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’ve always had the mindset that regardless of where you are in the world, there will always be testing times when looking after kids.  So, why not be somewhere amazing doing something that you enjoy?  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 are a first-time camper or have just purchased a tent for a trip you should make sure to have a test run of setting it up before camping with kids.

There’s nothing more stressful than arriving at a campsite and then struggling to put it together because you’re not familiar with it.  Then add in the pressure of kids thrown into the mix and it could make for a stressful situation.

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 could have been a pop-up-style tent. As that could be opened up in a matter of minutes as they have foldable poles which spring into shape.  However, our research on this type of tent found that sometimes brands prioritise the speed of set-up over the quality and durability tent.

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 find a flat area with no holes or gullies. Plus you should try to avoid going to a low-lying camping area. This might sound obvious, but, it’s no fun waking up to find your tent in the middle of a puddle after a night of heavy rain.  If your kids are on the move then you won’t want to set up camp near a body of water or steep drop-off. It’s always worth asking when you check in where the best spot for camping with kids is. As they will have the best knowledge of the area.

It’s also worth considering the type of camping you can manage with your kids.  Just because you may have been very adventurous before you had kids and perhaps loved to wild camp.  However, now that you have kids, choosing a spot with amenities, for your first trip, such as onsite toilets and showers could make a world of difference to how enjoyable your camping experience is.

It may not always be possible however picking a pitch that is away from other campers is a great idea. Especially if your little one is noisy during the night. Most people understand, however, it’s important to think about others and remember they might want a good night’s sleep. Without being disturbed by noisy kids during the day or in the middle of the night

Having enough shade can sometimes be a problem when camping with kids. So, we always try to find a camping spot that has some natural shade. We especially aim for a spot if there are some trees on site.  Tents can get very hot during the day in direct sunlight. So finding some shade from a gazebo or a tree is a must for summer camping.

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.

During the day it’s helpful to keep your tent well ventilated by opening the windows and doors to allow fresh air in.  Most tents have a mosquito net built into the tent. And it’s a great idea to keep this zipped up during the day to keep the space insect-free.  Bug bites are the last thing you need! As evening approaches it’s a good idea to zip up all the windows and doors to help contain any heat from the day and to make sure it stays dry overnight from any rain or dew.

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 pre-prepared meals such as cans of soup to heat up.  We have some quick meals that we cook at the campsite. 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 (any kind that your family likes). You could make your own soup or buy cans or packets from the shop. Heating up soup is super quick and easy, and 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 the most cooked food at our campsite, and probably most other campsites too. 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 super fancy Spanish paella kind of meal. Yet it’s a very quick and yummy meal that gives everyone their favourite item on one plate.
• Pack plenty of drinks of your choice and juice for kids to cool yourselves down. We take these cool little squash bottles where you only need a couple of drops to make a tasty drink.  Make sure you have plenty of water in addition to your other beverages.
• Chips and dips. Kids enjoy crisps as a snack and so do adults. It’s a great way to keep everyone happy while you cook over the campfire. 
• Grab and go fruit. Apples, bananas, oranges, and even grapes are perfect fruits to pack on camping trips. They don’t require any prep work and are super easy to store outside of an ice box
• Lots of snacks & protein bars. These are perfect for snacking on all day, and also for when you go off on adventures away from the campsite.  We’ve love having bags of nuts with us, as they’re great on energy and easy snacking. 

You can add anything you like to our list. These are just some of the simple food ideas we use on our camping adventures. You should make sure you have good coolers so your food is fresh and ziplock bags to store leftovers.  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 anywhere close to your tent or even inside of it, because it will attract wildlife.  And depending on where you are in the world, the wild animals could include bears. To be safe lock all of your food in your car, use provided bear boxes (if needed) or other campground recommended options.

8. Take plenty of toys

No matter the ago of you 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 good quality off-road stroller or pram is another great idea for a camping trip especially if you have a baby with you. However, if you’re planning an adventurous camping expedition amongst some more rugged terrain then a baby carrier would be the best option.

A large off road stroller might take up more space in your car boot which can be a pain when you’re packing all of the essentials for your trip.  However, Larger wheeled strollers tend to have air filled tyres which means they can be manoeuvred with ease over bumpy terrain or slopes.  We have an off-road one that we’ve loved and enjoyed using for both of our boys.  The great thing about a pram is that it can double up as a seat for you child when you need to put them somewhere safely, or even for nap times.

14. Staying for more than one night

If it is your first time camping with kids you might decide to stay for more just one night the first time.  However, many parents will probably find the first night with kids is more hard work as they adjust to their new surroundings.  Come the second night, things will get easier as you get into the rhythm of things.  On your next family camping trip you might then want to camp for longs. 

By then you’ll hopefully have figured out what works and what doesn’t in terms of being able to get a good night’s sleep.  And what outdoor activities you enjoy to make the most of your camping adventure.

Please, please, please, remember, that things tend to happen much slower on a camping trip with kids.  So its important to plan a few days away to really enjoy your time in the great outdoors.

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!