My first tip is to keep it simple. Resist the urge to Pinterest camp with all sorts of planned arts and crafts, fancy meals, and activities. I'll admit, some of the camping crafts and whatnot I've seen on Pinterest look so cute and fun! But if I pin them, it's so I can come back to them when I'm camping without sippy cups or diapers! For now, we keep it extremely simple with very low expectations! Even without very little kids though, you don't need all sorts of gadgets and extra just.... stuff to go camping. Just what is necessary to meet everybody's basic needs. A place to sleep, clothes to wear, food to eat. Good to go!
One big struggle with camping can be keeping everything you need for meals organized. I'm lucky to have been raised by a very organized mother who took us camping every summer, so packing intentionally and functionally for a camping trip feels like second nature to me! We pack one big rubbermaid tub with non perishable food, and another with kitchen supplies. In the food bin, we try to put loose things in jars and containers whenever we can because they're less likely to get stale. If I am going to be making something like pancakes while we're there, I mix the dry ingredients in a gallon bag and write instructions on the outside for adding the wet ingredients. For recipes that call for milk, I pre measure it out and pack it in jars. That eliminates the need for fitting a whole gallon of milk in our cooler. I pack the jars for recipes, and then just a half gallon for the kids to drink and James to put in his coffee.
We pack very little of our home kitchen supplies because we have some camping specific things, so packing the supply box is a breeze since it is mostly always packed. A set of pots and pans that nest inside each other saves space. We have this set and really like it! The camping box is a good place to send old, non breakable plates and utensils that you don't really use anymore. We prefer not to use disposable dishes and cutlery while camping, so we have a mishmash of camping specific plates we bought at an outdoors store and old utensils we stopped using when we got a new set as a wedding gift. We have a set of cups, but everybody mostly drinks out of water bottles, and then a set of mugs is a necessity! Besides all of that, your needs will vary depending on what you plan on cooking and eating, but we always have a roll of foil, some baggies, a cutting board and knife, and propane for our camp stove (can't go wrong with this one!) Also very helpful for the eating part of camping is an extra table. Campsites usually have a picnic table (bring a plastic tablecloth!), but a small folding table is so nice to have for food prep and dishwashing!
For meals we try to strike a balance between really easy and really yummy! We could just eat cereal and sandwiches all weekend (nothing wrong with that!), but we like to get at least a little fancier! Things that can be cooked over the campfire are really fun and we try to include the kids in the prep work as much as possible. The bigger kids anyway! Prepping meals while camping with babies brings me to another really big tip, babywearing. Bring at least one carrier. Even if your baby or toddler loves playing on the ground, you're going to want a safe place for them when the fire or stove is going and your full attention can't be on them. We have a high chair that folds pretty flat which makes it easy to bring with us (this one), a folding booster seat or chair that hooks to a tabletop would work too. If you don't have any of those things, an umbrella stroller could work for feeding a baby too. A big drink cooler with a dispenser, filled with water and ice, saves cooler space and makes it easy for even little ones to get their own drinks! The kids like to help make a big batch of trail mix (pretzels, different kinds of goldfish, bunny grahams, raisins, m&ms, we do something different every time!) before we leave and that serves as a great snack for everybody throughout the day. I usually also bake one or two treats and of course there are marshmallows and s'mores after dinner!
This is a really easy and really yummy campfire mac-n-cheese recipe that I found on Pinterest and modified a bit.
1lb cooked elbow noodles (I cook them before leaving home and pack them in a gallon bag)
1 jar alfredo sauce
2ish cups of shredded cheese (I use mostly cheddar, but a little parmesan too!)
Mix everything in foil pans, cover with foil, and set on a grate over the fire. Depending on how good your fire is going, they might just need a few minutes! They're done when the cheese is getting nice and stringy! We like to have this with sandwich melts (turkey or cheese sandwiches on hoagie rolls, wrapped in foil, and sat on the grate as well until the cheese is melty) and veggies with dip.
For mealtime clean up, we have baby wipes and paper towels. We have these amazing silicone bibs that are so easy to clean and have a nice deep pocket so they keep the baby pretty clean to begin with. We use them every single day at home and they're also amazing for camping! We have these, but there are a lot of different brands on Amazon. Baggies and/or the jars or containers I used for pre-prepped food that are now empty work for any leftovers.
Another concern when camping with kids is keeping them occupied. Depending on where you're camping, you might have a lot of activities available outside your campsite. We used to camp at a KOA campground growing up and loved using their pool and playground! Where we've been camping with our kids there is a playground and also miles and miles of hiking trails! For keeping occupied at the actual campsite, like I said before, I don't pre-plan any big things (as tempting as it is sometimes!) We pack two small plastic bins. One has a board game, a couple card games, drawing pads, and a pencil case full of crayons and pens. The other bin the kids pack themselves with toys that can get dirty and can get wet. I usually ask them to pack from 3 categories; animals, trucks, and people. They just need to be toys that I can throw in the sink when we get home before they go back into the playroom. These trucks are our absolute favorite for camping (they also work well as cake decorations BTW 😉 ) because they're so fun to play with in the dirt and they wash up super easily. With less kids, it might work for each one to pack their own individual backpack, but in our family it works best to just pack one bin of toys. Less fighting and we don't end up with way too many things to keep track of!
These are 3 of our favorite games right now and they're camping friendly! Uno, Spot It (there are lots of different versions, but we have the original), and Let's Feed the Very Hungry Caterpillar (toddler friendly with some help!)
