3 Tips to Survive Camping with Kids

Many parents have mixed feelings about camping with children (especially small ones), and I get it! Before I had children of my own, I was a self-proclaimed parenting expert. I know there are several of you out there who were the same!

I was sure I would not let children change my life or impact the activities that I enjoyed in any way. I thought that it was silly when parents stayed home because of their children or gave up activities just because they now had littles running around and ruining all of the fun.

How hard could parenting be, right?

In our single days and our pre-children married days, my husband and I spent a lot of time camping -- not even glamorous camping. Rather, we liked the kind where you drive up in the middle of the night, throw your tent up, chug a few beers, and eat something from a can. We'd then get up, hike around, and hit the road again. Sometimes, we'd actually plan and pack "real" food and decide where we were going before it got dark. Other times, we were more spontaneous and just pitched our tent to break up a long road trip (another pre-kid favorite activity!).

Somewhere along way, we acquired a ridiculously large and obnoxious RV. We drove that thing everywhere, including around town just for the fun of it! We broke down several times, blew a tire or two, and maybe extinguished a small engine fire. Nothing stopped us, not even when we found out I was pregnant.

If anything we camped even more. However...

When our son was born we definitely became those boring, do nothing, stay at home parents pretty quickly. I was a nervous first time mom and was very strict with our nap, play, feeding routine.  Camping with kids didn't happen for a couple of years.

Fast forward 24 months. Our daughter was born and I started to get antsy.

We needed to get out of the house (and town!).

Our son loved the outdoors as much as mom and dad, despite his limited life experience to that point. So, we decided to head out of town. As luck would have it, the gigantic RV had met it's fate, and so we were only equipped with a tent and some cots. Our daughter was a preemie and slept 23 hours a day for her first few months, so I figured she could just come along and sleep the weekend away. We packed the house into our small SUV and hit the road with our (gigantic) dog. We had a lovely afternoon. We hiked, cooked, made s'mores, and just enjoyed the fresh air.

It was pretty idyllic!

Bedtime rolled around and we all snuggled into the tent to turn in for the night. Our tiny daughter slept soundly in a Pack-and-Play (portable crib) and our son loved being in a sleeping bag next to mom and dad. We were set for the night!

After sleeping for two hours we woke up to a family of 500 setting up their camp at MIDNIGHT directly across from us! They proceeded to scream, play games, and party for several more hours. We asked them to keep it down and they declined our request. Finally, around 3am, they seemed to be down for the night. Great! Only a few minutes later, the loudest storm rolled in and the sky opened up with pouring rain and thunder.

It was so loud in our tent! Our son was horrified (maybe a little terrified), but our tiny daughter never woke up despite all of the chaos! We didn't sleep a wink after that. Pouring down rain on a tent is about as loud rocks on a roof! It may be the loudest sound ever. Around 5am we decided to call the trip done and ran from the tent to our car, balled everything up as best we could, and headed home.

It took us several years to try family camping again, but we finally did and it's one of our favorite family past-times!

Here are 3 things that have made our life a little easier on the road and in the wild:

PACK WITH CARE
1.  Don't try to pack up the entire house, but don't pack too lightly either. Kids don't rough it as well as adults. While we don't usually take any technology with us, we don't disallow toys or other items that will entertain the kids. There is nothing worse on a camping trip than finally sitting down at the camp fire and your kid is begging you to entertain them (thunder and rain and huge partying families aside). We keep a little box of games, cards, and coloring items in our camper (a great compromise between a huge RV and a tent) so the items feel new and special when we go on a trip. We also have a Yahtzee game that is only for camping and we all look forward to playing it. We also don't fight the kids when they just want to hang out in the camper instead of exploring. It keeps them busy, it's something special, and it gives us some quiet time to ourselves.

EVERYBODY POOPS -- HAVE A BATHROOM PLAN!
2.  As soon as we get into the car, the tent or anywhere inconvenient, someone has to go to the bathroom. It's like a law or something. We do have a camper now, but we didn't for years. We decided to invest in a small portable toilet that we could easily keep in the tent for the late night potty needs and other times that there was no where else to go. While we didn't enjoy cleaning it out (it was a novelty at first and they both had to constantly use it because it was available), it saved us from wandering around the woods at night with two kids who had to pee but didn't want to go behind a tree. Not to mention it has saved me a time or two from having to leave our cozy tent in the freezing cold. I'll be honest, I can rough it like the best of them, but why do that when you don't have to? A bucket with a toilet seat on top also works as a makeshift toilet. This also makes it a lot easier to pack out what you pack in and leave the woods how you found them.

