Kids camping out in backyard

[LindaLou]

We're not going to be able to go camping for a while and the kids are getting antsy. So we told them they could invite a couple of friends over this weekend and they could set up tents and have a camp out. Won't be exactly the same but hopefully it will satisfy them for a while.

 

[charley]

Sounds like fun and it may be introducing a kid to camping. Make sure to tell a few ghost stories before bed.

 

[Joe S.]

Sleeping in a tent, no matter where it is, is always great fun for kids, and you have the peace of mind knowing they are near and can supervise as necessary. It'll be fine.

 

[KatieMarie]

Well at least it will make them all happy and they will just be in the back yard so you can keep and eye on them. I'm sure they will have a lot of fun.

 

[abmac]

A great way to get the feel of the whole camping experience for your kids as well as their friends. Also a good learning experience so you can go over the things they would be taking on a camping trip into a real wilderness area, how much you have to plan to take, how you would carry it, how to fix food etc. Add in some star gazing along with the stories and you have a winner idea that the kids will love.

 

[LivingToCamp]

Ours have done that before too. They had a blast and so did their friends. We kept an eye on them to make sure they didn't get to 'wild' and disturb the neighbors but amazing enough they were great.

 

[ejdixon]

We're not going to be able to go camping for a while and the kids are getting antsy. So we told them they could invite a couple of friends over this weekend and they could set up tents and have a camp out. Won't be exactly the same but hopefully it will satisfy them for a while.

I have to say, you did a great job getting your kids very much into enjoying the outdoors. With all the electronic stuff, it seems to be a lot harder to get kids interested to go camping or do anything outdoors for that matter.

 

[Grandpa]

Tonight, my cub scouts wanted one more hike before winter. I think they are too late but I will get one scheduled.

 

[ppine]

Great idea. Start building their confidence when they are young and they won't be afraid when they grow up. I still remember sleeping in my grandfather's old Baket tent in about 1960. It was old and leaky canvas that smelled like a hundred campfires. We had an intense thunderstorm and my Dad came out put another canvas tarp over it. We stayed out there and had the time of our lives.

 

[outwest]

Some kids are happy enough to camp in the living room let alone out in the backyard. I love the idea myself, some people never even use their backyards. Too much nature neglect is what I say!

 

[Mary Beth]

When I was little, my parents set the tent out in our yard. My sister and I loved it, especially if our dad said we could have a bonfire. Do not forget the marshmallows, if you are allowed to start a campfire.

 

[CampingFamily]

That was a great idea you had. We all love to camp and when it is going to be a while before we can go the kids will do this in our backyard. They will have some friends over and have a camp out party. They seem to enjoy it and as long as they don't disturb the neighbors all is well.

 

[Gabbie]

We've done this before and it usually turns out to be a lot of fun. Not quite the same as being 'away' from home but it'll work in a crunch. Oh and if we are out in the backyard with them we will have a small campfire and do up some marshmallows.

 

[DylanT]

I remember doing that as a kid. Make em cook in the back yard too!

 

[Grandpa]

Our old summer ranch house was HOT in the summer, so I lived in a tent outside.

 

[ppine]

Grandpa,

I really liked your story about the tent out behind the house in winter with snow machine access. That is the life.

 

[Grandpa]

Grandpa,

I really liked your story about the tent out behind the house in winter with snow machine access. That is the life.

It was a neat place. It was on a leased pasture or I would have a cabin there, right smack in the middle of an aspen grove. There was a 300 inch spring right close with the water coming out of the ground at about 54 degrees so it didn't freeze. I built a wood bridge over the stream so we could just dip a bucketful at a time and not have to thaw it.

Once the snow got over the sagebrush we had a great tubing hill. I would haul the kids up on the sled and they could tube back down. We also bordered right on the forest so it was a five minute ride into the pines for sled touring. Once there, I knew trails we could ride for 60 miles without hitting a road, as long as the trails had been broken. Those old heavy sleds back then couldn't handle the powder like todays light sleek models.

The old sheepherder stove could only be banked for about a 4 or 5 hour fire so I would have to get up in the night and stoke it up again, but the kids were comfortable in regular sleeping bags.

I still keep a straw bale hut over in the old orchard for the grandkids to camp out in during the winter. It's just right for about 5 sleeping bags on top of a foot of barley straw with a tarp over the straw. Can't have a fire in there so it is cold but the kids love to hunker down under the covers and tell stories.