We just bought a new (old, fixer upper) camper and I’m super excited to get it perfect for my family. There’s plenty of packing lists out there, and generally most people already know what to pack in their camper. But what do you pack in your camper for kids? Here’s a mega list of everything you might want to think about bringing along when camping with kids.
Camping with my 5 kids isn’t an easy feat. If we ever experience things like rain or bad weather it’s can completely throw off our whole camping trip. Never mind forgetting something and having to run into town to pick it up, or worse, buying it in the overpriced campsite store.
So here’s everything I can think of that you should pack in your camper for kids. Most of these things can just be kept in there, too, so it’s already ready to go when you need it.
Health and Safety Products to Pack Camping With Kids
A first aid kit stocked with lots of band-aids
Children’s medicines including pain killers and stomach relief
Nail clippers
Tweezers
Hand sanitizer or hand soap
Kids’ 3 in 1 bath soap (perfect for shower or even just washing off with a hose)
Baby powder (great for moisture and to remove sand)
Kid-friendly sunscreen and bug spray
Baby wipes (even for older kids)
Life jackets if you’ll be boating or swimming
Lotion and rash or bug bite cream
Kids’ Accessories to Keep in Your Camper
Sunglasses
A hat
Extra jacket or hoodie
More blankets than you think you’ll need
Towels
Kid-sized chairs
Place mats
Their own cups, ideally with lids
Reusable water bottle
Kid sized backpack
Flip flops (especially if you’ll be showering)
Extra hair accessories for tying hair back
Fun Things to Pack for a Kid-Friendly Camping Trip
Colouring books and crayons
Notepad and pencil
Puzzles
Board games
A deck of cards
Toys, including sand toys
Scavenger hunts
Bubbles
Glow sticks
Books for downtime (older kids) or bedtime (younger kids)
A ball (like a soccer ball)
Craft kits
Play tent
Other Useful Things to Pack Camping for Kids
Kid safe marshmallow tips (the ones that aren’t poky)
Their own flashlight
Something to put on the dirt (like a covered foam pad) for when they’re playing
Kid-friendly snacks
A backup charger for devices if it rains
Their own camera, if they have one
Binoculars, magnifying glass, etc
Umbrella or sun shade
Pop up laundry hamper (great for dirty or wet clothes)
Face cloths for washing up
Picnic blanket
Clothesline and clothespin
A wash bucket
Biodegradable soap
Plastic or non breakable dishes
Side tables for around the campfire
Firewood
Hand towels
Kid Food and Drinks to Keep in the RV
Hot chocolate
Tea
Juice boxes
Fruit snacks or other packaged snacks
Crackers (especially goldfish)
Rice cakes
Chips, cookies, and other treats
Granola bars
Small boxes or bowls of cereal
Spreads like peanut butter or Nutella
Marshmallows and stuff to S’mores
Powdered milk
Trail mix
What to Pack While Camping With a Baby
Extra diapers and wipes (more than you think you’ll go through!)
Swim diapers if you’ll be hitting the beach or a pool
A camping highchair
Portable crib
Wearable baby carrier
Baby food, breastfeeding accessories, or formula (with extra)
Lots of pre-sterilized feeding supplies
White noise machine (if you have power)
Extra pacifiers or other soothing
Kids’ Clothes and Personal Care Items for Camping
Enough clothes, plus spares
Swimsuit if there will be water
Extra socks
Favourite blanket, stuffed toy, etc to help them sleep
Warm clothes, especially if it gets cold at night and in the mornings
I’m sure I missed a bunch of things on this list, too, but it’s definitely a good start for things to pack in your RV or camper for kids. It seems like a lot, but if you’re going for a long haul camping or road trip it’s nice to be a little bit over prepared. Especially if your kids are younger.
Not only are we trying to apply everything we can to our financial goals this year, we’re also trying to teach the children minimalism and intentional shopping. Even though we live in a big house we still have to keep clutter to a minimum or else we’ll get overrun. So sometimes it’s hard to make your thrifty holiday special but here’s what I do.
