could not put it, say it occupies and it cost nothing to take it just in case.

In addition to all the above, a personal GPS tracking device is quite essential to keep track of the children with real-time location. We were recommended with GoFindMe GPS tracker which can set up a safe zone, and you will be alerted when the kids step out of the safe zone, handy and useful.

Daily Routine at the Camping

Usually, the tents are not very large inside, so you will spend the day outside, outdoors. And it is wonderful, and I say that I live in a rural area and with a garden; we have been camping a lot longer than a normal day, no matter how much you go out to the garden.

Well, we start with the routines, once the store is installed after the first day. I take this opportunity to tell you that the assembly of the tent does not cost too much time, and with the children it becomes better than we expected, because they immediately started looking for friends around and started playing, in addition to having a lot of interest in helping us and seeing what we were doing.

Breakfast

When we had a refrigerator, we had almost everything, including milk, fruit, cheese, ham, yogurts ... And for the children we heated the milk as before, in a saucepan. After breakfast it was time to pick up and go to the common sink area, and then prepare the day.

The advantage of this campsite is that it had direct access to the beach, others that we saw in the area did not have, had to leave the campsite, or even go by car. It is great with the children to have the beach so close. In this area they explained that the tides rise and fall, and there are also areas with colder or hotter water. On the beach you can imagine, play in the sand, on the shore, catch crabs...

Food

Our intention was to cook in the store for not going to restaurants or spending too much on the days we were at the campsite. The campsite has a restaurant but we did not use it. We only bought one day chicken last, and very good. The rest of the days we ate quite normal, like at home, do not think that camping is eating a snack every day:

• Green beans

• White beans

• Macaroni

• Rice

• Chickpeas

• Grilled meat and fish

• French Tortillas

• Meatballs (these were brought by grandma in boats to the bathroom that are marvelously preserved)

• Salad (we ended up buying salads of these that are already made, which at the top carry several cheese-like ingredients, sauces, croutons, etc.)

Yes, we went out to dinner one day that we used to eat more fish, or pizza, that we missed them.

When cooking with gas, the truth is that the water heats up right away (faster than in a vitro of apartments that we have been), and it cooks very fast. We found it more comfortable and easier than expected.

Tell stories at the campsite - Camping leisure

Children entertain themselves with a stick, you know that. Well, in the campsite they are surrounded by, it is wonderful. Do not forget to take a scooter, bike, or the means of transport that you like, because it will be a point to socialize with other children and move faster. In this campsite there were children's games scheduled every week (in high season there are always more things than the rest of the year), one afternoon there were storytellers , and another afternoon of children's magic, there was some music performance at night, and cinema Sundays at night. Come on, that without leaving the campsite between the animations and the children's areas, we were very comfortable. Also in this campsite they have a mountain area with animals that open two afternoons a week to be able to see them, and they are so used to people that they can take bread to give them, and children enjoy a lot.

Still we take things for the children to play on vacation: notebook, markers, mini-accounts, and some of their favorite toys.

Comanche store interior - Bedtime

At the end of August at 9pm it was already beginning to get dark, and yes there are lampposts in the campsites, but few, and at 00h many go out. So you have to keep the natural day schedule. We had a solar lantern, I think of Decathlon, and inside the store a light bulb connected to the light with a switch.

As soon as night falls, we have to pick up and sleep. Before bed, as in the morning we all went to the bathroom, and we were lucky that no night they woke up wanting to go to the bathroom and there was no need to go for a walk. We saw people with young children who had an urinal for emergencies.

In the areas of bathrooms there is light, and the peak hours of using toilets and showers are usually from 7pm. Even one day there was so much line for the shower that we prefer to return after dinner. In the shower area there are plugs to dry your hair and dressing room to dress after the shower.

Will We Go Camping For More Times?

Yes. As I told you we had already gone, but without children, alone or with friends, and we had not dared to go with children yet. And we just decided, and I got pregnant! So we have gone camping with children and pregnant, and hey, great.

The children thought that we would camp in a forest or something and when we arrived and saw what a campsite was (because we had been in bungalows but it is not the same), that there were children, lots of places, parks ... they were delighted! They have been left with very good memories. During the holidays we enjoy and also rest! We also disconnected a lot we were very comfortable in the car shop. In fact for the next time we will buy a closet to have more clothes on hand and I think that for material and comfort, we were not lacking anything.