Читать книгу Camping With Kids - Goldie Silverman - Страница 8
ОглавлениеStarting Out
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.”
Camping provides quality time with family.
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: roller blades 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.
The third section, The Real Thing, covers your actual camping adventure. We start with the trip to the campground and how to keep the kids happy en route. We’ll set up your camp and go over the rules for life in camp. This section includes abundant details on what I learned from other families about good foods for camping. Another extensive section covers fun activities to keep you and the kids busy and entertained, with an emphasis on learning to love the outdoors.
Acknowledging that even the best plans sometimes go awry, the fourth section, Staying Safe, Sound, and Happy, covers what to do when things do not go as planned. One section covers contingency plans and emergencies. Safety on the road and in camp are primary concerns of mine, so I have created separate sections on safety on the road and in camp, dangers, first aid, and what to do if someone is lost.
The last section is Beyond Camping: Leaving the Car Behind. Here we assume that you have developed your car-camping skills in drive-in campgrounds, and you’re ready to take your family onto the next stage, backpacking, bike or canoe touring, or other outdoor adventures.
As you read through the sections, you will notice some recurring features. “Expert’s Advice” is an especially helpful hint or bit of wisdom from one of the experts who were interviewed for the book. “Helping Hands” indicates an activity in which your children can be involved. When you need to make a decision, a “Quick Quiz” will briefly lay out the alternatives. “Checklist” provides organizing tools to keep you on track. “Imaginary Camping” encourages you to think yourself into a camping situation. Also look for other sidebars throughout the book that highlight important ideas or information.
What Kind of Camper Am I?
Somewhere near a river, or a lake, or a seashore, in the Northwest, or the Southeast, or New England, at sunset: A light rain is falling. Parents are calling their children in for supper.
At a private campground, three kids are sitting around a table in their motorhome. They have just showered in their self-contained bathroom, and now they’re having lasagna, hot from the microwave oven, and a fresh green salad. After they eat, they might wander over to the clubhouse to play Ping-Pong, or they might watch television or a movie.
Down the road, at a public campground, three other kids are crowded around a table in their pop-up tent-trailer. They showered at the bathhouse down the road, and now they are having a thick stew that was prepared at home, carried in a cooler, and warmed on a propane stove. After they eat, they might wander down to the ranger’s nightly talk, or they might just stay in their bunks and read by the light of the wall lamps.
Nearby, at the same public campground, three more kids are sitting at a picnic table under a rain fly, eating hot dogs roasted on the fire pit at their campsite. They skipped their shower. After they eat, they, too, might attend the ranger’s talk, or they might crawl into the sleeping bags in their tent, where one of their parents will read to them by the light of a headlamp.
If you were to ask any of these children how they spent their vacations, they would all give the same answer: “We were camping.”
What is camping? Here’s my definition: spending the night up close to nature within a beautiful natural setting. Is staying in a tent in a state or national park camping? Definitely. Is hiking in that same park and going home to sleep camping? No, because you’re not staying overnight. Is staying in a hotel or resort within that park or right next to it camping? Not if you have to go down a flight of stairs or cross a lobby to get from your bed to the park. Is sleeping in a yurt, a cabin, or an RV considered camping? If you can step from your temporary home directly out to nature, then yes, you are camping.
So, what kind of camper are you? What can you tolerate? If you need a really comfortable bed to sleep in every night, you should opt for an RV. If you can sleep on an inflated mattress or even on a tarp on the ground, you could camp in a tent. If you must start every day with a hot morning shower and a clean set of clothes, go for the RV. If it doesn’t bother you to skip your shower for a day or two or even three, and if you can happily turn your shirt inside out or backward to create a clean shirt front, you can be a tent camper or even a backpacker.
What about meals? Does cooking over an open, smoky fire bring out the caveman or cavewoman in you, the connection to our earliest ancestors, or do you prefer your built-in burners, oven, microwave, and exhaust fan? In the evening, do you eat or dine?
To discover what kind of camper you are, consider the amenities you might find in an RV versus the features of tent camping, and then take an imaginary journey in your mind to decide where you and your family fit best.
IMAGINARY CAMPING
What Kind of Camping is Best for You?
