Posted by Roy Scribner on January 20, 2010 under Camping & Kids | 
If you are planning a family camping trip this summer, you are probably wondering how to keep the kids entertained. The kids are going to have a great time, particularly if camping is a new experience for them. They’re going to have a great time helping you setup the tent, gather firewood, cook meals – all the normal camping “stuff” that parents take for granted. It’s a good idea to plan some activities and pack some games, for those times when you are relaxing at your camping spot. Here are ten ideas that you can use, as you plan your family camping adventure.
Junior Ranger Programs
Many federal and state parks offer Junior Ranger programs throughout the summer camping season. The activities vary, from park to park, but they are always geared towards the kids and they always encourage parental involvement.
Interspersed amongst the fun, the Junior Ranger program teaches about geology, ecology, history, safety, plants and wildlife, among other outdoor subjects. The programs focus on a different subject each day and they are usually an hour long.
Some parks offer Junior Ranger programs specifically for tweens and teens, with longer hikes that explore some of the interesting natural features or history of the area. You can find out more about the Junior Ranger program from the National Park Foundation, or Google™ your state’s name and include the term Junior Ranger.
Water Activities
There’s one sure-cure to boredom and grouchy camping kids and that’s to camp near a lake, river or ocean. Kids love to play in the water and it’s pretty fun for the parents, too – especially on those hot summer afternoons.
Young kids might lose interest in a long hike, but if the destination is a mountain stream that they get to play in for a few hours, even if it’s just skipping rocks or cooling off their feet, they will be thrilled. It is much easier to maintain their enthusiasm about hiking, with some kind of reward to look forward to at the destination.
Scavenger Hunts
Another way to make a hike interesting for kids is to turn it into a scavenger hunt. Start with the letter “A” and work your way through the alphabet, searching for things along the way that start with the current letter. There’s no need to take anything back to the campsite, just move on to the next letter or maybe snap a picture or two.
This is not only a great way to keep kids interested in hiking, it also encourages them to look around and experience more of their surroundings. I’ve grown so accustomed to doing this with the kids that I find myself going through the alphabet on my own hikes. Of course, maybe I’m still just a kid, at heart!
Sand Toys
If your family camping adventure includes a sandy beach, there’s no substitute for buckets, scoops and other plastic implements of sandy delight. The buckets are also handy for collecting sea shells and rocks, which is another beachy activity that kids love.
Bubbles
Whatever your family camping plans may be, there are going to be times spent at the campsite and you will want to plan for some kid-friendly activities that can be done in a small area. One great activity that kids love is blowing bubbles and a bottle of bubbles will definitely keep the little ones entertained. Who can blow the biggest bubbles? Who can pop the most bubbles? It might not even take much coaxing to get your older ones to join in on the fun.
Toss Games
We all know about horseshoes and, in fact, some campgrounds even have horseshoe pits. There are also ring toss and washer toss games that are very easy to setup around the campsite. These are fun for the kids and a lot easier to contain within the camping spot, than throwing balls around.
The best part about games like this is that everyone can participate and yet they’re simple enough that the kids can play on their own if you are preparing meals or packing-up gear for the night.
Memory Games
Memory games, where you mix-up a set of tiles or cards and then take turn turning over two tiles to try and find a match, are fun picnic table activities for young and old, alike. You don’t need a set number of players, in order to play a memory game. This is a real plus, if your kids are camping with a friend, or two.
Ice Cream Party
It’s difficult to bring ice cream on a family camping trip, but products like the Play & Freeze™ ice cream maker let you make your own, right at your campsite. Keeping ice frozen can be a challenge, of course, but you can bring block ice (which melts much slower) and then crush it with a hammer. If you want to find out more about the Play & Freeze, see my review.
Popcorn and a Movie
Portable DVD players make it easy to have your very own campsite “movie night”, complete with campfire popcorn. This is a great alternative to s’mores, when you don’t want to get the kids pumped-up on sugar, right before bedtime. For more information on popping corn in the backcountry, see Campfire Popcorn.
Most portable DVD players have a 12-Volt charging port, which allows them to be recharged from your car. If your DVD player did not come with a vehicle charging cable, you can get one at any home electronics store.
Ghost Stories
There’s nothing wrong with a little ghost story, right? I’ll let you decide whether scaring your kids with ghost tales, right before zipping them into their sleeping bags, is a good idea or not. The nighttime campsite is the perfect setting, though, with the crackling embers of a dying campfire and the evening sounds of the forest and its creatures. Hey, I’m starting to scare myself!
