Camping With Kids – An Ultimate Guide & 15 Top Tips

Thinking about camping with kids?

We have taken both of our boys camping since they were babies.  Dylan was just 2 weeks old on his first camping trip. He was 4 months old we headed to Portugal to go tent camping for a month.  Being in the great outdoors and camping with kids is a fun way for the entire family to spend quality time together.   We know that your first time camping with babies or small children can seem quite daunting because there can be lots to think about and plan.  You might also be wondering if they’re going to sleep at all, be warm enough or even enjoy it.

We think that it doesn’t matter where you are there will always be challenging times when you’re looking after kids.  So, you might as well be in the great outdoors camping whilst dealing with a mini-meltdown than sat at home.  We love getting out into the great outdoors and disconnecting from day-to-day life. Because it’s so fulfilling to spend time together as a whole family.

We’ve had plenty of practice and now have lots of camping experience including going to festivals.  This has allowed us to figure out our kids’ camping essentials which we want to share with you.  As a result, we’ve got some great tips on camping with kids from a young age.  And, we’ve also put together a list of kids’ camping gear to get you started for your first family camping trip.

H2    15 Top Tips For Camping With Kids

1. Start off with one-night camping with kids and take it from there

For our first camping trip with our baby, we wanted to make sure that we were able to bail at any time if things weren’t going well.  So the first night we booked ourselves a pitch at a local campsite down the road from our house.  Some parents choose to do a practice run in their gardens before camping in a campsite with their kids which is another great way to practice camping. 

If you’ve not used your camping gear for a while then you’ll want to make sure that it’s all work before your proper outdoor adventure begins. You don’t want to be away for a week and suddenly realise you only have 3 tent pegs.  We once took an extra tent for a camping trip with some other families. And it wasn’t until we put it up and it rained that we realised it leaked!

2. Choosing the right tent for camping with kids

There are so many different tents to choose from for your whole family. It’ll be the first thing you buy for your family trip as you’ll want to get the right gear.  Getting the right one for you will make a big difference in the sort of camping experience you have.  From our point of view, a bigger tent is a great option as it gives you plenty of space for you all.  Especially as you’ll likely have lots of kids’ camping gear that will need to go somewhere.  Trust me, you soon build up a box of extra items that need somewhere to go.

If you’re a first-time camper or maybe have a new tent then we’d really recommend you practice pitching it before you go camping with your kids. It’ll be a lot easier to get to the campsite feeling comfortable about pitching it, because trust us, it’s a whole lot more stressful getting your camp sorted when you’ve also got to juggle looking after your kids. And if they’re anything like ours, you’ll be trying to stop them from stealing the tent pegs out of the ground as you set up!

When we did our month-long road trip in Portugal with both our baby and toddler, we had to make sure that Carl could put the tent up on his own.  Just in case I was busy entertaining both boys and couldn’t help.  So, whilst we wanted to have plenty of room we also didn’t want one that was so large that he couldn’t pitch it on his own.  

Another option would have been a pop-up type of tent. These can be great as you open the bag, take them out and they simply pop up into shape without the need to put the poles together. However, these aren’t always the strongest of tents if you’re planning in exploring more exposed areas, such as beaches where the wind can build up and blow them around.

3. Finding the right campsite for camping with kids

There are lots of different camping experiences to try, and there might be a type of campsite that you prefer.  We tend to mix up our camping experiences. For instance, we love to wild camp in national parks as it gets you to more off-grid places. And as it’s free means that you can save money if you’re on longer trips.  We also love to go to small serviced campsites too. Especially independent ones which might be on a farm or something similar.  In Biarritz, we went to a huge campsite with lots of attractions. It had its own skate park, water park, and massive selection of places to eat, drink and be entertained.  Which we also enjoyed a lot!

Before you go on your first camping trip and once you’ve decided what type of camping you’d like to do, you’ll want to find the right campsite for you.  Depending on the time of year and where you are going, you’ll probably want to book in advance.  To choose which campsite works best for you, there are a few things you should consider.  For instance, do you want a serviced pitch, with electricity and water, or not? Through to things such as if they have a swimming pool, play area, a cafe or a shop.  To make things easier, we always decide where we want to go and then what we’d like on a campsite before starting our search.

There are some great websites that you can use to find a great place to stay:

UK – pitch.com

United States – reserveamerica.com

Europe – camping.info

Australia – campstay.com

4. Choosing the right camp spot when camping with kids

When you pick your camping spot you should pick an area that’s flat and try not to go to a low-lying section of the campsite. That’s because after a night of heavy rain you don’t want to wake up at the bottom of a slope sleeping in a mini puddle.  If your kids are old enough to walk around and get into mischief, then you won’t really want camp near water, like a lake or pond, or near a cliff style drop-off. It’s worth asking when you check in as they’ll know where the best spot for camping with kids is.

