What is important when camping with children? – Key tips

Be sure to take safety into account when camping or staying overnight in a van with children. These include, but are not limited to:

• First aid kit: a well-equipped first aid kit is essential. Make sure everyone knows where it’s stowed.

• Fire: maybe you’ll cook your food over the fire. Be sure to check for any fire bans.

• Sun protection: pack sunscreen, sun hats and, depending on the temperature, light, long clothing.

• Torches and headlamps: it’s best for every child to have their own torch or headlamp at hand – especially at night.

• Clear rules: everything is new, everything is exciting. That’s why it helps to discuss with the children how far away they can get from the campsite, for example, or where they can ask for help in an emergency.

• Weather: keep an eye on the weather and an idea of a safe shelter in the back of your head should a thunderstorm come up. This is especially important if you are only travelling with a tent.

When camping with children, eating outdoors is a real adventure. Here are a few tips to ensure everyone is happy and full in their sleeping bag at night:

• Simple and delicious: no big expectations, it should just taste good. And in the best case scenario, the children can help out, for example, by helping to plan meals, preparing vegetables or collecting firewood.

• Snacks: being outdoors all the time makes you hungry. So pack plenty of snacks that don’t need to be refrigerated.

• Drinking water: with a canister or a water bag you always have enough water nearby.

• Plan well: with a meal plan, you know exactly what you need to bring or buy. Don’t forget spices such as salt, pepper and oil – you almost always need them when cooking.

• Bring a rubbish bag with you: many foods are packaged. Particularly on camping pitches, there is rarely a rubbish bin. So take a bag with you to collect your rubbish.

For rainy days, to combat boredom and simply for fun, it’s worth packing a few games and picking out activities to do on site.

• Outdoor games such as frisbee, balls, Kubb

• Indoor games: paper and pens (for drawing, for playing Categories – how about using categories like food-camping object-animal?), puzzles, card games or board games

• Activities: especially in case of bad weather, it helps if you have some ideas for indoor activities, for example a bouldering hall or a swimming pool nearby. Maybe there are also child-friendly museums you can visit.

• Pack your rain gear: with the right clothes you can also enjoy a rainy day.

• Pack warm clothes: jumping into a puddle and getting wet doesn’t make you feel bad, but cold weather does. That’s why you should always have a quick-drying and good insulating layer with you.