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds.
Posted by Roy Scribner on January 11, 2010 under Camping & Kids |
Much like any kind of traveling we did “pre-kids”, camping used to be one of those spur-of-the-moment things where we would throw some food and clothes into a bag and head for our favorite camping spot, on any given Friday afternoon. Oh how times change!
At first, we must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. Diaper bags, stroller, playpen – we had enough stuff to open a small daycare center! Over the years our gear has changed as our children have grown – our girls, who are now 8 and 9, are already “teenagers” (who is Justin Bieber, anyway?) and our 5-year old son is perfectly happy making war with “laser blaster” sticks.
If I had to do it over again, I’d really try to cut back on the amount of “stuff” that we packed for the kids, when they were smaller. We always packed the playpen so that we would have somewhere safe for our son, at our camping spot, while we were unpacking or packing. As you might imagine, this did not sit well with our son, who quickly learned that screaming got him out of the playpen. Quickly.
Umbrella stroller
It doesn’t look much like camping gear, but when it’s time to sit down at the picnic table for a meal, a stroller is one of the easiest ways for your child to join the family. We had better strollers, of course, but the humble umbrella model could fit in our car with the rest of the camping gear and was light enough to carry to the beach, or wherever else we were going.
Baby wipes
I know this kind of goes without saying, but I included wipes to remind you that you’re likely to go through a lot more on a camping trip than you would on a weekend at home. We always let our kids play in the dirt or the sand (as long as they weren’t eating it) and these wipes are the quickest and easiest way to clean them up.
Dirt and sand toys
Our bag of dirt and sand toys is on its second generation and, without a doubt, it’s been one of our best investments for camping with kids. The bag we use was actually a giveaway at some tradeshow conference that I attended, but it’s just the right size for bulky buckets, scoop shovels and rakes.
Having a large bag to keep all of your dirt and sand toys in makes it easy to pack them from your camping spot and, if you are playing on the beach, it doubles as a great bag for everyone’s shoes and a towel, or two.
Kids Camp Chair
The stroller doesn’t last forever and once your child starts to notice that everyone else is sitting in cool camping chairs, it’s going to be time to spring for a kid-size version. The single most important consideration in camping chairs for kids is that they are low to the ground, which helps prevent tipping. The design of the legs is also important – we had a tremendous amount of problems with the “owl chair”, in the picture above, tipping over and had to throw it away.
Camping Mat
Popular with the RV crowd, these camping mats are great for giving kids a cleaner place to play, at your favorite camping spot. We got ours years ago, when we had a camping trailer, and we have used it ever since. It’s made out of a woven plastic material and is very durable and easy to clean. We will often stretch out on the camping mat for a game of Uno, instead of sitting around the picnic table.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds.
Posted by Roy Scribner on December 28, 2009 under Camping & Kids, Hiking, county park, coyote lake, family, hike, kids, santa clara county parks |
Coyote Lake – Harvey Bear Ranch County Park was created in 2005 when the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department struck a deal with the Harvey Bear family to preserve the families land as a multi-use park and additional greenbelt in the Santa Clara Valley, just south of San Jose.
The Willow Springs Trail is highlights (click for larger image)
My hiking partner for this trip was my 9-year old daughter, Chloe. When it is 60 degrees and sunny outside, on December 24, we just did not see any good reason not to take advantage of the weather and get some hiking in. This was our first time at Harvey Bear Ranch and we wanted to see how it compared to nearby Henry Coe State Park, which is our regular stomping ground.
View from the bottom of the Willow Springs Trail (click for larger image)
From the Harvey Bear Ranch parking lot, at about 400 feet of elevation, we picked the Willow Springs Trail that meanders up and over the hillside to the Coyote Ridge Trail, with views of Coyote Lake. It is 1.6 miles to the top of the ridge, with an altitude of about 1,100 feet. The trails are all double-track and well suited for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. As this is still working rangeland for cattle, there 
are a number of gates to negotiate, throughout the park.
Gaining 700-feet of elevation in just over a mile and a half is a good workout, so it is essential to pack plenty of water, even on these cool winter days. Chloe may love pink and be a huge Webkinz™ fan, but at nine years old, she can knock-off five or six miles with nary a peep.