How To Make Your Thrifty Holiday Special
We are drowning in over consumption. Every Christmas I seem to go overboard with spending and end up paying for it all year. Even if you’re spending very little money, here are some things to make the holidays special.
Re-purpose your decor.
Fill a fancy dish with extra tree baubles.
Cut some pieces of pine and put them into an old vase.
Set holiday decorations on a nice serving tray.
There’s limitless possibilities with a bit of imagination to make your home festive on a dime.
Purchase the gifts second hand or make them yourself.
I love thrifted gifts – why pay $50 for a toy you can get used for $10.
As far as DIY gifts are concerned, most people will appreciate the time and thought you put into it far more than anything off the shelf.
Even young children will relish in something hand crafted just for them.
Wrap absolutely everything.
This little trick adds a lot of holiday magic for the kids.
When filling their stockings, pull small items out of their packages and wrap them individually.
If you’re buying someone socks wrap every pair.
It’s cute and even if the gift isn’t that exciting (socks) unwrapping is half the fun.
Host potluck holiday gatherings
Holiday entertaining is expensive and you’re on a tight budget but rather than skipping out on the festivities, offer to host a potlock style event.
Ask everyone to provide an item to contribute to the meal and you have a party for on the cost of one dish.
Plan ahead with the guest list so you can tell everyone how many their dish should serve.
Ask guests to BYOB too.
Make Christmas morning magical
This is something that my parents did for me that was passed down to my own children: Depending on how many gifts you buy, only put out a couple or no gifts for your children.
I keep gifts that are for other people under the tree for that festive look still, and one gift to open Christmas Eve.
Everything else is hidden away.
After the kids go to bed we bring everything out and the impact is much more dramatic than if it was always under the tree.
Not everything is from Santa, in fact Santa normally only brings one or two large gifts which are typically shared and these are left unwrapped.
Hold over some decorations to put out the night before
Set the table fancy for Christmas morning breakfast
Hang extra Christmas lights around the room.
Focus on what’s important
If you know Christmas morning is going to be less gift heavy than previous years open the dialogue now with your children.
Talk about all the things that are going to happen and make presents just a small portion.
Explain to the kids that it’s not about the amount of gifts under the tree but the thought and value (emotional, not monetary) of them.
Help them carve out an intentional wish list that focuses on things they really want and need.
Ask them to choose one gift that they would prefer over everything else and use that as your main shopping guide, if possible.
Tell them straight up if something they really want is not possible – do not say “wait to see what Santa brings” if you know for sure he will not bring it. I choose to say “Santa doesn’t bring such expensive gifts because he has a lot of children to deliver presents to.”
Do more giving
Shift the focus of conversations to giving gifts to others.
Help the kids made crafts and gifts or take family photos.
Shop for gifts together and teach intentional, thoughtful gift giving.
Bake or make food gifts together.
If you can’t afford to donate money, give your time or used items to charity.
Help your kids sell old belongings online to earn money to buy presents for family or friends.
What little things do you do to make your thrifty holiday special?
Anyone who knows me would understand why this is such a difficult topic for me to approach – I adore Christmas. Christmas is a feeling, a season, a time of year for giving, sharing, family, and warmth. Christmas is warm fireplaces. It’s blankets and hot cocoa. It’s the smiles on the face of my children when the lights turn on for the very first time. That’s why I’m focusing on remembering the meaning of Christmas rather than the gifts this year.
Remembering The Meaning of Christmas
For children, however, it’s harder to separate Christmas and gifts. All they see is a jolly man in a suit who brings them presents and the stores are at us every turn trying to take the money from of my pockets to theirs with one more package under the tree.
I’m adamantly against excess consumerism and yet hypocritically happily participate year after year just to see one more smile, just to make the wow a little bigger, and all for the sake of making my kids’ day as special for them as it is for me.
