Camping With Kids: Complete Guide to Car Tent and RV Camping

Camping With Kids: Complete Guide to Car Tent and RV Camping

by Goldie Silverman
Camping With Kids: Complete Guide to Car Tent and RV Camping

Camping With Kids: Complete Guide to Car Tent and RV Camping

by Goldie Silverman

Paperback

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Overview

Camping—the perfect family vacation!

On your next family trip, enjoy learning about nature, roasting marshmallows on the campfire, and finally curl up for the night in a cozy sleeping bag. This step-by-step guide covers everything you need to know to take your family camping; how to prepare, where to go, what to pack, what to do in camp, and how to handle things that go awry. In this book, longtime outdoorswoman Goldie Gendler Silverman shares wisdom gained from more than 100 expert campers. This inspiring guide also offers on introduction to other family outdoor activities, including river rafting, bicycle touring, boating, and more. Whether you're a seasoned camper ready to introduce your kids to the outdoors or you have never camped before, this book is packed with tips and ideas for all!


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780899973616
Publisher: Wilderness Press
Publication date: 12/14/2005
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Goldie Gendler Silverman grew up in Nebraska and learned to camp in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Arizona. After several years of teaching English at the high school and university levels, she began writing remedial reading textbooks, co-authored four cookbooks, and then went on to write Backpacking with Babies and Small Children, published first by Signpost Books and later by Wilderness Press. Mother of three grown children and two almost-grown grandchildren, Goldie now hikes all over the world, but still backpacks with her family near her home in Seattle.

Read an Excerpt

Why Camp?

Camping is so much fun! If you have never tried it, you can probably think of all sorts of reasons not to camp, like never having managed a tent or slept on the ground, or your kids are too young, or it’s too much work. But balance against all that the wonderful feelings your children will develop about themselves and about their families. Consider some of the good things my student essay writers told me about their camping experiences.

Many of the young people used the word “awesome,” this time close to its original meaning, inspiring awe, the feeling of reverence or admiration for that which is grand or sublime or powerful. They also talked of the pleasure of having their parents’ undivided attention, and of being outdoors all the time.

Ella, 11, and Stephen, 12, both agreed that when you are camping, you get to spend quality time bonding with your family. For Shannon, 12, who recalled her first camping trip when she was 8 years old, exploring her camping area with a friend was “as adventurous as two naturalists braving the African jungles alone.” Bridget, 12, wrote that when it was time to leave, “We were all disappointed because camping was so much fun.” Emily and Hannah, both 11, waxed poetic. Emily felt that she was in a “wonderland where you are one with nature.” She loved the nights listening to “the chirp of the crickets and grasshoppers and laying down on the ground and looking up at the stars.” Hannah, like Emily, remembered seeing “the stars at night in the crystal-clear sky and never wanting to leave.” She also remembered “the smell of everything, the way the air and the pine trees and the way a campfire smelled.” And because her family doesn’t camp anymore, she has to have “the memories of that one camping trip to last me a lifetime.”

Other students whose families had never taken them camping wished that they could go. “My dad used to camp often with his family when he was young, but no one in our family has been really interested… I think camping would be fun,” one young woman wrote, adding that if she could only go camping, she has been thinking about what she would take with her: rollerblades or a bike, lots of food, clothes, ingredients for s’mores, and folding chairs, all in an RV. A young man wrote: “I do not know if I will ever go camping in my life, but I would sure enjoy it.” Contrast those wistful comments with those of Eric, 11: “It was the best time I ever had with my dad.”

Why do we take our children camping? For the same reasons we do it ourselves. Camping is a wonderful way for a family to vacation, and it’s an opportunity for children and parents to spend time together and get to know each other better. Camping can be luxurious or spare. Camping families may cover many miles or restrict themselves to a single park. The usual rules of hygiene may be followed or relaxed. It can be fun, educational, and economical.

Camping can be a spiritual experience, as it is for Sara and her family, who often read a prayer service together when they are camped on the Sabbath. Or it can be a challenge, as it is for Diana’s family, who try to live for a few days with a minimum of material goods. Or it can be an exercise in simplicity, as it is for Madelaine, who says year-round living in a house with all its conveniences is artificial compared to basic living outdoors in a tent. Making a little section of the woods into a home, she says, puts her in touch with ancestors who might have been nomads or cavemen. Camping is an individual experience. Let’s begin your unique adventure.

What’s in this Book?

Parents who never camped as children may wish to try it but feel a little reluctant to undertake a new activity that seems so demanding. That’s where Camping with Kids comes in. I reached out to more than 100 individuals, parents and kids of all ages, to learn how they camped and what they thought about it. Based on their responses, this book will take you, step by step, through the decisions you need to make in order to create your own extraordinary camping experience and cherished family memories.

How this Book is Organized

  • Starting Out
  • Planning Your Trip
  • The Real Thing
  • Staying Safe, Sound, and Happy
  • Beyond Camping: Leaving the Car Behind

There are five basic sections to Camping with Kids. Each section begins with a short list of topics that section will cover. Think of them as my FAQ, frequently asked questions. The first section, Starting Out, is where we are presently. Now that you have decided to try camping, we’ll go on to help you decide what kind of camping experience you’ll look for and how you will camp, in a tent or a recreation vehicle, also called an RV. Finally, we’ll go on to discuss how to help your kids prepare for their adventures in the outdoors, and what to expect of them.

Planning your trip is the topic of the second section. First, we’ll find just the right campground for your family’s adventure, and we’ll tell you how to reserve your place there. Next, we’ll go over what you need to take, for your needs in camp and for fun there. This section also covers how to pack for your trip—which can be a challenge when you need to get your entire family and their belongings for the trip into your car. Recognizing that not all of us are the same, a section on special concerns covers topics that range from camping with infants or toddlers to religious observances to camping with a disabled child to taking the dog along.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Starting Out

Planning Your Trip

The Real Thing

Staying Safe, Sound, and Happy

Beyond Camping: Leaving the Car Behind

Appendix: Resources

Index

About the Author

Photo Credits

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