Family Camping With Kids: What Changes, and What to Buy

The two things that decide the trip

Almost everything else — the food, the activities, the weather — is recoverable. A cold child at 2am is not, and it is the single most common reason a family does not go camping twice.

Sizing the tent

Tent capacity ratings assume adults lying shoulder to shoulder with no gear. CORE Equipment publishes both figures for its own tents: its 14 by 9 ft model is listed as “9 (industry standard) / 4 + gear (most comfortable)”. Take the number on the box, subtract two, and that is your family size.

Height matters as much as floor. A cabin tent with near-vertical walls and a 78 in center height gives you a space you can change a toddler standing up in; a dome with a 72 in peak gives you that only in the exact middle. Full math in what size tent do I need, and the tents themselves in best family camping tents.

Keeping children warm at night

• A real sleeping pad, not a foam mat. Body weight crushes the insulation under a sleeping bag, so the pad does the work. Aim for R 3 or higher outside high summer — see R-value explained.
• A bag that fits. An adult bag on a small child is a large volume of air for a small body to heat. If you are using a hand-me-down, cinch the foot with a cord or stuff a fleece into the bottom.
• A hat and dry socks that are worn only for sleeping. Cheap, and worth several degrees.
• Go to bed warm. A hot drink and five minutes of moving about beats any gear upgrade.

If a child was cold last time, work through why you get cold in a sleeping bag before spending money. The fix is usually free.

The first-trip plan

1. One night, close to home. Two hours away at most. If it goes wrong you can leave, and knowing that changes the whole mood.
2. Pitch the tent in the garden first. Children learn what it is, you learn how it goes up, and nobody discovers a missing pole at the campsite.
3. Arrive early. Three hours before sunset. Setting up in daylight with children helping is pleasant; doing it in the dark is not.
4. Give them jobs. Passing stakes, filling water containers, collecting firewood. Bored children at a campsite are a problem you create by not involving them.
5. Keep dinner simple. Something reheated that you cooked at home. Ambition is for the second trip.

What to bring that is specific to children

• A hammock. The single best entertainment-per-pound item at a campsite, and rated to 400 to 500 lb so two of them can pile in. See best camping hammocks.
• More clothing than seems reasonable. Children get wet. Two full changes per day is not excessive.
• Snacks that need no preparation. Meal timings slip outdoors.
• One familiar thing from home each. A specific blanket or toy makes an unfamiliar tent much less strange at bedtime.
• A first aid kit with the boring things. Plasters, antihistamine, tweezers for splinters, and any regular medication.

Bedtime, realistically

It will be later than at home and that is fine. What helps: keep the routine, even compressed — teeth, story, bed, in the same order. A dim lantern in the tent instead of a bright one. And accept that the first night is usually broken, because everything is new and every noise is unidentified. The second night is normally fine, which is a good argument for two nights rather than one once you have done it before.

Safety, briefly and without drama

• No stove or fuel inside a tent, ever. Carbon monoxide is odorless. Cook outside, under an awning if it rains.
• Agree a boundary on arrival and a rule about what to do if someone gets separated: stay put, use a whistle.
• Fire rules. Sitting distance, no running near the ring, and water beside it before it is lit.
• Food away at night, in the car or a locker as the campground directs.

Everything to pack is in the family camping checklist, and the general trip mechanics are in the car camping guide.