Kids and Camping

One of the best things you can do with your kids is to go camping! Some of my family's best memories are the ones that include camping. If you ask my kids today (they are now young adults) what some of their best memories are they would say the following - roasting marshmallows, playing games at the picnic table, riding their bikes through the campground, eating some of the best suppers because food always tastes better when you are outside and camping!

However there are three important things that people need to be mindful of when camping with your kids. 

• Vehicle Safety- kids are excited to camp and they tend not to be very self aware of what is around them. Mix that with large RV's being driven or towed and this can create a dangerous situation quickly! Large rigs find it hard to see around and behind them and there are MANY blind spot. Kids are fast and small and cannot always be seen. So it should go without saying that you need to remind your children that if they see any vehicles in the park to BE CAREFUL and help the kids to understand that just because you see the RV does not mean the driver of that RV can see them.
• Safety with Strangers - many parents have the false presumption that a campground is a "safe" place and they let their kids go and explore without a lot of adult supervision. This is not always a good thing! There can be a large amount of traffic that may travel through a campground for a variety of reasons. These reasons can vary from family and friends coming to visit you to the "lookie loos" that want to see what the campground is like.  We tend to be more relaxed when camping and so our guard tends to go down. This means we tend to be more friendly with strangers etc. Be mindful of where your children are and who they may be talking to. Do not allow you children to be out of site without a buddy or a trusted adult. There still can be dangers that children may not be aware of. As owners/operators we try hard to ensure that we have a handle on who is in our park at any given time- but I think we all know that you don't really know people and their motives. So keep a good eye on your kids and where they are at all times.
• Respect for others privacy - most of us would agree that when we hear kids being noisy that is a good thing....well okay not always! Not everyone has children and not everyone will enjoy your children! (yes that is true!) Kids are excited about their surroundings and they are exploring and playing! This is good and we want to encourage this excitement for life! However, we as parents need to balance this with teaching respect for their surroundings and respect for others. What does this mean? One thing it means is teaching your kids not to run through other people's sites. This is basic common etiquette. Equate it to me walking through your backyard to get to my friends house across the street from you. I think that after a while this practice would begin to grate on your nerves - especially if I do it with a lot of exuberance!? People have paid for their site- they want to enjoy their peace and quiet and will most likely not appreciate you or your kids walking through their campsite to go to the bathroom or the store etc.  Be respectful and walk around- use the roadways or an empty site, get in those extra exercise steps! But respect others and their right to enjoy their site without kids that do not belong to them running through it.

These are just three things to contemplate and then act on while camping with your family. We want you to have the best experience - but really the best experience always begins with you!