Parenting
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Camp Shine: Get outside idea no. 2 -- Backyard camping
editor
Our family loves to camp, but
sometimes it gets tough to slip away for a weekend in the woods.
Campsites seemed to have booked up early this year, which makes
sense since more families are saving money on family travel by
exploring the great outdoors.
But if you're not able to go away to camp and your kids are
begging you to pitch a tent, just do it...in your backyard. (And
lucky for Mom and Dad, Saturday, June 27, is the
Great American Backyard
Campout.)
A few tips for your backyard campout:
- Make it a full outdoor experience -- grill dinner, roast
s'mores, use lanterns and sleep under the stars (with the
luxury of your home as the outhouse).
- If you have young kids (under 7), make sure a parent is in the
tent with the kids. The night brings weird noises, even in your own
backyard. And it's even more frightening when Mom and Dad hear
a back door open up in the middle of the night...and finally
realize it's just their freaked out kid.
- Move the tent to a different spot in your yard the following
day, otherwise you risk finding a large patch of dead grass.
Do you ever camp in the backyard with your
kids?
Related: outdoors, great backyard campout, camping, backyard camping
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Posted by GretchenW Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:07pm PDT
We haven't done it with our kids, but my siblings and I slept outside during the summer as kids. It's something on our list.
We didn't bother with a tent, either---Easier to see the stars! We'd just unroll our sleeping bags and sleep in the open. Our yard was fenced, so it was no big deal.
For my 12th birthday I had a slumber party in a big tent set up in our backyard. It was fun and made it easier to sneak out to TP people's trees.
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Posted by Allyratt Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:25am PDT
today is my sons 12th b-day, I may suprise him and do this.
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Posted by Bonnie Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:08am PDT
sounds fun but its so hot here in florida even at night. maybe when it starts cooling off a bit, well definatly do this. for now we "camp" inside.
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Posted by Kris B Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:40pm PDT
We used to camp in the yard ALL THE TIME - it was so fun. Probably one of my favorite parts of summer!
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