About Sweetmama Editor
Nadine Silverthorne’s love of journaling began in Grade One with the entry, “I am the greatest dancer!” Two babies (and countless diaper changes) later, she has found her home away from home as editor of SweetMama. Don’t miss her humorous bi-weekly accounts of the joys and pains of working while raising them fabulous.
How to Go Camping With Kids
silver spoons: family camping tips and tricks canada
(Jun.20.11)
Once up on a time, I was a reluctant camper. A fashion-loving, urban-living editor, the outdoors were not my strong suit. "But there's no WIFI! Or Starbucks! How is it a vacation if I have to SURVIVE it?" I would cry, obsessively checking the forecast for days before we left, and being horrified at the site of cloud icons with lightening bolts over top.
Then last summer, it occurred to me that I now loved it. It hit me out of the blue, looking out over the lake with my sleepless daughter (who always wakes at 5:30am when we camp). As we dined on our amazing souvlaki and grilled vegetable dinner that night, I realized that, hey, I was a pretty good camper! When did that happen?
Friends now ask me for tips on camping with kids. How young is too young? What do we need to bring? And while discussing this via email with a few of them, here are some of the tips I've come up with to help you enjoy camping as a family.
1. Get the right gear. The first year we camped as a family, we had my husband's "camping with the boys" gear. No good. You need to be comfortable. (Read: air mattresses and a tent that fits two more bodies than the number of people sleeping in it — kids have a lot of gear!) And you need to be able to cook for many. (Read Coleman stove, not single burner from his portaging trip through Algonquin.) See my Ultimate Camping Checklist for a complete list.
2. Borrow from friends or rent your gear. If point #1 made you see dollar signs, don't fret. The reason families love to camp is that it's affordable. Most campsites in Canada range between $25-50 per night. If you're trying it out to see if it suits your style, borrow from experienced friends, who will likely have their gear down to just what you need (no one likes multiple trips to the car). If you find you like camping, check out the message boards on MEC.ca (members sell their gear all the time) or try Craigslist or Kijiji. Build your gear list slowly. (Dad just got his first tent for Father's Day, so my sister-in-law should expect to have hers returned to her finally!)
3. Camp with another family so that labour is distributed. For example, the moms take kids to beach while the dads set up tents and do the lugging. Dads are at beach while moms make meals, etc. Everybody gets a turn washing dishes. The kids are over the moon at waking up to see their friends at the breakfast table. It's a win-win.
4. Don't get over-ambitious. Portaging with a newborn can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you like throwing yourself extra curveballs. If your family has kids under age six, stick to car camping for a while. When they're old enough to help carry a canoe through a forest, you can consider adventure camping again.
5. Pick the right age. We first camped when Lucy was 11-months-old and crawling. Crawling and forest floors don't mix, unless you don't mind finding rocks and twigs in a diaper. Also, you couldn't pay me to sleep in a tent when pregnant. (But I'm kind of a princess like that.) You know your kids and yourself. Listen to the little voice in your head that tells you when something might make you uncomfortable. (a.k.a. don't let your partner goad you into camping when you know you'll have a lot of work to do with keeping the wee ones out of harm's way.)
6. Pick the right spot. We recently ran the best local campsites in our city-specific editions (Did you know you could find out the newest and most timely local mom- and kid-friendly information from us, direct to your inbox?). Check out family-friendly campsites near Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
7. Make peace with dirt. And bugs. Everyone will be filthy until you come home. There will be mosquito bites. But there will also be s'mores, campfire and tent snuggles, and "I saw a loon Mom!" I never thought I'd say this, but there's something about being outdoors 24-7 that is so good for the soul. By the end of 2-3 days, your city girl fancy ways are so broken down by dirt, sand and smoke that you discover who you really are underneath the layers. And being a family around the clock like that, sleeping so close, swimming all day, well, that makes for a special trip indeed.
And I figured out that my BlackBerry works at the gates of the park...
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