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<\/p>\nSummer has arrived and it\u2019s just a few weeks until the schools break up for the long summer break. Sadly, for many of us, holidays abroad are largely out of reach, thanks to the extortionate prices travel companies charge during the last weeks of July and throughout August. However, camping, with a little planning, can be a fabulous alternative. Offering your children the chance to have a mini adventure, camping is a great way to enjoy some family bonding time and get out into the Great Outdoors.<\/p>\n
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If you have never been camping before, then you understandably will be apprehensive about uprooting your family and their routine to spend a few nights under the canvas. However, there are plenty of reasons to consider it!<\/p>\n
If your budget is prohibitive, then camping can be a way of having a family holiday for a fairly low cost. You don\u2019t need to purchase lots of equipment. A tent, sleeping mats or airbeds, sleeping bags, a camp stove and some pans, and a torch is all you really need. Most of these can be picked up second hand on eBay, Gumtree, and Facebook selling groups. Then all you need to pay for is pitch fees. The fees can vary considerably between sites and depend on the size of your tent, whether you need electric hook up, and the facilities that are on offer.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if money isn\u2019t an issue, and not having your home comforts puts you off camping, then consider glamping. Many of the larger campsites (and a few of the smaller sites) have a selection of luxurious camping options for guests to book into. Camping pods are small wooden cabins that are usually fitted with electric, heating, and lighting. Some offer additional facilities, such as beds and basic cooking facilities, whilst the most luxurious pods include sofas and televisions. Yurts are large, round tents that tend to be fitted with plush carpets, beds, sofas, and kitchen equipment for the ultimate in home comforts.<\/p>\n
Helping out with family tasks is a sure-fire way of helping your family bond together. Even your two-year-old can join in with pitching up by holding pegs, whilst older children can hammer them into the ground. Once you are all set up, you can enjoy some quality family time together. Devices can be left at home in favour of more traditional games that involve the whole family, such as Uno\u00a0and Monopoly.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, whilst children generally do need routine during their day-to-day life, camping gives us an opportunity to ignore the restrictions a routine might place on us. Bedtimes become more relaxed, as a set time doesn\u2019t really matter, especially when the summer evenings bring bright sunshine, and mealtimes become more enjoyable, as you eat simple food heated on the camp stove and served on special camping plates.<\/p>\n
We all know the benefits of getting children into the great outdoors. The exposure to sunlight helps to generate vitamin D, an important nutrient for growth, whilst the opportunity to run around, climb trees, and build dens, all help to improve strength and fitness. But research from Liverpool John Moores University that was carried out on behalf of the Camping and Caravanning Club has shown that camping itself can have benefits to the mental well-being of children. The research found that 87% of kids who camp reported camping makes them feel really happy, 80% of camping kids said that their parents seemed less stressed during a camping trip than normal, and 76% of camping kids claimed that during camping trips their parents have more time for hugs than usual.<\/p>\n
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Even if you were a seasoned camper in your younger days, taking your children camping for the first time can be daunting. If you are not sure where to start, check out these top tips.<\/p>\n
These days, there are a myriad of tents available and it can be mind boggling for anyone who has never camped before to choose one. Think carefully about your circumstances before you pick a tent. If you are planning to only do one or two night camping trips then it\u2019s probably not worth buying a huge family tent. Some may even be bigger than the average lounge of a three bed semi detached house, but it will take a long time to put up, take up loads of room in the car, and will restrict your choice of campsite to those who are large enough to accept tents of this size. On the other hand, if you are planning to go for a few days or more, this sort of tent is ideal, giving you plenty of room to stretch out, especially if you are planning on visiting some of the campsites in Europe for extended trips.<\/p>\n
If you have a young baby or toddler, then you probably need a tent where you can either all share a room, or have easy access in the night to where the toddler is sleeping. In this case, look for a tent that either has the option to divide a larger room into two with a simple partition, which will mean that you can share for now and split the rooms when the toddler is older. Alternatively, look for a tent where there is zip access between the bedrooms.<\/p>\n
The British weather isn\u2019t always ideal for camping, so look for a tent that has enough space for you all to sit indoors and play a board game should the need arise.<\/p>\n