Tag Archives: family camping trip

Camping and Outdoor Cooking Safety

There’s nothing better than venturing into the great outdoors and cooking traditional food filled with authenticity and natural flavor. It’s a chance to get back to the basics while achieving tastes that you can’t get in any fancy kitchen. Camping trips are simply incomplete without great food, and it’s your responsibility to explore as many tasty options as possible. While enjoying yourself should be a priority, you have to remember that it’s not all fun and games. There are basic elements you need to address in order to preserve the safety of your entire family. It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to anything camping related, and this fully applies to outdoor cooking as well. Here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind the next time you go camping.

Set up a Safe Cooking Space – it’s absolutely essential to finding a good place for your gas or charcoal grill. You should have a firm surface that limits the likelihood of tipping. Some smaller grills don’t handle weight well so you have to be careful about where you put them. It’s far better to find a sturdy model anyways so that you get a full barbecue that can accommodate your entire family. Most importantly, don’t make the drastic mistake of attempting to barbecue inside your tent!

Clean Your Equipment – it’s important to be familiar with your equipment and maintain it properly in an outdoor environment. Make sure to read instructions carefully and ensure there are no loose bits and pieces, especially if you’re working with a gas model. Keep it well stored at all times and make sure that you clean it after each cooking session so that you don’t get unwanted leftovers in your next meal.

Food Safety – you won’t have the luxury of working with modern refrigerators so that means you have to be more diligent with basic food safety. Keep your coolers separated and well-stocked while teaching your kids about basic food handling practices. There’s nothing worse than catching a bout of food poisoning while camping, so you have to make sure to keep uncooked meat separate from everything else. And if you have thawed anything from your cooler, make sure that you cook it right away rather than putting it back inside.

Cook your Food Thoroughly – you might be tempted to rush the process because everything smells so good. Just make sure that you have patience with your grill so that all of your food is cooked evenly. Barbecuing is actually a pretty simple process and thanks to modern gas grills, all you really have to do is let your meat sit until it’s done. You might even want to bring along a meat thermometer if you’re cooking larger cuts of beef or chicken.

Careful Precautions – common sense always wins out in any camping environment. Something should go without saying, but it’s always good to remind yourself of basic safety practices. For example, keep your barbecue well away from dry areas and always be aware of the danger of forest fires. Keep water or a fire extinguisher handy in case things get out of control. Also ensure that when you’re done, your coals have died and there are no errant sparks that can cause potential problems.

Keep the Kids Away – a campsite can get pretty chaotic if you happen to bring your children. This is why you need to know where they are at all times. Designate a cooking area and tell your kids to stay away until you’re done. The last thing you need is one of your children running into your portable charcoal grill and potentially harming themselves. Don’t worry, they’ll get their chance to participate as they grow older but for now keep them away from the grill.

How To Make Your Car Camping Check List

Are you the type of person that likes to make check lists out for everything that you do including car camping? Are you looking for a general car camping check list before you make your next adventure camping trip? I like to use a checklist before I leave on a trip so I do not forget critical items such as flashlights, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and a tent. The beautiful thing about car camping is that you can always purchase a forgotten item on the road. Using a camping checklist will prevent any of this.

I like to divide my camping check-list into multiple categories to make it easy for me and my wife to use. For example, I use a clothing checklist; frequently used staple foods checklist; first aid kit checklist; sleeping gear checklist; automobile checklist; gadgets checklist; etc. I don’t suggest getting to obsessed with your checklist as it will evolve as you gain experience with each camping trip. On the other hand, if you have never gone on a car camping trip, then it will be wise to use a general camping checklist and modify it to your needs before your departure.

After completing your camping checklist, you may notice that it includes items that are not on other campers list. This is normal as you are unique. If you cannot live without an item, make sure that it goes on your checklist.

Your final checklist can be used and modified to fit any camping or travel situation that you go on. Even if you go on ski trips during the winter and stay in hotels, you can copy and paste essential items from this checklist.

Basic Essential Outdoor Camping Checklist

Family camping trip ideas.

Water Storage Solutions

5 gallon stainless steel water jugs.
Small portable BPA free 1 liter water bottles.

Camp Cooking Kit & Accessories

Large stock pot for making soups and sauces.
Round caste iron skillet or griddle.
Strainers washing vegetables and straining pasta.
Stainless steel drinking cups.
Coffee filters
Melitta Single cup drip coffee brewer.
Assortment of stainless steel or plastic flatware.
Stainless steel measuring cup.
Measuring spoons.

Car Camping Tent & Equipment

Camping tent.
Goose down or synthetic sleeping bags
Light weight camping air mattresses
Air mattress repair kit
Ground cloth to keep ground moisture out of tent
Camp towel for wiping down tent
Camp ax/hammer to pound in tent stakes
Spare tent stakes
Light weight rope

Automobile Checklist

Assortment of car campground maps
Local city and country maps
Campground atlas
Flash lights. Pack a lot of them as most flashlights are small and cheap
Multiple outlet power inverter
Large cooler
Small water bottles
Emergency first aid kit
Healthy snacks
Music CDs
Car emergency kit

As you can see, this list is not exhaustive. It’s a good starting point. Your camping checklist should be as unique as your own home. It will contain the basics camping essentials and the items that are unique to you and your family.