HAVE A DESTINATION OR ACTIVITY IN MIND
3.  Plan your trip around something that will be interesting to your children. I know adults have places they like to go, but if there isn't something to entertain your children, they are not going to enjoy the trip -- and neither will you. Both of our kids could go fishing for hours, so we look for campgrounds/sites that are near water with easy walking access. We also know that they will ride their bikes for hours if we go somewhere with paved paths. We always throw bikes and scooters in when packing up for a trip. We've found that if our kids have things to keep them engaged, they don't start fighting while camping.....which is a huge bonus in our books!

These may seem like simple tips, but they have saved our trips a few times over. We now successfully camp multiple times a year, and, while there may be hiccups now and then, we have a pretty good system in place. We especially love camping on the beach and catching our dinner for the night. We also have so many fond memories of camping at a special creek and watching our children spend the day fishing.

Wherever you end up going, I hope you make some special memories with your family. I know that your children will one day look back and cherish the memories you made with them.

Where are your favorite places to camp with kids? Do you have any essential items or tips that make your life easier? Drop a comment and let us know!

Big City, Small Chickens – BOOK REVIEW: City Chickens by Christine Heppermann

Please note: This book review is cross posted at Caffeinated While Reading.

Title: City Chickens

Author: Christine Heppermann

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Year published: 2012

ISBN: 978-0-547-51830-5

Genre: non-fiction; children’s literature; agriculture; lifestyle

Cluck, cluck, cluck!!!! That’s the sound of the lady chickens in that urban backyard you just walked past.

Wait, what? Chickens in the city?

YES! Urban chickens and urban homesteading are becoming more and more common, but that doesn’t mean life is always clucks and feathers for chickens. City Chickens by Christine Heppermann is all about the plight of many chickens in urban areas, but more specifically in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She traces the story of a husband and wife in the city who have devoted their lives to rescuing chickens (among other animals) and finding them new homes.

The book is part biography, part fun and informative story, and part social awareness. 

This is a great, but very honest and real, look at what happens to many chickens and how their lives are improved by kind rescuers. I highly encourage you to read this book with your kids or in your classroom, but be forewarned that there are a couple of disturbing photos of chickens who have been used in cockfighting and who are kept in chicken cages. These disturbing situations are described as well, but not in too much detail, in order to bring awareness to how chickens are abused and how they should be treated instead. The book is mostly about how great chickens are and how fun they can be to keep and care for when rescued and taken care of properly. 

In addition to profiling the owners of Chicken Run Rescue in Minneapolis, the author also profiles a adolescent Abigail and her rescued chicken, Billiam, as well as other chickens and their rescuers. I think young readers in particular will like that there is a profile of a young person and that other children are also featured in the book. The very back of the book also offers a list of resources for learning more about chickens, including how to include lessons about chickens and life cycles without hatching chicks in the classroom – a large reason why many chicks are abandoned. 

City Chickens also talks about keeping chickens healthy and some of the health problems that abandoned chicks often suffer. The author notes that if you keep urban chickens, it is important to find a veterinarian that is able to provide proper chicken care which may not always be easy to find in an urban area. 

I loved this little book, and I think you should pick it up to read with your kids or in your classroom. My son and I are planning our own little homestead and urban oasis (we’re moving from the country back to the city!) and want to raise chickens for their eggs, as pets, and also as insect control in our garden (all of which are noted as options in City Chickens), so I headed to the library to find books about chickens. Most of what I was found was far beyond what I was looking for which brought me to the children’s section and City Chickens

As with many of the books I review, I found City Chickens Christine Heppermann at my local library. However, you can also find it on Amazon HERE.

Do you raise chickens? Have your kids participated in chicken hatching projects at school? Drop a comment and let us know!

Please note: Links may be affiliate links. We may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you for any purchases you make through such links. Thank you!

Let them get muddy -- The power of kids and the outdoors

By now you've probably figured out that my family LOVES the outdoors and my kids would much rather be running around outside than cooped up indoors.

Honestly, it's just our way of life, so I don't even give it a second thought. Until recently, I assumed that all kids are into the same outdoorsy, nature related things.

I had a real eye opening experience today, though, when we spent some time with several "indoor" kids in a very outdoor area.

First, you need to understand that my son is not only into exploring outside but he's also into carrying a guide book around and referencing anything that he sees so he can read about it. Today, he had his animal encyclopedia (I'm not even joking) with him and was reading up on all of the critters that were in the nature area we were visiting.

Most of the other kids were enjoying themselves, but it was obvious that they and their parents were not entirely comfortable playing in this type of environment. I found it interesting to pay close attention to parent and child interactions and see how they were reacting when obviously out of their comfort zone.

I'm positive there is no "right" way to parent a child, but I am also positive that kids need some dirt in their lives. I've come across quite a few kids lately that obviously don't play outside. 

I'm confused.

Is this a new thing?

As a child, I remember running around outside barefoot all over the neighborhood until my parents made me come inside to eat or go to bed. I realize that times are changing, but are they really changing that much or are we getting so busy with technology and our own lives that we are forgetting the basics of being a kid?

