Childrens Summercamps

Activities to Help Children Prepare for Their First Camping Trip
By Sandy Rajsic

Taking your child on his very first camping trip can be very exciting for you and your child. It can also be very scary, especially for your child. In order to ease your child's fears, I have put together some suggestions that might help you and your child to prepare for the first time in the Great Outdoors. These activities are a way of helping your child get some experience and comfort with the outdoors without being far away from home for days at a time.

The best way to help your child get acquainted with camping is to have a campout that isn't too far away. In other words, have the campout in your own backyard. This allows the family to have the experience of camping out without leaving the security of the house. Being in your own backyard has the advantage of canceling the campout if the weather turns bad.

You may also decide to ease into camping by having a series of campouts in the backyard. For each additional camping adventure, you can add on a responsibility. For instance, the first trip might include setting up the tent and sleeping out. For smaller children, they will be able to focus on setting up the tent properly. The next trip might include building a fire to cook a snack. Your child will be able to focus on building and maintaining a camp fire safely.