You don’t have to be broke or give up gifts
This year I’m trying to not only be more creative in my gift giving but also to work on helping my children see the value in the experiences that make Christmas special, not the things they will get.
We can afford gifts, and we are buying gifts. We’re just lowering the amount of gifts the kids receive, and removing the junk. There’s gifts that we purchased last year that the kids still have hardly played with! And others they play with all the time.
Christmas is religious for some
I grew up Catholic, so there was a strong religious focus for Christmas in my childhood home. We always went to Christmas Eve mass, I participated in the pageant, and I loved singing Christmas carols.
If your family has those traditions, rediscover the meaning of Christmas and focusing on that. Spend time teaching your kids about your own beliefs, the traditions, and so on. Make it more about that and less about stuff.
What Christmas means to my family
In my house, Christmas means more than just getting gifts. It’s about spending time as a family and Christmas traditions. It’s warm and cozy. But, it should also be about spreading that Christmas spirit and joy to others.
Giving is an important part of Christmas for us. That means making gifts for teachers, bus drivers, family members, etc. It’s also important that we have that family time around the holidays.
Instead of buying expensive advent calendars, planned daily activities
Taking the time to appreciate what we already have and spending that time as a family
Starting new traditions for our family that don’t involve buying more things
Kids prefer it
I think I’m putting too much worry about them being disappointed. We all know kids prefer time than stuff anyway and they will still get gifts. At our house, my kids get two Christmases because my ex and I have shared custody. That means double the stuff!
But in my experience, kids also love having family time. They’re excited to attend Christmas events, see the lights, and drink hot cocoa by the fire. Little things are exciting! You don’t have to go crazy to make kids happy.
Do things your way
The truth is, you have to find the meaning of Christmas yourself. It’s going to have a different meaning for you and your family than it does in mine. Overall, though, the true meaning of Christmas is tradition and family time, not buying stuff. Keep that in mind with your holiday plans.
If you don’t know this about me, it’s time you found out that I’m a huge fan of board games. I like to play all kinds – everything from party style games like Cards Against Humanity to complex favourites like Dinosaur Island. So, when I was offered a copy of ‘Game of HAM’ to review, I was stoked!
Note: The copy of the game was provided to me free of charge for review purposes. This review isn’t being paid for, though, and all the opinions are my own.
Our Review for the Game of HAM Card Game
I actually got this game awhile ago, but thanks to the pandemic it was pretty tough to get together to play a party game. Especially one that can’t be played with less than 3 adult players. It’s not like we could use the kids!
But, we did get a chance to play Game of HAM! Here’s what I thought of it.
First impressions
The box is interesting, and stands out on the shelf. It seems to be channeling a ‘campy’ feeling. The kind that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
At first glance it definitely looks like a standard ‘Apples to Apples’ style card game… That is until you pull out the game board and other pieces.
The ham tokens are super cute, and the instructions were full of style. Since so many games are similar, style is important if you want to stand out. The game pieces are high quality.
The game play
Game of HAM is an adult’s only game. This isn’t something you want to play with your kids unless they’re grown up!
I won’t go into too much details about how to play the game, since that’s what the rule book is for. Basically the goal is to get to the end of the game board, and there’s some fun twists to make it more challenging.
The different spaces help dictate what kinds of cards you’re going to draw, when you can then use to help you and mess up your opponents.
In board game lingo, we call that “take that!” game play. So it combines that aspect with something ‘party’ like Cards Against Humanity.
The board
The game board is super simple, which you need when you’re playing a party style game. You don’t want to spend forever explaining to a group of friends how to a play a game.
That’s what makes these card games so popular; the rules are very simple.
Thankfully, Game of HAM includes a quick start guide so you don’t need to spend too long worrying about how to play.
The board also has variations so no two play experiences are the same. There’s nothing worse than a game getting stale after a few plays!