I can think of a million fun things that we can do inside our house, but I'll be honest.....one of the reasons why I push my kids outside to play is because I can't handle the chaos of four walls and noisy, rambunctious kids.

It gives me major anxiety and I don't react the same way that noise and chaos happens outdoors. There's a freedom that comes from being in your backyard and exploring. It's amazing how long my kids can spend out back just flipping over rocks, digging in the garden, and looking for bugs, seeds or what not.

These are some of the benefits that I have witnessed first hand in my children from being "outdoorsy":

1. They can identify different plants and know which ones are edible.
Because we hike and explore often, my children know what poison oak looks like, which berries are edible, and what fungi is and why it's important to leave it alone. It's pretty sweet actually listening to them talk about the different plants they find.

2. They have a respect for their environment that goes beyond the basics.
My kids are instinctively protective over nature and know the importance of not littering and helping to keep our natural areas clean.

3. They are able to explain and understand that they are not the center of the universe.
There is a far greater force of nature than we will ever be able to compete with. We are in wild animals' natural habitat and not everything belongs to humans. It's important for children (and adults) to know when and how to respect the natural order of things.

4. They've been able to witness the circle of life.
This is true in our own backyard as well. We recently lost one of our backyard chickens to a raccoon and while my kids were sad, they also understand the difference between predator and prey and that it's natural for animals to eat others.

5. This is my favorite one.....they can tolerate getting a little muddy, a little scratched up, a little tired just to experience nature and go on a new adventure.
My kids are natural explorers....they have been exposed to it since they were babies. They were hiking before they were able to walk, snug as a bug in our little baby carriers.

Again, all families and kids are different and the way we raise our children may or may not work for you as well. We have a deep love for the outdoors and hoped to pass that along to our children. So far, we've been successful it seems and hope to be able to continue this fun outdoor adventure with our littles. 

As you can see from the two pictures above, the great, wide outdoors has been a HUGE part of their educational experience so far!

Do you and your kids get outside without technology much? If so, what is your favorite way to explore nature? If not, what would it take to get you and your family outside regularly? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know!

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt: A simple activity for pre-readers to practice their ABCs

Hey there, friends and fellow parents! 

As you may know, I have two very inquisitive pre-readers (ages 3 and 5) in my home, and we're becoming a little bit obsessed with letters and spelling. This is great; however, I'm not always feeling super creative and at times I lack the motivation to think of yet another activity we can do together that will be age appropriate for BOTH of my kids. And, I must admit that my daughter is quickly catching up to my son and is far more interested in intentionally learning her letters and how to spell than my son is.

Lately we've been playing the ABC game outdoors. This is an easy activity and can literally be done anywhere....in your house, your backyard, while driving, on a walk....you get the picture! We go on a lot of family walks and bike rides and that's the perfect time for us to play this game. We have made up our own rules (there really aren't any formal ABC game rules anyhow!) and you can do that same! 

We start with the letter A and look for anything that in the shape of an A without actually being the letter. For example, we might find some branches that are scattered and make the shape of a letter, a building that has a pitched roof that looks like the letter, a pile of leaves that have fallen, flowers....seriously anything!

My kids end up treating the ABC game like a race to see who can find the letter first. We end up laughing and giggling at how much we have to hunt around to find letters. It's our own alphabet scavenger hunt! Sometimes we switch off letters and my son will do A and then my daughter will do B. Other times we race to see who can locate the letter first and others we skip around and take turns choosing the letter we are looking for.

There is no fancy science to this activity. It's just a fun way to practice reading skills and visual learning. Plus, since the letters are not printed in front of them they really do need to have a baseline for letter recognition.

You can read about how my son "gets tired" when we try to practice skills HERE. Because this isn't standard worksheets or workbooks, the ABC game is the perfect activity for my son! It's informal enough that he doesn't know that we're actually practicing an academic skill, yet it also engages my younger daughter.

Win, win, win.

Since life has been so crazy lately it's nice to have a quick and simple task go well. Here are some photos to illustrate how easy this game is! We literally do this in our own backyard! 



Notice how the chicken coop resembles an A?  



We found a V in the ends of the star on our porch!



 Oh, look! The wreath on our door is an O!

Do you have any fun and easy games that you play with your kids to practice skills? Can you share some ideas with other parents to help them as well? We'd love to see your pictures along with your ideas! 

And, take it a step further and challenge your kids to work out messages for themselves with lunchbox notes from our Etsy shop! When kids have an incentive to figure out the meaning of something written, they are more likely to work at the skill and remember it. Pre-readers can benefit from lunchbox notes as it is likely to spark curiosity as they will want to know what the notes say. Don't just read the note to them. Instead, ask them what they think the note says and why they might think that. Help them to start sounding out letters and recognizing the words on the notes. Of course, it's perfectly fine to just read the notes to your pre-readers too!