View from the top of the Willow Springs Trail (click for larger image)
The view from the top of the Willow Springs Trail gives you a good perspective on the terrain. Harvey Bear Ranch is comprised of rolling hills with only sporadic outcroppings of oak and buckeye trees. These hills are dry and brown most of the year and the open terrain would be harsh in the summer, when the southern Santa Clara Valley can hit triple-digit temperatures. Henry Coe State Park, which adjoins Harvey Bear Ranch to the north, is much more densely forested.
You will come across plenty of the local inhabitants throughout the park and, other than their apparent preference of doing their “business” on the nice, level trails, they are rather shy and will not let you get too close, before moving away at a brisk pace (much to the chagrin of my daughter, who wanted to pet them).
View of Coyote Lake from the Coyote Ridge Trail (click for larger image)
The reward for cresting the 1,100-foot ridgeline is the three-mile long Coyote Lake, which is a popular waterskiing, sailing and jet ski destination. There are also 74 campsites located along the lake, which is unique among Bay Area lakes and reservoirs.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds.
Posted by Roy Scribner on December 24, 2009 under Camping & Kids, Family Camping, Hiking, camp, campfire, camping activities, camping trip, experiences, family, hike, kids, wildlife |
As the year draws to a close, I’m looking forward to all the great camping trips we have planned for the coming year and I wonder what new experiences are in store for us. I don’t know if we’re disorganized or just easy going, but we never have a pre-planned agenda, when we head-off on our outdoor excursions. If we spend an afternoon skipping rocks across a stream or hiking some backcountry trail, everybody is having a pretty good time (okay, my younger two are probably whining at the two-mile mark, if we’re hiking!).
One thing that we all like to do is look for different kinds of wildlife. It’s one thing to look at pictures of bald eagles online, or in a book, but to actually see them in the wild is a special treat for us. We are fortunate, here in northern California, to have access to an abundant range of wildlife. It’s not uncommon for us to spot deer on our hikes, even in the middle of the afternoon.
When we are camping at the beach, the kids will even be motivated to get up early and trek down to the beach in order to see the seals fishing in the surf and the dolphins feeding just offshore.
Mealtimes are always a bit special in the backcountry, even when it’s something simple like hamburgers and baked beans. On hikes, I can usually coax another mile out of my young ones with yogurt-covered raisins or trail mix, which is special to them since they don’t get that at home. S’mores or popcorn is a special treat that, of course, the kids really enjoy.
The ability to have a campfire is probably the single biggest reason that we tend to camp in campgrounds, instead of dispersed camping on federal land. The campfire is always the center of activity when we are camping, whether its s’mores or an game of Uno®. In some of the places we camp, an early evening campfire is almost essential to keep the mosquitoes at bay!
What are some of your favorite camping activities?
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds.
Posted by Roy Scribner on under Camping & Kids, Family Camping, Hiking, camp, campfire, camping activities, camping trip, experiences, family, hike, kids, wildlife |
As the year draws to a close, I’m looking forward to all the great camping trips we have planned for the coming year and I wonder what new experiences are in store for us. I don’t know if we’re disorganized or just easy going, but we never have a pre-planned agenda, when we head-off on our outdoor excursions. If we spend an afternoon skipping rocks across a stream or hiking some backcountry trail, everybody is having a pretty good time (okay, my younger two are probably whining at the two-mile mark, if we’re hiking!).
One thing that we all like to do is look for different kinds of wildlife. It’s one thing to look at pictures of bald eagles online, or in a book, but to actually see them in the wild is a special treat for us. We are fortunate, here in northern California, to have access to an abundant range of wildlife. It’s not uncommon for us to spot deer on our hikes, even in the middle of the afternoon.
When we are camping at the beach, the kids will even be motivated to get up early and trek down to the beach in order to see the seals fishing in the surf and the dolphins feeding just offshore.
Mealtimes are always a bit special in the backcountry, even when it’s something simple like hamburgers and baked beans. On hikes, I can usually coax another mile out of my young ones with yogurt-covered raisins or trail mix, which is special to them since they don’t get that at home. S’mores or popcorn is a special treat that, of course, the kids really enjoy.
The ability to have a campfire is probably the single biggest reason that we tend to camp in campgrounds, instead of dispersed camping on federal land. The campfire is always the center of activity when we are camping, whether its s’mores or an game of Uno®. In some of the places we camp, an early evening campfire is almost essential to keep the mosquitoes at bay!
What are some of your favorite camping activities?
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds.