In the tent we have a few different bed situations. Sam and Kate (7 and 5) each have a sleeping bag, pillow, and extra fleece blanket. Henry (3) has what we call a 'nest' which is just a couple thicker blankets folded up to lay on top of and two blankets to cover him. Anna (1) has a pack-n-play, but prefers to share my sleeping bag. James and I both have sleeping bags and he has an inflatable sleeping pad under his. For ease of packing and keeping organized, I pack one "night night" bag with everybody's special blankies, stuffed animals (they may choose 2 to bring, otherwise the tent would be overrun!), pacifiers, and a battery powered white noise machine (we use white noise at home so this is a comfort measure, but even if we didn't I would consider it for camping, especially if its a busier campground and your kids have early-ish bedtimes, it can get noisy at campgrounds in the evenings!) If you happen to go camping in the absolute pouring rain, and you get some puddles and/or little rivers in your tent, your pack-n-play will be a great place to throw things that absolutely need to stay dry like books and your white noise machine (ask me how I know this 🙁) We bring a broom for the inside of the tent and a doormat for the outside of the tent to minimize dirt on pillows and blankets. Shoes stay on the mat outside when anybody goes into the tent during the day, but we bring them in overnight so they don't get damp or become a home to any little creatures.
We haven't ever worried about trying for a nap in the tent since Sam was a baby. When we went camping then and didn't have any other kids, we put him down for a nap in the tent at the normal time and just did our own thing out by the fire while he slept. With lots of kids to worry about now, we just hope for carrier naps on a hike or cat naps on somebody's lap during a quiet moment.
For clothing, diapers, and toiletries, utilize your car as sort of a "staging area" of sorts. We just got a new tent from James' parents, an early Christmas present, that has an attached screen room where I was able to set up all of our clothes and things, but without that, I use the trunk of the van. Added bonus of the trunk is that the door will shelter you from the rain (again, ask me how I know...) I prefer to pack just one bag of clothes for us (James packs his own bag because his clothes take up a lot more space!) When we go on other trips, like to the beach, everybody gets their own duffel bag of clothes because I unpack when we get there, but when we're dressing straight out of our bags, I pack just one. I roll everybody's clothes to save space. Pants, shirt, socks, and underwear in each roll. I do one outfit per day, 1 extra outfit, and then 1 outfit opposite whatever season we're camping in (so shorts and short sleeves when we camp in the fall) just in case. We normally wear pjs for 2 nights before getting new ones when we're at home, but if your kids like to keep their pjs on until after breakfast like mine, their pjs will get dirty so one pair per night is a good idea! I also pack 1 pair of either warmer or cooler pjs, just in case.
I keep all of our diaper-related things together. In 1 diaper box I pack diapers (we don't use cloth when camping), wipes (bring extra!), plastic grocery bags, a cloth wet bag, and extra undies and pants for a new potty trainer. Keeping it in one box makes it easy to transport from tent to car, depending on where you end up needing to change diapers.
For toiletries, something small with handles is best in my opinion, since you'll be walking at least a little (but it could be quite a ways!) to and from the bathroom while also herding all of your kids (again, babywearing is your friend!!) We keep it really simple with toiletries. Unless it's pouring rain and everybody needs to be both warmed up and rinsed of allllllll of the mud before going into the tent for the night, we just clean everybody up with a washcloth at the sink and skip a full shower until we get home. I bring one bottle of body wash. Not really the time for a huge assortment of products. Toothbrushes and toothpaste of course and I never travel with kids without a thermometer and Motrin because you just never know! I do bring a hairbrush, but tightly braid Kate's hair before we leave the house. Unless it gets snagged on the tent's zippers (often does) her braids will last from Friday until Sunday.
We generally take many, many, many walks to and from the bathroom throughout the day, but do also bring a small travel potty for emergencies. We haven't had to use it yet, but I'm afraid to be caught without it if somebody wakes up desperate at 2 in the morning! Glow sticks come in handy again for those nighttime treks to the bathroom. I lead the way with an actual flashlight (and a baby on my back!) and have the kids line up behind me, youngest to oldest, so the oldest is bringing up the rear. I get really anxious hiking back to the bathroom (the campground we go to has trails through the woods to a bathroom in the center of the site loop) in the dark, but lining them up like this gives me peace of mind!
Obviously keep an eye on the weather beforehand so you can plan accordingly, but take this very important advice and pack a bunch of extra tarps, string, and stakes, plus some umbrellas anyway. You can survive a sopping wet camping trip and still want to go again if you have some tarps and umbrellas. Just keep reminding yourself that you're making memories and a really hot shower is waiting for you at home!
Above all else, just relax and have fun. Your kids are going to get spectacularly dirty. Somebody (everybody) will eat some dirt, on purpose or accidentally. You honestly might not get a whole lot of sleep (or maybe you will! be optimistic!), you probably won't be eating the healthiest meals you've ever had, there's going to be a lot of bugs, and it'll take a fair amount of work to organize, pack, and set everything up. But it is so worth it. So worth it! If you used to love camping before having kids, or maybe you've never camped before but it's something you and/or your kids have been interested in lately, I hope this post encourages you to give it a try! I am of course happy to answer any other questions, so please feel free to send them my way! I may not have the answers, but I can at least tell you what has worked for us. Happy Camping!
