7 Benefits Of Taking Your Kids Camping

Apart from the basic gear, going camping is an extremely affordable type of vacation for families that has many benefits for you and your kids. Whether your style is in a camper, cabin, or tent, you can find a camping style to please you and your family and reap the benefits of spending time in nature. 

1. Health Benefits of Spending Time in Nature 

Regardless of age or culture, humans quite simply find nature pleasing. In one study, researchers found that 2 out of 3 people selected a setting in nature for a retreat when experiencing stress. Your body responds just as positively to natural surroundings as your mind does. You receive an immune system boost from breathing the fresh air, as well as lowering of blood pressure, reduction of stress, and improvement to mood. Your children might especially benefit from the increased ability to focus that is granted by looking at features of nature such as plants, water, and wildlife.

2. Teaches Basic Survival Skills 

Your children may never need to forage for food or fight off an attacking bear, but when you camp as a family, they learn basic skills for survival. Many people rarely spend time in nature that they begin to fear it. If you keep your children inside to keep them safe, there is a greater likelihood that they will lose their affinity for nature and possibly even develop phobic attitudes regarding it. If you teach your children how to handle themselves in nature, that fear becomes healthy respect. Knowledge grants a sense of power over the surroundings. Your children should learn fire safety, how to build a fire, what plants are edible and which ones will have unpleasant effects when eaten or even touched, basic outdoor safety, and other skills unique to the camping experience. 

3. Builds Self Esteem 

Along with giving your children a feeling of empowerment over their surroundings, learning skills and new abilities to survive in the wilderness helps build self-esteem. Children need a chance to do things themselves, to make mistakes and learn from them, to solve problems, and to succeed without constant adult intervention. To build self-confidence in your children, you must help them become competent in their varied environments. Camping exposes you and your children to new adventures and challenges. 

4. Helps Unplug from Technology 

Tech addiction is real and its prevalence can be shocking if you take a step back and consider childhood even as recently as the 1980s. More than 90% of American two-year-olds today have online footprints. And the problems with kids and technology just keeps growing. An abundance of screen time has been linked to disorders in sleeping and eating. Children who consume two or more hours of television daily have a greater likelihood of being overweight. ADHD has been linked to child cell phone use, and consumption of too much multimedia is linked to shortened attention spans. In fact, television and computer use, in general, are being linked to worsening levels of wellbeing, psychologically. Technology does have a prevalence of benefits, and you cannot deny your children all forms of it. But getting out and away from the internet is an excellent step toward a healthy balance.

5. Helps Connect Families and Friends 

You might typically enjoy family time together around the television, but spending it around a campfire can be so much more rewarding. Instead of the flickering screen telling you stories, you share your own stories, real or imagined, around the dancing flames. This creates connections. Camping, while enjoyable, is a challenging experience, and shared challenges form bonds and memories to last a lifetime. You are more likely to remember hunkering in the tent and entertaining yourselves during a downpour than yet another night by the television or, worse yet, with everyone involved with their individual screens and nobody interacting. You and your kids might also make new friends if there are other camping nearby.

6. Teaches Respect for Nature 

When you camp, you slow down to an entirely different pace of life. Your children get a chance to adjust to this new pace and appreciate the nature surrounding them more thoroughly. They can enjoy exploring old trails and forging new ones, collect pieces of nature from the setting, and learn which items should not be disturbed or touched. Your kids can learn of the beauties and dangers of nature, discovering how best to respect it.

7. Encourages Learning that Less Can Be More

Camping, whether for a night, a weekend, or a long excursion, is all about simplicity. Your kids will likely thrive on it. Instead of being handed constant stimulation and entertainment, your children will need to go looking for it. Fast food meals give way to home-cooked meals on an open fire or travel stove, tablet games are replaced by games played together, and time gathered around the campfire replaces time around the television to create lasting memories. Camping does not offer so much in terms of stuff, but your kids will absorb so much more in experiences. 

Conclusion

These seven benefits are among many great reasons to take your kid’s camping. Whether you are going on a trip that has been long anticipated or simply heading out for an impromptu weekend in the woods, you will find the benefits far outweigh the minor inconveniences. Take your kids camping and create lifelong memories while building them up as stronger people, ready to face adversity and enjoy simplicities.

About the Author

I’m Tom Brown the founder and editor in chief at Thrifty Outdoors Man. I love taking my kids away from their screens and spending time with them outdoors. My favorite things to do outdoors are trying out new hiking trails and exploring different camping sites.

 

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