Posted by Roy Scribner on December 1, 2009 under Camping & Kids, Christmas, family, kids, weather, winter |
December is finally here and if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet, then you probably have big plans to hit the malls this weekend to get it finished. You can do yourself and your family a favor, though, by shopping online or squeezing that last minute shopping in during the week, so you’re free to enjoy the weekend with your family, instead. Here are five great ways to get the family outside this weekend.
Play in the snow
Skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and sledding are just some of the fun winter outdoor activities that families can participate in, together. For some of us, this can involve quite a drive (which is never fun) so make it a mini-vacation and spend the weekend.
Visit a Christmas tree farm
I’m not talking about the grocery store parking lot; this year find a real tree farm in your area and let the family select and cut their own tree. This is one of those outdoor activities that’s almost more fun in the rain and cold, so don’t let the weather stop you!
Visit an aquarium
Last weekend we took the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium, in California, and we all had a great time looking at sharks, petting stingrays and barking at sea lions (yes, we did!). This is the third aquarium that we’ve taken our children too – they’ve also been to the aquariums in Newport, OR and Monterey, CA and we always have a great time.
Take a hike
If you’re like us, there are probably a couple of favorite hikes that you’ve taken the kids on, this summer. Now that winter is here, those same hikes take on an entirely different look and can be interesting all over again.
Experience winter camping in your backyard
If you’ve ever been curious about winter camping, give it a try one night this weekend in your very own backyard. This is a great way to test your gear against the cold weather, without the risk of shivering all weekend in a cold sleeping bag.
I know the holiday season can be a hectic one and finding time to spend with the family can be challenging when everyone is running off in different directions shopping, but that’s all the more reason to take a family break this weekend and do something together.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds. Subscribe by December 11th for your chance to win a Panasonic Lumix ruggedized digital camera!
Posted by Roy Scribner on November 29, 2009 under Camping & Kids, carnival paradise, catalina island, family, family vacation |
If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending Thanksgiving with my family on a cruise ship, I’d have thought you were crazy. We usually spend that week camping at the beach and, after all, we’re still a bit young for the cruise ship scene. Or so I thought.
Four days on the Carnival Paradise® changed my entire notion of what cruise ships are all about. This was an extended family vacation, so our kids had cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandma to keep them entertained, but I was surprised by the number of families onboard the ship and the number of kid-friendly activities that were available.
We landed on Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. After setting the kids up with family for an afternoon of parasailing in the bay, Lisa and I headed off on a hike towards the Wrigley Botanical Gardens to checkout some of the local flora and fauna. It was clear and sunny, with temperatures well into the mid-70’s by noon, so even on the 24th of November I was glad I had the hydration pack. There is a lot of vertical terrain on Catalina, so come prepared.
The next morning we docked in Ensenada and our family piled onto a bus and headed south to Bahia Todos Santos to see the infamous La Bufadora, or blowhole, where the ocean geysers some 60-feet into the air as it crashes into a narrow channel in the cliffs. It was interesting and sure beat spending the day in Ensenada.
Living onboard the Carnival Paradise was a lot like RV camping. We had a queen bed with two fold down bunks on each end. A small bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink is just inside the door. We’re used to tight spaces, so we found our modest interior cabin quite comfortable.
It was a fun vacation and a lot different than pitching a tent at the beach! The kids had a great time and, I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed being pampered by the crew for four days. For a family of five, we spent less than $2,500 on everything. That’s a lot of camping trips, but it’s fun to splurge once in awhile.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds. Subscribe by December 11th for your chance to win a Panasonic Lumix ruggedized digital camera!
Posted by Roy Scribner on under Camping & Kids, carnival paradise, catalina island, family, family vacation |
If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending Thanksgiving with my family on a cruise ship, I’d have thought you were crazy. We usually spend that week camping at the beach and, after all, we’re still a bit young for the cruise ship scene. Or so I thought.
Four days on the Carnival Paradise® changed my entire notion of what cruise ships are all about. This was an extended family vacation, so our kids had cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandma to keep them entertained, but I was surprised by the number of families onboard the ship and the number of kid-friendly activities that were available.
We landed on Catalina Island on Tuesday morning. After setting the kids up with family for an afternoon of parasailing in the bay, Lisa and I headed off on a hike towards the Wrigley Botanical Gardens to checkout some of the local flora and fauna. It was clear and sunny, with temperatures well into the mid-70’s by noon, so even on the 24th of November I was glad I had the hydration pack. There is a lot of vertical terrain on Catalina, so come prepared.
