Camping is a great way to instill a love for nature and exploration among children. However, how does a parent keep their children, who are used to spending the majority of their time watching YouTube and Netflix, entertained for an entire weekend without connection to the internet?
Before you head onto an adventure onboard an RV from dealers in Louisiana, here are a few activities that you can do to prevent your children from reaching for their iPad all day long:
Leave the Wi-Fi at Home
First, ban the internet or, at the very least, limit the time everyone — including adults — from going online. Throughout the day, you should confiscate their phones and keep them secured inside the RV. Allow your family only a few hours of the day to go on Facebook to chat with friends or upload their photos on Instagram.
Water Balloon Baseball
Let your children cool down under the hot summer sun without locking themselves inside the RV. For a fun activity, pack a tee-ball or baseball bat and watch them try to hit water balloons.
Be careful when allowing your children to have a water balloon fight. When thrown with force or toward certain regions of the body, water balloons can seriously hurt and cause injuries. Do not let younger children battle older kids and, most of all, set a few rules that you will strictly enforce. Make sure that you have filled enough water balloons to last them an entire afternoon.
Host a Scavenger Hunt
Let your children explore the great outdoors on their own by planning a scavenger hunt. Distribute a list of items that each family member has to find. For younger kids, the list may include “treasures” they can find using each of their five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste). For older kids, you may want to add a bit of challenge to keep tweens and teens engaged and entertained.
Tell Scary Stories Around the Campfire
A tried and tested camping tradition that is guaranteed to keep everyone entertained is sharing scary stories. Once the sun has gone down, let the campfire burn a little longer and take turns telling scary stories. You can totally make a story up on the spot or share your own encounter with the paranormal. The only rule is that it should be spooky enough to send chills down your spine.
However, let the young kids go to sleep before you start this activity. Scary stories might lead to sleepless nights that may discourage them from camping again.
Make Rock Pets
Bring art supplies so younger kids can unleash their creativity and create their own souvenirs from the trip. Go around the campsite and pick out a stone they can paint, draw on, stick googly eyes, and keep as a pet rock.
The one way to make camping fun for children is to involve them in every step of the process. Letting them decide and come up with games to play during the trip will make them feel more excited. Do not make the adults do all the work; from setting up camp to cooking your meals, each member of the family should have their own tasks and responsibilities.
