Setting up a campsite can be a delightful part of camping. It can also be the most miserable time. What makes the difference in starting a camp? Part of the equation has the right tools and equipment. The other part has cooperative kids. If your children are pulling at you, whining, or running wild about the woods, making camp can become a nightmare.
As a parent, you should want your children to be excited about the campsite you have selected. If they are not bouncing with energy and anticipation, you’ve probably failed at finding a great spot. On the other hand, you need the children to cooperate with you in setting up your camp. How will you manage to accomplish both goals? You will do so by following the advice we are about to give you.
Tips for Setting Up a Campsite for Family and Kids
When you first arrive at your campsite, the kids are going to be excited and full of stored-up energy. This combination can make for some tedious times when making camp.
How do you tell a twelve-year-old boy he can’t wet a line in the lake until camp is made? How will he and the other members of your family help you set up a campsite? Let’s see them below:
How to Cope with the Excitement
Can you expect a five-year-old girl to put aside her fascination with the dozen cute, cuddly, pet bunnies that inhabit the campground long enough for you to erect a tent and stock it with camping supplies?
It is hard enough for adults to throttle their excitement with a new place long enough to make camp; for children, it’s even more challenging.
As a parent, you should want your children to be excited about the campsite you have selected. If they are not bouncing with energy and anticipation, you’ve probably failed at finding a great spot.
On the other hand, you need the children to cooperate with you in setting up your camp. How will you manage to accomplish both goals? You will do so by following the advice we are about to give you.
Organizing the Campsite Setup Ideas
All campers have a certain amount of work that must be done before their camp is established. Cabin campers don’t have as much to do as tenters. But the car still has to be unloaded, and items have to be stored in the cabin.
If you are planning the campsite set-up ideas, then you should assign people to good works. Campers with motorhomes have the least responsibility for establishing their camp. They park the land yacht, level it up, and off they go.
Travel trailers are similar to motorhomes at their convenience. The trailer is parked and leveled, and then it is time to play.
Pop-up campers have to park their trailer, level it, and unfold it. Then there is the transfer of gear from the car to the trailer and the stowing of goods that were transported to the floor of the trailer.
This is certainly more work than is required with the other types of camping we have just talked about, but nothing to compare with what tent campers have to contend with.
Tent campers have their work cut out for them. They must unload the car, find a suitable spot for their tent. Also, they should erect the tent (which isn’t always easy), load the tent with their stuff.
Tent campers have few more duties: make cooking facilities, and so on. Tenters will benefit most from this chapter, but every camper will save precious time in establishing camp by using the following tips.
Backpacker: Most of the grown members of the campsite will have their long backpack filled with items. Let them organize their backpack and then unload it properly. Assign organizing these items to them.
Arriving Early for Starting Family Camping
Arriving early in the day is one of the best ways to take the edge off of setting up camp. If you get to your campsite early, you can let the kids explore the area for a while before making camp.
This gives you a chance to stretch out muscles that may be sore from driving. During this time, your children will burn off their pent-up energy.
After the kids have had an hour or so to roam around, you can call in the troops to begin making camp. This short recess between traveling and setting up camp can make all the difference in the world.
As a word of caution, don’t put off making camp for too long. Procrastination can lead to a dampening experience if the weather changes quickly. Also, if you allow the break between driving and making camp to run on too long, neither you nor the kids may be in the mood for getting to the work at hand.
Suppose the fun lasts for more than an hour or so. It can be difficult to get it stopped long enough to make camp during daylight hours. And, if you think setting up a camp is no fun under normal conditions, you certainly won’t want to tackle the chore after dark.
Assigning Duties to the Camping Members
Assigning duties to your children is one way to get them involved in the set-up aspect of camping. Some children will not want to take an active part in the set-up phase. But many will relish the opportunity to help Mom and Dad make camp.
There are times, however, when the help from a child makes the job much longer, so allow for this delay when you are planning the amount of time needed to get situated.