Check out our full selection of lunchbox notes HERE.

Be sure to check out these other great ideas for encouraging reading in your family:

Teaching children responsibility through nature: in the garden and our backyard mini-farm

When I was a child, my family always had a little vegetable garden. Nothing huge, nothing fancy, but it was there. Every summer we had tomatoes and peppers, blackberries and cucumbers, and whatever else we happened to plant that year. It was fun being able to plant seeds, water, watch them grow and harvest our own food.  

This process became so important to me that I have made it a priority to have a little garden in each place I have lived. Sometimes my garden was a single pot or a small herb garden, sometimes my plants died or didn’t take. But now, I’m finally able to have a dedicated area large enough to accommodate just about anything we wish to grow.

 

Of course I have to involve my kids in this process!  

They both love gardening with me; although,  I don’t always love them “helping”! Yet, I’ve found a solution: I have allowed them to keep their own garden bed where pretty much anything goes.  Somehow their bed is blowing the others out of the water this year….maybe I should just use their random scatter method myself!

That said… I have one child who will eat anything--literally anything. She’s eaten snails, foam, play dough, and probably many other things I’m not aware of.  My son, however, is much pickier and not a fan of veggies whatsoever.  

Despite their differences in food (or non-food) preferences, we’ve been working hard on our garden and have begun to harvest a couple of things. Who would have guessed that my son will eat peas and tomatoes if he grows them himself? Score! That in itself is reason enough for me to keep gardening.

My whole point is that some of the best teaching moments are ones that are off the cuff, no pressure, and not rigid or structured.  That is what gardening has been for us.  My kids are still pretty young (5 & 3) so they need a lot of guidance and supervision. But, they don’t necessarily need “teachable moments.” They are learning plenty just by being outdoors and learning to garden. 

Some of the lessons that we’ve incorporated into gardening are: 

• Counting the days until our seeds begin to sprout 
• How seeds are harvested (what machinery, who does it, etc) 
• What do plants needs beyond sunshine and water? 
• Colors and how to tell when a food is ripe 
• Composting: how to determine organic matter vs. inorganic matter
• Life cycle of plants 
• Patience (waiting until a strawberry is ripe can be hard!) 
• Teamwork (we all rely on each other to keep our garden alive)

These are just a few of the more obvious lessons, but you get the point.

It’s amazing how many skills can be incorporated into a seemingly simple task. Equally as important are the life skills that they are learning from participating in our family garden. Learning where your food comes from is important!  Also important is having a healthy understanding for how much work goes into planting, tending and harvesting our food. It’s a much more complicated process than just driving to the grocery store.

In the last couple of years we’ve added chickens to our little hobby farm and it has been amazing! We got our flock as chicks and have hand raised them so they are friendly and tame--so tame that they’ll sit on my kids’ heads and even the dog’s head! We have two laying eggs now and two more that should do the same later this year.

It’s been great for my kids to learn to care not just a garden, but also for a tiny little chick. Both kids have learned to be patient (sometimes), gentle, and kind.

Now they have the added responsibility of feeding and watering the chickens, checking for eggs, cleaning the coop and securing them at night. These are some of the best life lessons that I would never know how to teach them otherwise. 

Of course, this isn’t specific to chickens or a garden; it could apply to any type of animal, hobby or chore.  It’s just worked out great for us, and I’m really impressed with how well my children have been taking care of both the garden and their chickens. 

Plus, who wouldn’t love having these little mini farmers running around?

You should also know that my children have become obsessed with chickens--that could even be an understatement.  For example, they dress the chickens up, bring them in the car when we’re running through a drive-thru, they watch movies with the chickens, cuddle them and let them “free range” in the house every time I turn my back. It’s cute…I may be a little obsessed as well!

By nature, my kids like to be outdoors so I never feel like I’m having to coax them outside.  I know that isn’t the case with all children as all kids (and adults) have their own interests that they gravitate towards. However, I think that there is something about being outside that cannot be replicated indoors.  

You don’t have to live in the forest, on a mountain or on the beach to appreciate this.   

I’m talking about simply being outside of your home. It could be in your yard, at a park, the river or wherever you enjoy nature.   

It’s important that children learn essential life skills that they may one day need to rely upon, and often that includes knowing how to conduct themselves outside the walls of their own homes and how to take responsibility for something. 

To my family, being outdoors is a must and is essential to our mental health. I can already see the impact it’s had on my kids…I can’t wait to see what else piques their interests. 

What are your favorite things to do outdoors with your children? Do you have a garden that they help with? If so, what role do your kids play? How are your kids learning without obvious “teachable moments”? I’d love to get some more ideas!