To find out what kind of camper you are, practice imaginary camping. As you go through the activities of daily living, brushing your teeth and combing your hair, for example, or getting the kids ready for bed, or preparing meals and then cleaning up afterward, think about how you would carry out those activities in a camp setting. Are you willing to discreetly brush your teeth at a campsite? Could you dress the kids in their pajamas while you were kneeling on the floor of a tent? Imagine yourself carrying out those tasks in the open air with a picnic table and a tent as your only furnishings. Ask yourself:How long would my family be able to live under those circumstances. One night? A week?
Next, try to imagine performing those same tasks, at the same campsite, but with a van or a trailer that provided you with beds and a solid roof overhead. Imagine the same tasks in an RV with a sitting room and a separate bedroom.
Now move your imaginary tent or van or RV from a primitive state park with a lake but no indoor plumbing or hookups, to a plush private campground with a heated swimming pool, a playground, and a recreation center with a game room and movies every night. Ask yourself the same questions:How long would we be able to live under those circumstances. One night? A week?
Which scenario do you see yourself in? Don’t answer immediately. Take several days to think about it.
RV Amenities
An RV can come with all the appointments of your home kitchen—a refrigerator, freezer, stove, oven, microwave, and exhaust fan. RV campers can dine on gourmet foods, cooked and eaten indoors at a beautifully set table. An RV has built-in couches and a dinette table with benches or chairs. There are lots of cupboards and drawers so you can bring along books and games and other toys. The dinette and some of the couches convert into beds, and there is often another bed in a room of its own, which gives parents a measure of privacy.
RVs usually have kitchen and bathroom sinks, a toilet, a shower (or sometimes a bathtub), and one or more television sets. On long drives, the kids can watch their favorite videos. Some motorhomes have washers and dryers, although many campgrounds do not allow guests to run these appliances because they draw too much current.
Quick Quiz
What’s Your Camp Style?
1. How many clean fronts does a T-shirt have? Circle the right answer: 1 2 3 4
2. A campfire is:
a. a place to cook dinner.
b. the center of a social circle.
3. At minimum, a comfortable bed must have:
a. an inner-spring mattress.
b. a thin foam pad.
c. a tarp to cover the bare ground.
4. I can’t eat unless I have:
a. a table set with cloth, napkins, and china dishes.
b. no flies or mosquitoes.
c. a chair or bench with a comfortable back.
d. all of the above.
Answers: If your T-shirt has four clean fronts, if you cook on a campfire, and if you eat and sleep on the ground, you can be a backpacker. If your T-shirt has only one clean front, if you socialize around the fire, if you sleep on a mattress, and if you dine in style, you should choose an RV. Anyone in between can be a tent camper.
Some models of RVs have walls that slide out, making the interior even larger. On another outside wall, most have an awning, creating a shady haven for lounging or cooking outdoors. Often there is room underneath for bringing along tricycles, bicycles, and scooters.
RV amenities might include a satellite dish.
RVs are self-contained, which means that they carry propane gas for cooking and heating, a water supply for kitchen and bath, batteries for lights and television, and a holding tank for waste from the kitchen and bath. However, most RV campers prefer to park where they have a complete hookup, which means they connect to water, electricity, and sewer. Some private parks have deluxe hookups that also include cable and telephone service, and almost all parks have a dumping station so the holding tank can be emptied.
Features of Tent Camping
Tent campers do not have luxury kitchens. They cook outdoors over a fire or on a one- or two-burner gasoline or propane stove. They bring long-handled tools for roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, and aluminum foil for cooking in the coals. Tent campers store perishable foods in an ice chest and dry foods in a tightly closed container. At night they must store their foods where animals can’t get them. Some campgrounds provide creature-proof storage; in others, the food goes back in the car or it’s hung from a tree. Tent campers eat at picnic tables, sitting on benches that have no backs. While some bring folding chairs for lounging around the fire, many campers sprawl on the ground.
There are no bathrooms in a tent; you either shower in a bathhouse, if there is one, bathe in a basin, or skip it. Some campgrounds provide flush toilets in the bathhouse, but more primitive camps have only outhouses. Some campers carry portable potties to avoid a long walk to the outhouse in the middle of the night.