Most children will be glad to help in setting up their camp. They will derive pleasure and pride from the job. Whether it is driving tent stakes in the ground, collecting firewood, or rolling out the awning on the RV, kids love to accomplish goals that they feel proud of. It is up to you to make the duty both a desirable deed and an activity that the child will be praised for and proud of. How will you accomplish this? Well, let us show you.
Establishing the Campsite
Establishing camp with the help of your children can be a lot of fun. If you make something of a game out of the chore, kids will love making camp. The process of setting up a campsite can really be a very exciting job, especially the tent setting process.
The best tips for setting up a campsite properly with families is letting the kids know their job and let them enjoy it.
How to Set Up a Tent Easily
Setting up a tent is probably the most difficult thing you have to do when making camp with children. Especially if it is a bigger tent for your family, though, some company is providing the best family tents that are really easy to use and maintain and set-up.
But most of the time, a normal tent will offer some work to do. Also, you can use the instant popo up tents to do things without hassle. Tents can be complicated to erect, and the help of too many small hands can make the job turn from bad to worse.
Purchase easy to use tens
The first step toward avoiding this problem is purchasing an easy-to-set-up tent, like an umbrella tent. We will discuss these tents in Safariors Blog later. It’s better to have a tent that is equipped with built-in tent poles that are shock-corded together.
Then the whole tent can be popped open in less than five minutes, and just one adult can do it. This leaves your spouse free to occupy the children while you open up the tent.
If you have a quick-fix tent, you may still face a youngster who wants to help. Using a hammock for camping can also be fixed like this too.
One solution to keeping the child happy and at the same time out of your way is to allow the child to install the ground cover while you are opening the tent. If the child is large enough to walk, he or she can spread out the ground cover.
Plan B for tent set-up
When you need more time to get the tent open than will be allowed by the child merely spreading out a tarp, there is plan B. Explain to your child how important it is to remove all rocks and sticks from the tent site.
Surely, they will give time and can pick up all the rocks, sticks, acorns, and other hard objects. During the time, you can have the tent opened and ready to put into place.
This camp setting tactic works even for a single parent since it keeps the child close at hand and under direct supervision, without being in the way.
Once the ground has been cleared, and the ground cover is in place, your child can help you put the tent into place. Next, if the child is old enough, let the youngster drive in the tent stakes. Once the stakes are in place, you can secure the hold-down strings and the fly.
Unloading the Car for Camping
Most of the time, we use a car or wagon for camping with the family. Unloading the car and loading the tent or stocking the cabin is another activity you can involve the children in. in our campsite set-up ideas, we will show how to interact with the kids and give them the teaching of exploring the campsite. But here, by unloading the car, they can think themselves useful and also enjoy at that time.
Best Practices When Setting Up a Campsite: Checklist
Finding and setting a good campsite is not always about an experience; rather, it can be a good knowledge. Here, I am giving some of the most basic checklists of the campsite set up most of the camper could forget.
- While finding a campsite, look if you are comfortable and safe in the area.
- See if the area has freshwater supply nearby.
- Check out for a reasonable place where you can set up your cabin tent or any other family tent.
- Sometimes, the area can contain lots of dry leaves and other particles that can get fire easily. Check out a clean area for a campfire.
- While leaving, clean the area as much as you can.
Setting Up a Campsite: The Last Kid Tips
There should be plenty of items that are light enough for small children to handle. In fact, you can make sure of this when you pack your gear. Remember to keep some of the boxes, bags, and other containers kid-sized.
You can either have the child stack all of the items in a commonplace for you to sort through later, or you can direct the young camper to specific places for the various items. This not only keeps the kids under your watchful eye during a necessary part of making camp, but it also saves you trips to and from the car.
Looking at the bluest sky, I forget all my stresses. Going through the green I try to breathe, more than I do in my reality. So, that’s why I love camping.
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