Modern Family Camping

I grew up in a family with loving and caring parents, with four children who honored and devoted their time and loyalty to the family. I grew up having a strong bond with my family. True, my brother and sisters would sometimes have arguments and disagreements but they were just that, arguments and disagreements, and we would always settle things before the day was through.

Every summer my family and I would go on a camping trip. Other families would to go to Europe to see the continent cross country, others to Hawaii and sun bathe on the beach, others yet go to Aspen and go skiing, but my family would go on camping trips. We spend our time hiking, fishing, enjoying nature, go river rafting, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, talking, sharing and bonding with one another. It is sort of a family tradition.

Now that we have grown and have families of our own we still get together and find time to go on a family camping trip. We have grown in number and going on camping trips is not as simple as it used to be. Before, we only had to bring the basic necessities like a torch stove for cooling, lanterns and flashlights, tents and sleeping bags.

Now, camping is like spending a couple of nights away from home but with all the amenities of home. Aside from the basic necessities, we now also have computers to keep tabs on what’s happening in the city, cell phones to keep in touch with other people, MP3s for music and although we don’t bring along a glass door refrigerator, we do bring a 12v refrigerator. Going camping is not as primitive as it used to be, but we still have fun. Family camping trips may not happen as often as we want it to, but we make sure that we do get together and go on trips whenever we can. It is still a great way to connect with family.

5 Tips for Camping with Children

Camping is a fun activity for your family. But what if you go with children? This may mean added responsibility on your end. But you do not have to worry. You can definitely still have fun in nature even with your kids running around.

Below are 5 tips to help you and your children enjoy the outdoors.

1. When you’re with older children, plan with them. Ask them where they want to go and what they want to experience. Involve them in the process so they both learn how to plan and also so they get to do things of interest to them.

2. When you’re with younger children, it’s best to have a “test” camping situation in your backyard before you actually go to the site. Teach your kids how to set up the tent. If they’re older, you can even teach them how to cook (while protecting the environment). In this way, they’ll learn skills that will last a lifetime and that they can teach their own kids someday.

3. Children must familiarize themselves with how to survive in the outdoors. Guide them. Teach them about safety and outdoor ethics. And just because you’re at a camping site, it does not mean that the chores end there. Show them ways to protect the environment by bringing reusable jars, rather than plastic bags, for their mouthwash and toothpaste. Tell them to not spit in the river or the lake.

4. Make sure you pack appropriately. When you’re with tykes, bring lots of extra shoes and clothes. Expect them to get wet and dirty. Bring insect repellent and sunscreen. Keep the first aid kid in your bag. You can also bring those travel toys like pocket scrabble or checkers in order to keep them entertained.

5. Ask your child if he or she wants to bring a familiar toy. A stuffed bear or a blanket will give the child a familiar sense of home in the tent as camping, particularly during the first time, can seem unnerving to a child.

Camping with children can be a challenge, but the reward’s are many fold the difficulties. Not only will camping allow you to bond with your child, it will also give you the opportunity to teach him or her to enjoy and help protect nature.

If you have a family, you have to read Maeyahn’s piece about camping with kids at state parks site NDParks.com.

Go take a family camping trip

A lot of people enjoy family camping; which can be very enjoyable, especially for kids. Family camping can help strengthen the bonds between family members; it is also a great way to relax and forget the different problems of everyday life.

The reason why you would bring your family with you on a family camping trip may vary. Some people want to be very active with their families, and the great outdoors help them do this. Other families go camping with their families to escape the different stresses and problems of everyday life. Going out in the woods with just you and a pop up tent can be a great experience.

Be sure that you check which family members are going with you on this trip. Each family member has different needs so make sure you know who is going with you on this camping trip, weeks in advance. You should also plan activities because some of your family members might get bored because they are not used to going camping. By doing this you can plan activities that everyone will enjoy and this will make your family camping trip all the more enjoyable. This goes for all other things regarding your family camping trip. Tailor your camping trip for your family because what works for other families may prove to be very boring, if your family is put in the same position. Doing this will make your family camping trip a lot more fun for you and for your family.

Choose a campsite that is big enough for you and your family and one that will provide a good level of comfort for you and your family. When planning a family camping trip let the members of your family make plans with you, or at least solicit their opinions. You do not want to do something that nobody agrees with just because your family members didn’t have any input in planning the family camping trip.

A family camping trip is a great way to teach the younger members of your family some survival skills, since there is no TV or computer of any kind in your campsite, it should be easy for you to convince them to do this if they are uncooperative.

Aside from some of the obvious hardships that come with planning a family camping trip and the stress of setting everything up once you are there, family camping trips can be fun and very rewarding. It may seem hard at first but it is very rewarding. There’s nothing like family bonding in a 3 man tent.

Boneblogger: Science and the outdoors

Exploring the natural world