Children And The Outdoor Life

[Brian.T]

Just been having a read through the sticky thread about childrens bushcraft and have to say it was very interesting. That thread concentrates on what activities children can do and is excellent. I am hoping that this thread can be used to post ideas about the practical things that we can do to enable kids to enjoy the outdoor life

My youngest is 18 months old and we want to introduce her to camping and then gradually bushcraft. I also have three children from a previous marriage, now aged 19, 20 and 22.

The way I see it, with young children the first thing you have to sort out is basic practical things like safety, sleeping arrangements, hygene, etc and most of this shouldnt be too much of a problem. I reckon (well I guess) that this should be fairly straightforward.

Safety is obviously a big concern, but when my older children were young, I gave them all a whistle which they kept with them and told them to blow like crazy if they got lost. They never got lost but I like to think that the whistles would have helped them if they had, and perhaps it gave them a sense of security and more confidence. I tried not to let them wander off too far as well, and we worked out imaginary boundaries by using certain trees. It worked quite well and by and large they didnt stray out of there areas.

For an 18 month old, a travel cot of some kind is probably the best way to start them off. Firstly it stops them escaping and secondly you can rig up things to keep the draughts off them and hopefully keep them warm. Personally I reckon a tent is the only way with little kids, although perhaps the experts among you may have other ideas. I am new to bushcraft, but cannot see how a hammock would work with anyone younger than about 10 or 11?

Id be really grateful if anyone with any ideas or experience of this problem could share your thoughts in this thread.

 

[Eric_Methven]

A family tent would be the way to go assuming it'll be two adults and the little one. Room to move around inside the tent without being permanently stooped is also an advantage considering how much inclement weather we get in this country.

To tie it in with bushcraft, maybe a tipi type tent would be in order. There's plenty of lavu type lightweight tents around and one of those would be plenty big enough. As for the little one, I believe Mothrercare do a travel cot. It is collapsable and has a padded matress and mesh walls that would not only protect the wee one, but also give you a place to imprison her without it being opressive. A bit like a soft cage so to speak. It could also be put outside in good weather and a handful of toys thrown in should keep her occupied for ages while you and the other half do other stuff like cooking etc.

For warmth at night, the travel cot is ideal, even with a small duvet for her. There's no point in thinking about sleeping bags for an eighteen month old as she'll grow out of it so quickly. Of course you can also heat lavus and tipis easily so even cold weather needn't be a problem.

It'd be interesting to see what other people think, but the main thing is to get out there with the family and do stuff.

One other thing with little kids, is to buy some glow sticks and at dusk, if they're still up and about (and they will be later on) attach one to their clothing so you can see the glowstick as it gets dark

 

[pibbleb]

Firstly, nice thread.

I have two kids. My son is four and my daughter is 7. Now I'm sure everyone with kids on this site will have there own idea's on whats best but this is the way in which I've gone about it.

Now some of this is to pacify my wife who is an out and out townie and proud of it. That said she is slowly coming round!

From a camping perspective, we do it posh style! In that I mean we stay at official campsites with toilet block blah blah blah! There are some sites, not many mind you, that allow fires and when that's the case we have one, but generally it's all nice, proper and clean!

However, for a 'wilder' day out we will go to the woods and build up a little camp. Get a couple of basha's up maybe sling the hammock and get the old stove out make up some baked beans have a giggle and try and see some deer! Not easy with the noisiest four year old in the world!

My plan is to hopefully find a land owner who will let me take them out into their woods for a little campfire and camp over night. What I've been trying to do is build them up to, and my wife to some extent, is such a night out rather than just throwing them in the deep end. after all the woods at night can be a bit scary even for us grown ups!

I asked the man himself once what was the best way to introduce kids to bushcraft. His response was somewhat romantisized but very true I'm sure. ' Sit them in front of a camp fire and they will see the magic of it all for themselves within the flames'. Good advice!

Pib

 

[shaunmcdonald]

Well both my 2 children have been campers as long as they can remember, the youngest was only 3 months when we were away, on proper sites really as i havent had much chance of wild camping with either of them yet.
One thing we found was to try and make life as easy as possible for all of us so plenty of area that was safe to let them crawl, toddle, play away from anything remotely dangerous.
Keep them warm in the evening and make sure they have plenty of covers at night apart from that i cannot comment much except to get out and do it. Kids are very adaptable and if they are happy and content they will be ok pretty much anywhere.

 

[BOD]

Get one of those kiddie carriers that allows you to carry them like a papoose.

They are hardwired for the nomadic life so let them enjoy the rhythm of travel. The earlier the better, though you may have trouble convincing mum of this

 

[xylaria]

We have camped with ours since they were babies. My main worry is always are they warm and dry enough. To get around this we bed share:yikes: . They both had their own sleeping bags by the time they were two years. But then i still worry whether those bags are warm enough. But we have found if they are nestled between me and Moschops we know if they are cold or too hot. When they were little we tied a movement sensitive happy toy to the tent zip to stop escapes.

Like nearly other family we sleep in tent and are car campers. And until this weekend I would say we were fair weather campers at that. But we have just came back from the spring bush moot where the weather was more like an october storm than spring showers, and have I learned that children are far tougher than we ever give them credit. All the children that were there dealt with it like they hardened explorers. My daughter had sulky strop about moving to the barn because she didn't like idea of getting changed in sight of a large group of strangers, but wasn't bothered about the branches flying about outside. Honestly the parents were more worried than any of the children, trust me they are very mentally resilient.

 

[Brian.T]

Some great replies and ideas folks, particularly this from Eric:

One other thing with little kids, is to buy some glow sticks and at dusk, if they're still up and about (and they will be later on) attach one to their clothing so you can see the glowstick as it gets dark

Great idea - thanks Eric.

Pibble. I know just what you mean about 'proper' campsites, but to be honest they are not for me. My experience of them has been either that they have been full of people who want complete silence (no chance of that with happy kids) or full of people who go completely to the other extreme. What you said about a wild day in the woods sounds great though

Xylaria - My wife likes the sound of putting the littleun between us, and I am such a heavy sleeper I probably wouldnt notice As you and others say, kids are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for. Id definately agree with that. Also, I liked the idea of hanging a noisy toy to the zips - great idea. I see you've just come back from the Springmoot? You would have met my oldest son - Andy (Duenorth) He was there, and he is the one who has got me really interested in bushcraft.

Thanks again everyone for your help and advice.

 

[silvergirl]

Have to agree that I hate campsites, especially with the kids. People are always too noisy at the wrong time of your little ones are too noisy at the wrong time.

We took our kids camping when they were just weeks old and never bothered with a traval cot. Its not as easy to check them (for temp etc) takes up way too much room and if they are up in the night you will be up and down trying to settle a child that wants to join you.

That said for most folk car camping in a large familly tent it may not be an issue. We've alway had backpacking tents and headed for the wild whenever possible. Thermarest type mats are fine, with blankets for babies under 1 or childrens sleeping bags for older children.

My son has camped out in the back garden on his own a few times in winter now, first time he did it he was 6 and it got to minus 4 ( I didn't sleep much, but he wouldn't let anyone join him)

The whistle idea is a good one, but they may blow them just for fun and forget when they actually need help.

Give them jobs to do around camp, fetching water etc, and you can teach them from a very young age about foraging for food (depending on the child) we took our son mushroom hunting when he was 2 and he still only eats mushrooms he has gatherd him self. It does get a bit of a problem when we are out for walks with friends and my kids tear leaves of trees and start munching only to have someone copy (but from a different type of tree )


The more time they spend outside the more their confidence will grow.