First Family Camping

Camping with kids for the first time? With Emalco every challenge turns into an enjoyable adventure!

First family camping… that sounds great! Camping can beef your  children’s experience up and be a great variation from playing at home. Spending time together around the campfire and in the fresh air is much better way for spending a family weekend or even whole vacation than hustling in the city.

But camping can be also a challenge – it can be stressful and requires a lot of planning. Does it make you fearful or you’re not sure if your children will like it? No problem! These basic advices will help you prepare for the first camping with children.

Preparation for camping with children.


1. Pick your campground

 If it’s the first camp adventure for your kid, choose a place which will make your children fall in love with camping. Check if the place you have selected is family-friendly. Most of them public important information on their websites – for example if they have playgrounds or playparks to keep kids amused. Check if the campground allows campfire, has any additional attractions or trails for hikers and cyclists. Besides that, find latest rankings on the Internet. They will suggest you the best campsite in your area.

2. Pack up your car…

. . .  with most necessary stuff. A roomy, easy-to-use tent, sleeping bags, mattresses, cooking equipment. Think about something extra! Duvets, blankets, big pillow will make your tent magical. Your children will feel as in a cave inside! Let them take their favorite toys. It will help them to feel comfortable like at home. Your children can even take some of them for a walk or just hug while sleeping.

3. Remember about food!

Remember, all food taste better outdoors. But first of all – plan your meals beforehand. Decide what food and utensils you have to take. It’ll help you to avoid unnecessary weight in your baggage. You can take a look at our post about kitchen supply for camping. You can eat with children outdoors, in the fresh air in the sunlight or by the campfire in the sunset – it will be great way to do something new as a family. Engage your children in food preparation. Let them feel necessary and teach them about camp-basics. Try to change cooking into playing. Kids love helping out with easy recipes. Remember about appropriate cookware – made of steel with enamel coating will be safe and durable. Believe us, next time your children will ask you „when we will go camping?”.

4. Organize activities.

Prepare a list of games and say goodbye to the boredom. Indians, Scavenger Hunt, hide-and -seek, or just searching for animal tracks. There are plenty of activities to keep children occupied but don’t forget about the necessary equipment. Also, try to use stuff from the environment – leaves, cones and whatever you find interesting for your children. No ideas? Remind the games from your childhood or take the inspiration from our proposal.

Camping games for kids

Scavenger hunt

It is the best game to get your children interested in the nature. The rules are simple: prepare a list of items to find for them while walking around.

Here are a few ideas:

  • leaves selected by the type: oak leaf, alder leaf, or just by the color: red leaf, yellow leaf, green leaf,
  • a mushroom
  • a snail
  • an animal track
  • a bird’s nest
  • a pinecone
  • a flower
  • a moss

When children will find them, check it on the list. Take a picture of each founded item, it can be a great keepsake!

Find the tree that matches the leaf.

Pick some leaves and try to find the matching tree. This game will help your children to learn how to recognize the most popular types of trees.

Obstacle Course

The campsite is the best place to run, jump, crawl and do all those activities which are very often forbidden in a built-up area. So prepare obstacle course which looks like this:

  • walk around the trees
  • crawl under the picnic table
  • do 10 jumping jacks
  • walk around the fire
  • hop on one leg from point a to point b

Children love facing challenges!

Really great place to look for inspirations is a Facebook Page Get Out With The KidsSo don’t be scared and enjoy camping with children as much as they do!

Share your tricks with other camp lovers!

Do you have more advices for first family camping or any ideas for games? Please, let us know in a comment. Let’s prepare together a list for another camping lovers!