We always enjoyed pancakes in the morning. I would put all the pancake ingredients in a good gallon freezer bag, seal it tight, then have the kids play catch with the bag. While they were playing catch and mixing the pancake batter, I would fire up the grill and by the time the grill was hot and ready to go my pancake batter was mixed. This, by the way, works well for a lot of things that need to be mixed. After breakfast, I had them go inside the camping tent and roll up their sleeping bags (as best they could) while I cleaned up after breakfast.
My kids had a lot of fun with a solar shower. It was very handy to have on hand and was a refreshing treat for everyone. You can get a 5 gallon Chinook shower indeed cheap and it works great. It holds enough for a few showers. Just hang it above, in a sunny area. The kids had a lot of fun playing with this. It worked indeed well for cleaning up those puny hands, too. If you do this, make sure to hang the solar shower away from the camping tent. This was a mistake I made, and had to move it. Kids like to splash in it.
Tents Travel
I brought whistles for the kids. I let them play with them at first, but then I told them that from now on they are only to be used in case of an emergency. An example would be if you are out hiking with the kids and one of them suddenly is out of view. This is when you blow your whistle and the "lost" child blows his as well. I made very sure that the kids understood that if this ever happened, to stay right where they were, I told them that I would find them and to just keep blowing that whistle. I was fortunate that I never had this crisis.
We would always go for a puny hike. I had them pick up items and put them in a bag. A leaf, small rock, odd shaped stick, etc. When we got back to camp they each made a collage with these items. Of course, I brought the glue, cardboard and crayons. I had them date it and it became a costly reminder of their camping trip. It was also a exquisite time to educate the kids about the trees, plants, or birds while we were out on the nature trail. I had them make arrow signs with rocks or sticks as they are walking, marking their path. I let them be creative with this. We also would try to find a good cane for each of us to use.
Smores at night were always a real fun treat for the kids. I brought the marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers. We enjoyed the smores while singing nearby the campfire. We also did a lot of star gazing. After the marshmallows, I had them wash up using the solar shower.
There are conveyable toilets you can bring with you. One fits nicely in the Grand Trunk Dunny. The conveyable toilet is well worth the investment. They are lightweight and economical. This is something we did not have, but would have been indeed nice to have right at camp. Leaving the camp site area was a real drag, and with kids it was way too often.
We brought solar lights on stakes to place them nearby the campsite. I always placed one by the guy wires nearby the camping tent. I can't count the estimate of times I have tripped on guy wires. Each one of the kids had their own flashlight. In the camping tent at night we played and made shadow figures. It was a lot of fun and was a good way to wind them down for a good nights rest. With this said, happy camping my friends!
Fun Things to Do While Camping With Kids