Tent campers carry water. Some of them bring big jugs from home. Others walk to a central spigot or pump in camp and carry water back to their campsite. If there is no central water supply, campers will pump and filter water from a lake or a stream and carry it back to camp.
Many campers deliberately choose to live for a few days with the barest minimum of essentials as a way of challenging themselves. In between those campers and those who go for the most luxurious of furnishings, there is a wide variety of opportunities. Campers in trailers, in pop-up tent-trailers with cloth side walls, and in outfitted vans have some of the amenities of the RV campers without the spaciousness. They also have some of the Spartan challenges of the tent campers.
How Can I Prepare My Family?
My friend Vicki has a lovely childhood memory of indoor camping. She had a “campfire” made of crumpled red and yellow tissue paper with a flashlight inside. She remembers eating lunch at her campfire, from a “mess kit” made from a recycled deli container filled with a sandwich, fruit, and snacks. Vicki probably thought this was a game, great fun, but her wise parents were actually preparing her for camping, learning to live in a tent. Preparing your family to camp is actually a learning experience, for you and for them. In this section, we will cover learning to live in a tent and in an RV; we’ll go over some ways to learn about nature, with special emphasis on two great programs, PEAK and Leave No Trace; and, finally, we’ll learn about campgrounds—they aren’t city parks.
Learning to Live in a Tent
A great way to prepare your kids—and yourself—for camping is to practice setting up your tent and letting your kids spend some time inside. You need to practice setting up your tent anyway; later, we’ll talk about near disasters that happened to people who tried to make camp when they didn’t know how to put the tent up.
If your tent is self-supporting, that is, if it doesn’t need to be pegged down, you can set it up in the family room or play room. Let your young children nap inside the tent. If your tent is set up outside, don’t just put it up and take it down, but leave it up for a while. Eat a meal outside next to or inside the tent. Perhaps you can even spend a night, or part of a night, sleeping outside.
IMAGINARY CAMPING
Camping at Home
Help your kids “experience” camping before you go by practicing camping at home. Make a tent by spreading a blanket over a low table or a chair tipped on its side. Let them spend time inside this smaller space, which will have the same feel as a tent.
Talking about the tent in advance and putting it up at home before your trip could avert a problem when night falls in camp. Many campers can tell you horror stories of being kept awake by a crying child two or even three campsites away from theirs. I can’t emphasize this enough: Practicing with the tent is a wise idea on two counts—you need to know how to do it, and young children need to feel that it’s a familiar space.
If you don’t have access to a tent, improvise. When my brothers and I were little, one of our favorite games was “covered wagon.” Every Saturday, we tipped our big rocking chair over and spread a blanket over the rockers. The room inside the blanket could just as easily been called a tent. If you don’t have a rocking chair, make your tent from a blanket and a card table or a low table or a tipped-over chair. Let your kids take a nap in their tent or take their favorite stuffed animals inside and tuck them in for a “nap.”
Learning to Live in an RV
If you’re planning to camp in an RV, you can also spend some days and even nights in it, if it’s parked at home. If you haven’t yet acquired the RV, whether you plan to rent or buy (more on this later), you can stop at an RV sales lot with your kids and walk through a few models.
If you’re driving somewhere where your route takes you past an RV sales lot, plan to leave an hour early to allow time to check out the RVs. Walk through the different models and show the kids where the bed is over the cab, if it’s that kind of arrangement, how the dinette folds down to make another bed, where the range and refrigerator are, where the toilet and the shower are located. Talk about who might sleep in each bed, and how you will eat breakfast after the dinette is folded into place again.
Don’t be shy about visiting RV lots more than once. Sales people in RV lots should welcome you as potential future customers.
Learning About Nature
At the same time you and your children are preparing to eat your meals and spend the night out of doors, you can be getting ready for the up-close-to-nature adventure of camping. Remember my definition of camping: spending the night up close to nature within a beautiful natural setting. Your goal is to make your children comfortable and curious in the out of doors.
You can begin to study nature in your own neighborhood. Start by taking “hikes” in your local park. Carry a magnifying glass for an up-close look at plants and insects. Older children can record their findings in a small notebook or tablet, or draw pictures with colored pencils. If you have a digital camera, let them use it to record what they see for their very own nature CD.
