Camping with Older Children
Tips for Camping with Grade-School Age Children
Use the camping trip as an opportunity to learn about new topics, such as having the child collect different things to research about, such as leaves or rocks. Studying different types of trees, animals, birds, or learning about weather can be very interesting as well.
Involve them in planning as much as possible – they can help read a map to choose the location or choose activities to do together as a family.
As with toddlers, and probably even more so – give them a job to do! Collecting firewood, assisting with setup or cleaning, and cooking meals are all good tasks for this age group. They can accomplish many important camping activities independently (with supervision, of course).
Tips for Camping with Teenagers
Camping can be a great bonding experience with this age group. Many families get so caught up in the hectic day-to-day activities of life that spending quality time in conversation with their teenagers does not occur nearly as often as it should. Depending on the personality of your teenager, camping can be met with either joy, or a bad attitude – or typically somewhere in between. The important thing to remember is to enjoy the time together, have patience, and take the time to enjoy spending with your children who are rapidly turning into young adults.
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Bringing along a friend is not a bad idea – but if they do, make sure that they do not exclude the family and only spend time with their friend.
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Involve them as much as possible in the planning stages for the camping trip – they can help choose the camping location, meals, etc.
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Call on them to assist (or lead) with important tasks. This encourages responsibility and makes them an active participant in the camping trip.