The next morning we docked in Ensenada and our family piled onto a bus and headed south to Bahia Todos Santos to see the infamous La Bufadora, or blowhole, where the ocean geysers some 60-feet into the air as it crashes into a narrow channel in the cliffs. It was interesting and sure beat spending the day in Ensenada.
Living onboard the Carnival Paradise was a lot like RV camping. We had a queen bed with two fold down bunks on each end. A small bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink is just inside the door. We’re used to tight spaces, so we found our modest interior cabin quite comfortable.
It was a fun vacation and a lot different than pitching a tent at the beach! The kids had a great time and, I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed being pampered by the crew for four days. For a family of five, we spent less than $2,500 on everything. That’s a lot of camping trips, but it’s fun to splurge once in awhile.
See also…
Resources: Free eBook: Introduction To Family Camping
Camping on the High Seas
Posted by Roy Scribner on November 16, 2009 under Camping & Kids, Family Camping, kids, parents |
I just spent the weekend in Fayetteville, NC with a dozen of my fellow Paratroopers, who served with me in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They had seen CampingBlogger.net and several commented on how once they had vowed never to sleep on the ground again, once they had gotten out of the Army.
Interestingly, I too shared this attitude when I returned to civilian life. Understand that in the five years I served (some of my friends are still serving, which is amazing), we had been bitten by ants in the jungle, bitten by flies in the desert and bitten by the bitter cold in the Arctic. Five years of this could leave anyone a bit jaundiced to the idea of camping in the outdoors.
They say that time heals all, but I think in my case the motivation to get back into the outdoors was having kids. One of my buddies posited that maybe I just want to make my kids suffer like I had, but, in all seriousness, letting my kids experience the outdoors just seemed like one of those basic parental responsibilities that one has to do.
Of course, I’ve since learned that experiencing the outdoors with my children is nothing like enduring the outdoors with my Paratrooper buddies (sorry, guys!). The kids don’t like to get cold, but they don’t mind a little rain and they sure don’t mind getting dirty. Watching my kids have fun on a hike, or challenge themselves on a difficult rock face fills me with pride and makes me happy to be there with them.
Modern technology has alleviated many of the hardships associated with camping in the outdoors. We can now camp in tents, tent trailers, RVs, or cabins and be nearly as comfortable as we are in our own homes. No matter how you choose to experience the outdoors with your family, take solace in the fact that the memories you are creating are enduring ones that will influence your children when they become parents, themselves.
See also…
Have you subscribed to my newsletter? I publish it once a month with articles that are unique to the newsletter and not found in the RSS or email feeds. Subscribe by December 11th for your chance to win a Panasonic Lumix ruggedized digital camera!
Posted by Roy Scribner on under Camping & Kids, Family Camping, kids, parents |
I just spent the weekend in Fayetteville, NC with a dozen of my fellow Paratroopers, who served with me in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They had seen CampingBlogger.net and several commented on how once they had vowed never to sleep on the ground again, once they had gotten out of the Army.
Interestingly, I too shared this attitude when I returned to civilian life. Understand that in the five years I served (some of my friends are still serving, which is amazing), we had been bitten by ants in the jungle, bitten by flies in the desert and bitten by the bitter cold in the Arctic. Five years of this could leave anyone a bit jaundiced to the idea of camping in the outdoors.
They say that time heals all, but I think in my case the motivation to get back into the outdoors was having kids. One of my buddies posited that maybe I just want to make my kids suffer like I had, but, in all seriousness, letting my kids experience the outdoors just seemed like one of those basic parental responsibilities that one has to do.
Of course, I’ve since learned that experiencing the outdoors with my children is nothing like enduring the outdoors with my Paratrooper buddies (sorry, guys!). The kids don’t like to get cold, but they don’t mind a little rain and they sure don’t mind getting dirty. Watching my kids have fun on a hike, or challenge themselves on a difficult rock face fills me with pride and makes me happy to be there with them.
Modern technology has alleviated many of the hardships associated with camping in the outdoors. We can now camp in tents, tent trailers, RVs, or cabins and be nearly as comfortable as we are in our own homes. No matter how you choose to experience the outdoors with your family, take solace in the fact that the memories you are creating are enduring ones that will influence your children when they become parents, themselves.
See also…
Resources: Free eBook: Introduction To Family Camping
Reluctant Camper to Responsible Parent