HELPING HANDS
Mini Museum
Your children will gain interest in nature and the things you might see on your camping trip if you help them start a “museum.” Encourage your children to pick up interesting specimens on your hikes and clear a shelf or table top to display these interesting finds at your home.
Take time to look at the plants that grow around you. Examine the way plants change in the course of just a few weeks, from bud to flower to seed. Find the stump of a tree that was cut and count the rings. How old was that tree when it was cut? Measure the tree’s circumference and diameter. (These are good words to teach your 9- and 10-year-old children, but for 6- or 7-year-olds, just explain how many inches the tree is across or around.) You’ll need to carry a tape measure.
A visit to a pond or a lake can be an opportunity to look at rocks on the shore: How many different colored rocks can you find? Bundle up on a rainy day and go out to look for animal tracks—dogs, cats, squirrels, birds—in the mud. Or make your own tracks and study them. Who has the biggest track? Who has the most distinguished tracks? Why are some tracks deeper than others?
A simple walk to find cones and pretty leaves teaches kids about nature.
The birds and “wild animals” in your neighborhood are another focus for nature study. How many different kinds of birds can you see? How many squirrels? Can you catch a butterfly or a flying bug in a net? Look at the butterflies you see and draw pictures of them. Look at the way butterflies and other flying bugs move through the air. Remember the boxer who “danced like a butterfly?” Can you and your children dance like a butterfly?
Where you live, do you have the ducks, Canada geese, raccoons, and possums that I have in my urban Seattle neighborhood? If not, a trip to the zoo may be in order, not to look at exotic animals but to concentrate on the locals.
CHECKLIST
Young Scientist’s Nature Kit
Magnifying glass
Notebook and pencils
Colored pencils
Camera
Tape measure
Butterfly net
Flashlight
Binoculars
These in-city excursions are good times to begin teaching your children respect for nature. They can look at the animals, but they should not chase them, feed them, or pick them up. They should learn to look at but not pick the plants. On the other hand, if something is already detached and lying on the ground, such as a pine cone or a pretty rock, it is permissible to pick it up.
Let your child start a “museum” at home of interesting specimens he or she has collected on your walks. Set aside a shelf or a table top for the collection. Be sure to return those items to the park when you clear the shelf
Since your camping trip will include nights spent out of doors, take some of your nature hikes at night. Look at the full moon with binoculars. Look at the stars. A 5-year-old might be able to learn to recognize the Big and Little Dippers. With help, older children could find other constellations. Older children can also track the phases of the moon, from new to full and back to new again.
Step into the backyard at night or go to a safe park and listen. What can you hear? At my house, I hear ducks quacking and geese honking as they fly by. Keep a night journal of what you see and hear. Use a flashlight to look at, and under, the plants in your yard. Are there insects there that you didn’t see during the day? Can you find a moth? Moths are creatures of the night, while butterflies are seen during the day. Moths spread their wings out flat, while resting butterflies generally hold their wings up straight.
Sometimes the out of doors can be studied indoors. Parents who are feeling intimidated at the idea of all this nature study because they have no background for it can accompany their kids to the closest library. Spend an afternoon browsing through the books on birds, bugs, rocks, flowers, and plants. Younger children will be content to look at the pictures. Older children can select some books to take home. Ask the librarian for help finding the books appropriate for the age and interest of your children. While you’re there, look at the books on camping, too.
Is there a museum of science or natural history near your home? Is there a botanical garden or a greenhouse in a public park? An ecology center? An outdoor store? Any of those places will have displays or exhibits that you can use to say, “This is what we might see when we’re camping.”
Quick Quiz
Nature Study
Q: How many places are there near your home where you can begin to study nature?
A: Your yard, the library, the park, the science museum, a botanical garden.
PEAK and Leave No Trace
REI, the outdoor retail cooperative, and Leave No Trace (LNT), an organization that teaches responsible outdoor recreation, have joined together to offer a program they call Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids, or PEAK. PEAK is based on the seven principles of Leave No Trace.
