EXPERT’S ADVICE
Fun for Everyone
Everyone should have the opportunity to say what she or he would like to do while camping. When you’re finally in camp, make sure that you actually do at least one of the things that each person asked for. Hugh, who is 12, told me, “Before we went on the trip, it was important that my dad researched the area to see if it would be fun not only for us but for him, too.”
When you begin to plan the logistics of your camping trips, include the kids. Let them look at the maps of the states you will be visiting. Siblings can work together on this project. Even young pre-readers can find the little green trees or the red tents on the map that designate parks with camping. Older children can make lists of the parks they find.
When you send away for information about camping opportunities, ask to have the information sent to your kids’ names. They can have the thrill of a big packet of mail arriving just for them. If you have asked for material for children, they may find Junior Ranger or Smokey Bear pamphlets included. Young children can look at the pictures and all of you can talk about all the fun things you will do together. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to say what she or he would like to do while camping.
Websites for Kids
Older kids can begin to research your camping trip on the web. If they go to www.50states.com, they can learn a lot about the state they will be visiting. If they go to the National Park Service site, www.nps.gov, they can learn about the national park, monument, seashore, historic site, or forest that you will be visiting.
They can also become Junior Rangers or WebRangers. Official Junior Rangers are programs in state and national parks, but your kids can learn about them before you leave home. Just go to www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.htm, or ask your browser for Junior Ranger. Or, if you go to the National Park Service’s website, www.nps.gov, first click on Interpretation and Education, and then click on GoZONE.
CHECKLIST
Websites for Kids
If you don’t have access to a computer, use your local library to research the states and the parks you will visit. Have your children call the office of the national park that interests you. The ranger I spoke to at Mt. Rainier National Park assured me that they would mail the Junior Ranger booklet or other educational packets to anyone who called. For programs in state parks, call or go to the park information center for that state, just as you will do when you are seeking information about camping in that state.
While the Junior Ranger program is for visitors to the parks, WebRanger is a National Park Service program for stay-at-homes. It begins and ends at your computer desk. By logging onto www.nps.gov/webrangers, your child can explore the national parks, complete activities, and win awards. Programs are age appropriate, 6 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 and up, and new activities are added often. The kids will be learning about natural science and American history while they are having fun. It’s a good way to get them excited about and prepared for upcoming trips, or even to help plan next year’s trip. WebRanger allows kids to learn about national parks even if they can’t visit them, and they send a strong message about caring for our parks and our world.
Some parks have their own websites, with pictures of the facilities, including campsites. This is another place for imaginary camping. Look at the pictures with your kids and talk about how you might camp there.
Sam and Sarah like to research their camping trips online.
Finally, when you talk to your kids about camping, make sure that your questions don’t mislead them. If you ask what they would like to eat when camping, they may request something that would be very difficult or impossible to prepare on a camp stove. If you ask which toys they will take, they may list something like Lego, which has a lot of small pieces that would be scattered all over a campsite.
IMAGINARY CAMPING
Campsite Specifics
Look at the various camping websites and find some with photos of campgrounds. After reviewing those, talk with your children about how they would imagine camping at these places. Ask them what they would eat while camping, and what toys they would bring. Of the activities described on the website, what would they do during the day?
Instead, be very specific. When you’re having mac and cheese, you can ask, “Would you like to have this when we’re camping?” When you’re picking up or putting away toys, you can say, “Teddy can go camping with us, but maybe Barbie should stay home (unless there is a Camping Barbie).”
You may be surprised to see your small children begin to incorporate what you have told them into their play. Babies will be babies no matter what you tell them, but toddlers and pre-schoolers might begin to tell their dolls and stuffed animals that they are going camping. Teddy bears can “camp” under a tent made from a favorite blanket.
When I was asked to write this book, my grown daughter gave me a toy camping set made by Danny First. It has a little tent, two cloth dolls (boy and girl), two air mattresses, two sleeping bags, an inflatable boat, and a collection of animals—a skunk, a moose, and a raccoon. Children who have visited me, as young as 2, even the kids who have never camped, seem to understand immediately how to play with the set. A clever parent could replicate some of the items with toys your children already own and a sleeping bag made of a washcloth or a square of felt folded in half and stitched together on two sides.
Planning Your Trip