It’s also worth considering the style of camping you want to enjoy with your kids.  Just because you may have gone wild camping lots before you had kids, doesn’t mean that you’ll want your first trip to be a wild camping trip with kids. Now that you have kids, choosing a campsite with facilities such as toilets and showers can help make your camping adventure a lot more enjoyable!

It’s not always easy to pick a pitch that is away from other campers. However, it’s a nice idea to especially if your kids are noisy and might wake up crying in the night. Most campers understand, however, it’s thoughtful to think about them and consider that they might want a good night’s sleep.

Having enough shade can be a challenge when you’re camping with kids. So, we always try to find a camping spot that has some natural shade. We especially look for a pitch near or under some trees.  During the day your tent can get very warm in direct sunlight so having shade from a gazebo or a tree definitely helps.

5. Setting up camp when camping with kids

The type of camping set-up you have will depend on your style of camping and where you’re going to be camping.  We’ve seen some people bring a full-on camping set-up including a kitchen gazebo, central living room and even a dressing-room tent (that last one was at a festival!).  We like to take what we call a camp-lite approach. Because we love to road trip a lot, which means we only take the bare minimum in ou car.  Our mantra is less to pack and unpack. For instance, rather than take a table and chairs with us, we tend to use the picnic table on-site to eat at.

In the daytime we’d suggest that you keep your tent ventilation panels in the windows and doors open. You should have a good quality mosquito net as part of the windows and doorways and it’s a great plan to keep them zipped up so that the inside of the tent remains insect-free. At the end of the day we always zip up our windows and doors as this helps to keep the inside dry and stop little one from escaping in the morning if they wake up before you do (which has happened to us!).

6. How to protect your kids from bug bites

Depending on where you are staying you might want to consider packing some sort of bug spray or insect repellent.  We’ve discovered some great ones are specially formulated with kids in mind.  We know all about this because Cameron always gets so badly bitten by mosquitos.  We now have a pop-up mosquito net where we safely put him at night to escape them wherever we are if there are some.  

You might want to keep some after-bite cream in your kids’ first aid kit. That way you have it on hand should they get bug bites. 

7. Meal times when camping with kids

Part of the fun of camping is the cooking. We usually take a combination of food to cook and food that’s already cooked such as cans of soup to heat up.  We have a few easy meals that we regularly cook when we’re camping. To help inspire you we’ve made a list, so here’s our quick camping menu: 

• Pasta, sauce and cheese. Our kids love pasta and it’s so simple and quick to make.  You can take a packet of sauce and then add it to the cooked pasta.  We usually throw in some extra veg.  And of course, top it off with lots of cheese!
• Soup (the one your family likes). You can buy cans, could make your own or get packet mix from the shop. Heating soup is super quick and very easy. We love to enjoy it with some fresh bread!
• S’mores and more s’mores! Ummmm, not exactly a meal, but we had to include them, and lots of marshallows!
• Hot dogs or burgers on the campfire. Burgers are one of the most popular meals to cook. Especially if you’re staying at a campsite that offers local burgers and sausages – just don’t forget the cheese and ketchup!
• Sauteed veggies, chicken, chorizo and rice – like a paella. This ends up looking like a very fancy Spanish paella kind of meal. Yet it’s a very easy, quick and tasty meal.
• Pack plenty of drinks for you and the kids, like cartoon juices, especially if it’s hot. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water if it’s hot!
• Crisps (chips) and dips. All kids love crisps/chips as a snack and so do us adults too. They’re a good way to keep everyone happy while you cook, because our meals always take way longer than we expected them to!
• Lots of fruit. Apples, oranges, bananas and also grapes are perfect fruits are great. They’re easy to store and don’t need any prepping – our kids both love grapes!
• Lots of snacks. We love having bags of nuts with us, as they’re great on energy and easy to snack on. You could also have muesli bars and that sort of tasty thing at hand.

Loads of other meals and snacks can be added to this list, it’s just a way to help you get your meal planning started! The main thing is to make sure that you’ve got a great fridge or cooler to keep things fresh. Some campsites have an ice pack exchange system or on-site fridges which help you to keep your food cool and stored safely.

Top tip: Don’t leave food near or in your tent, because the local wildlife will try to find it!  And depending on where you are in the world you are camping, the wild animals could include bears. We’d suggest locking your food away, either in your car or a box.

8. Take plenty of toys

No matter the age of your kids you’ll need to have ways to keep them busy during your time camping.  We have a small bag of toys, called his “holiday bag” where we keep some favourite toys that are great for camping.  I sometimes go through it and rotate toys out of it, however, its a great bag to have ready full of fun things to play with.  We have a few little board games in there, some toy cars and some card games.  We like to keep it simple as we tend to focus in on games that involve the natural world and mother nature such getting sticks and building things with them.  Building stone towers, that sort of best thing that can be so much fun.