REI will send staff members or volunteers to speak to your child’s class or youth group or even birthday party. A PEAK presentation is made up of several different activities. Wendy Miller, events and outreach coordinator at the REI in Seattle, told me about an activity called the Web of Life that has been very popular in our area. This activity introduces the seven principles through a game in which kids use cards around their necks to trace the food chain, from mosquito to salmon to bear. For other presentations, the REI representative may bring a backpack containing camping equipment useful for responsible camping, like a trowel for digging a hole for your human waste, or a bear bag for storing food out of the reach of animals.
Contact the REI store nearest you (find one by calling 800-426-4840 or visiting www.rei.com) to arrange an age-appropriate presentation for your group. Visits can last one to two hours. You can learn more about Leave No Trace on their website, www.lnt.org, or by calling 800-332-4100. I believe that every family should adopt these principles as their personal outdoor creed. You will find these ideas repeated many times through this book.
Following the principles of Leave No Trace means leaving what you find, but picking the occasional blackberry is OK.
Principles of Leave No Trace
1. Know before you go: Be prepared with the right clothes and equipment. Know how you are going to camp and something about the area. Read Planning Your Trip.
2. Choose the right path: Stay on the trail. Do not walk on wildflower meadows or areas that have been marked for rehabilitation. Choose a campground that has the features you want, and, once you’re there, camp in a designated campsite. Read the sections Where Shall We Go?, and What if Someone is Lost?.
3. Trash your trash: Put all litter in trash cans or carry it home. Carrying it home is better than leaving it in camp; some park budgets have been cut so drastically that trash is not picked up as often as it should be. If there is no bathroom or outhouse, bury your poop in a hole 4 to 8 inches deep and 100 big steps from any stream or lake. (Leave No Trace assumes that a “big step” is 2 feet long, for a total of 200 feet away from water.) Carry your toilet paper out in a plastic bag. Keep water clean. Do not put soap, food, or any other waste in lakes or streams. Read the section What’s Life in Camp Really Like?.
4. Leave what you find: Here, I disagree a little bit with LNT guidelines. I think it’s OK to collect rocks on the beach and leaves or plant material that have already fallen, unless they are special plants, like cones from sequoia trees. Treat living plants with respect. Leave historical items as you found them so the next person can enjoy them. Don’t dig trenches or build structures in your campsite. Read the section What Should We Do for Fun?.
5. Be careful with fire: Before you build a campfire, check fire regulations and restrictions for the local area. Use a fire ring that’s already in place and keep your fire small. Do not take branches from living trees; collect only loose sticks on the ground. Be sure the fire is completely cold and out before you leave. Read the section called How Do We Cook in Camp?.
6. Respect wildlife: Observe animals from a distance and never approach, chase, or feed them. Human food is unhealthy for animals; feeding them will start them on bad habits. Store your food and trash so animals can’t get to them. Control pets at all times or leave them at home. Reread the paragraphs on animals in this section, and read the paragraphs in the relevant sections in What’s Life in Camp Really Like?, How Do We Cook in Camp?, and What Should We Do for Fun?.
7. Be kind to other visitors: Make sure the fun you have does not bother anyone else. Remember that other campers may be there to enjoy the peace and quiet of the outdoors. Avoid making loud noises or yelling. See the section on good manners in camp.
Learning about Campgrounds
When John Silverman was in pre-school, he was part of a group of children who were chosen to appear on a local children’s television program. He had watched this program many times. We took him to the studio, he looked around, and he said, “This isn’t what I thought it would be. Where is the little box?”
You and your children may have had a lot of conversations about camping, but the kids’ perceptions of what a campground is like may be a little bit skewed. It’s not your backyard! Try to find a park near your home that allows camping, and walk through it. Point out the fire pits, the picnic tables, and the platforms for tents or RVs. Show them the bathrooms or outhouses. If you’re going to be camping at a private campground, visit the KOA campground closest to your home. Look at their bathrooms, playgrounds, and pool, if there is one.
EXPERT’S ADVICE
Fun for Everyone
Everyone should have the opportunity to say what she or he would like to do while camping. When you’re finally in camp, make sure that you actually do at least one of the things that each person asked for. Hugh, who is 12, told me, “Before we went on the trip, it was important that my dad researched the area to see if it would be fun not only for us but for him, too.”
When you begin to plan the logistics of your camping trips, include the kids. Let them look at the maps of the states you will be visiting. Siblings can work together on this project. Even young pre-readers can find the little green trees or the red tents on the map that designate parks with camping. Older children can make lists of the parks they find.
When you send away for information about camping opportunities, ask to have the information sent to your kids’ names. They can have the thrill of a big packet of mail arriving just for them. If you have asked for material for children, they may find Junior Ranger or Smokey Bear pamphlets included. Young children can look at the pictures and all of you can talk about all the fun things you will do together. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to say what she or he would like to do while camping.
Websites for Kids
Older kids can begin to research your camping trip on the web. If they go to www.50states.com, they can learn a lot about the state they will be visiting. If they go to the National Park Service site, www.nps.gov, they can learn about the national park, monument, seashore, historic site, or forest that you will be visiting.
They can also become Junior Rangers or WebRangers. Official Junior Rangers are programs in state and national parks, but your kids can learn about them before you leave home. Just go to www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.htm, or ask your browser for Junior Ranger. Or, if you go to the National Park Service’s website, www.nps.gov, first click on Interpretation and Education, and then click on GoZONE.
CHECKLIST
Websites for Kids
Information about states: www.50states.com
Information about national parks: www.nps.gov
Information about Junior Rangers: www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.htm
Information about WebRangers: www.nps.gov/webrangers
If you don’t have access to a computer, use your local library to research the states and the parks you will visit. Have your children call the office of the national park that interests you. The ranger I spoke to at Mt. Rainier National Park assured me that they would mail the Junior Ranger booklet or other educational packets to anyone who called. For programs in state parks, call or go to the park information center for that state, just as you will do when you are seeking information about camping in that state.
While the Junior Ranger program is for visitors to the parks, WebRanger is a National Park Service program for stay-at-homes. It begins and ends at your computer desk. By logging onto www.nps.gov/webrangers, your child can explore the national parks, complete activities, and win awards. Programs are age appropriate, 6 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 and up, and new activities are added often. The kids will be learning about natural science and American history while they are having fun. It’s a good way to get them excited about and prepared for upcoming trips, or even to help plan next year’s trip. WebRanger allows kids to learn about national parks even if they can’t visit them, and they send a strong message about caring for our parks and our world.
Some parks have their own websites, with pictures of the facilities, including campsites. This is another place for imaginary camping. Look at the pictures with your kids and talk about how you might camp there.
Sam and Sarah like to research their camping trips online.
Finally, when you talk to your kids about camping, make sure that your questions don’t mislead them. If you ask what they would like to eat when camping, they may request something that would be very difficult or impossible to prepare on a camp stove. If you ask which toys they will take, they may list something like Lego, which has a lot of small pieces that would be scattered all over a campsite.
IMAGINARY CAMPING
Campsite Specifics
Look at the various camping websites and find some with photos of campgrounds. After reviewing those, talk with your children about how they would imagine camping at these places. Ask them what they would eat while camping, and what toys they would bring. Of the activities described on the website, what would they do during the day?
Instead, be very specific. When you’re having mac and cheese, you can ask, “Would you like to have this when we’re camping?” When you’re picking up or putting away toys, you can say, “Teddy can go camping with us, but maybe Barbie should stay home (unless there is a Camping Barbie).”
You may be surprised to see your small children begin to incorporate what you have told them into their play. Babies will be babies no matter what you tell them, but toddlers and pre-schoolers might begin to tell their dolls and stuffed animals that they are going camping. Teddy bears can “camp” under a tent made from a favorite blanket.
When I was asked to write this book, my grown daughter gave me a toy camping set made by Danny First. It has a little tent, two cloth dolls (boy and girl), two air mattresses, two sleeping bags, an inflatable boat, and a collection of animals—a skunk, a moose, and a raccoon. Children who have visited me, as young as 2, even the kids who have never camped, seem to understand immediately how to play with the set. A clever parent could replicate some of the items with toys your children already own and a sleeping bag made of a washcloth or a square of felt folded in half and stitched together on two sides.