9. Plan fun things to do and outdoor activities

If you’re going camping then it’s high likely that you love outdoor activities, and if you’re anything like us, having kids is a great excuse to do lots of fun things when you go camping.  We have an inflatable kayak and paddle boards that we like to take with us if there’s water nearby.  We also have fun activity equipment like a kite, a kids bow and arrow, that sort of thing that means they have a great time.  We’ll often bring along water guns, and if we’re near a river, have a water fight, well why not – it’s a great way to cool off if you’re getting hot!

In the evening we love to get our fire pit out, and toast marshmallows to make s’mores – yummy!  If there’s been a group of kids then we’ll hand out some glow sticks as they are great items for night time fun and dancing!

You’ll find that older kids are more likely to head off and make their own fun and naturally have a good time without as much structure as younger ones.

10. How to keep warm when camping with kids

Good quality sleeping bags are a must when you’re camping with kids.  Nothing ruins a camping trip more than when someone can’t sleep because they’re cold.  You’ll want to research the best sleeping bags for your camping trip, for instance one that you’ll want for warm weather camping will be different to one for winter camping.  Our boys both wear ones that have individual legs so that they can run about in the evening with their sleep bags on before tucking them in for bed.  

Layering clothes also really helps to keep kids warm, and so does a good base for them to sleep on, our use airbeds which are great for them.  For us, the main thing to remember is that it’s all about the layers and potentially extra blankets.

11. Be prepared for routines to change

We’ve never really had a sleep routine, as we travel so much we’ve kept life very flexible.  Which has definitely helped for us and our lifestyle.  The one thing for us that remains consistent is that we always have white noise sound machines for each boy with us.  This helps to block out any strange or unusual noises when we’re trying to get either of our boys to sleep in a new environment. 

We’ve been camping with our friends who had a more structured routine for their kids.  During our camping trip they tried to keep to their normal routine as it helps their kids to sleep.  However, the excitement of camping meant their kids wouldn’t go to sleep so easily.  In the end they just decided to go with the flow and a later bedtime which worked.  Routines are great, however, being prepared for things to change will help you have a great experience. 

You should also expect your kids to come back covered in a little dirt – it’s hard to keep them perfectly clean in the outdoors.

12. Bring a baby or child carrier when camping with kids

Little kids get tired easily, and sometimes it’s easier to be able to scoop them up and have them with you.

We’re big on baby wearing and use our carrier, even at home, multiple times a day.  It helps at times when you need to give some cuddles to your baby and also be hands free.  Being able to use the carrier meant I could help Carl with putting our tent up when he needed it.   We also like to head out and go exploring when we camp, and often outside of the campsite the terrain isn’t always suitable for a pram. 

For Cameron our eldest, we use a solid backpack carrier as this is more comfortable for us to wear as he’s now a bit heavier. 

13. Bring a stroller or pram when camping with kids

A great quality off-road pram is another great idea for a camping trip with a baby. However, if your plans include hiking or heading somewhere off the beaten path then a a baby carrier is a much better option. We tend to have both on hand just in case we have a change of plans!

We have an off-road one that we’ve loved and used for both of our boys.  It’s great as the bassinet part is sleep safe and was where Dylan slept during camping trips up until he was 5 months old and too big for it.  The great thing about a pram is that it can double up as a seat for you baby when you need to put them somewhere safely. And you can also pop in stuff into the bottom of it if you’re moving around, perfect for summers at festivals!

14. Staying for two or more nights

If you’re planning your first camping adventure with kids you might think that staying just one night is easier.  However, the first night can be the hardest, as you figure out a new “camping routine” with your kids as they get used to camping.  Come the second night, it gets a lot easier as you get into the rhythm of things.  On your next family camping trip you might then want to camp for longer. 

Things will unlikely be the same as they are at home. For example, the usual bedtime will go out of the window, they might not sleep properly because of the different noises or maybe they get cold. Once you figure these things out, then camping becomes a lot easier, and so the second and third night become more fun all round.

15. Essential camping with kids checklist

As well as the usual things that you’d pack like clothes there are some extra essentials that we’d highly recommend adding to your kids checklist:

• Somewhere for them to sleep that’s age appropriate, you can take cots camping!
• Fully stocked first aid kit
• Suitable sleeping bags that fit them
• Sun hat
• Sun shade
• Mosquito net
• Insect repellent
• Water bottles
• Camp chair 
• Backpack carrier or baby carrier
• Steriliser tablets if you’re camping with a baby
• Toys such as board games and card games
• Water guns (wanted to sneak them onto your list!)
• Extra blankets
• Empty pillow case for dirty laundry

Final Thoughts On Camping With Kids

If you’re planning your first family camping trip we hope that we’ve been able to you to have some great camping experiences.  There’s nothing quite like getting into the great outdoors with your whole family. The most important thing is to have as much fun as possible because then your kids will look forward to their next camping trip.  We love camping with our kids, and hope that you do too!