Replayability
Speaking of variants, that’s where this game shines compared to others in this category. Most of the rule book is actually dedicated to offering rule variations that keep it interesting. Some of them are a little bit more complicated, but that’s great if you’re playing with a more advanced group.
There’s also a lot of cards, and it’s fair to say the creators won’t have any problems selling booster or supplementary packs later on if they want to freshen the game up.
Is it actually funny though?
Look, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t find Cards Against Humanity to be that funny. What’s funny about these games is when your mom asks what “bukkake” means, not the card itself.
The cards in Game of HAM are for adults. If you’re looking for something clean, this isn’t a game for you. Go get Apples to Apples or something.
The cards in Game of HAM are funny enough, but with the right group of people can be downright hilarious.
With so many games of this style out there, it’s tough to stay unique and they’ve done that. The only complaint I have is the use of “insert name” cards, which I’m personally not a fan of.
The downsides
While Game of HAM is great, it’s definitely not perfect. If you’re playing it for the first time and aren’t familiar with the game, it definitely has more of a learning curve than other cards games. Especially if you’ve had a few drinks.
The same goes for the variations: you probably don’t want complicated rules later into an evening of drinking. In fact, if you’re looking for a funny drinking game this probably isn’t my first choice.
I personally didn’t love the rule book and the way things were explained were a bit confusing, but like most modern games there’s a video that you can watch that explains a lot better. This is a common problem with board games, though, so it’s not too much to worry about. And once it clicks it’s pretty simple.
My verdict
So what do I really think of the game? It’s fun, and it has a lot of potential. I wish it was easier to get together with friends and really try it out. I’ll definitely be pulling it out when I get the chance.
If you’re bored of Cards Against Humanity, or looking for something that’s both board game and hilarious party game, then consider giving Game of HAM a shot.
It’s summer here in Manitoba and it’s HOT! If I’m honest, it’s not my favourite time to go to the playground. I prefer going out in the spring and fall when the weather is mild. But, there are good reasons why you should take your kids to the park, so out we go.
Yesterday we decided to hit up the Assiniboine Park’s Nature Playground in Winnipeg. Unfortunately it was about 32 degrees outside (90 F), so we didn’t stay long before we walked over to the café to get an ice cream cone.
Why You Should Take Your Kids to The Park
Although I don’t recommend going during a heatwave, taking your kids to the park is more than just getting out of the house. It’s actually important for their overall development, too. Playgrounds create a safe environment to move their bodies.
We found an “egg nest” at the park!
They learn risk assessment skills
One thing I really like about the nature playground is it’s something I would call “dangerous”. It has a crow’s nest that’s quite high into the air, and the only way up is climbing the webbing ladder. It has huge, open slides that you can race down (a lot bigger than most playgrounds). And it has a lot of intentional areas for kids to move around like tree stump paths and steep hills.
Of course, it’s all done safely. We’ve been going for years and no one’s ever gotten any more hurt than they would at any park.
Dangerous playgrounds help kids learn risk assessment skills in a safe way. They learn how far they can jump, how high they can climb, and what happens when you fall. Kids then apply those skills to the rest of their lives and your little daredevils actually stay safer in the process.
An early start to physical fitness
Everyone needs more exercise in today’s society. Adults are definitely, on average, pretty sedentary. The older you are, the more difficult it is to start a new habit, too. I know I personally am not as active as I want to be. Some of that is my work (lots of time in a chair), but some is just want I enjoy doing. I don’t have a lot of active hobbies.
Taking your kids to the playground is a great early start to physical fitness habits. Yes, they’re playing, but they’re also getting really good exercise in. By making fitness a habit now, you at least are laying the foundation for better health later.
Plus you can cut down on screen time and increase physical activity really easily?
Their sister is on the other end.
A chance to play with others or siblings
There weren’t a lot of kids at the park when we went because it was the middle of the week and very hot. So my kids played with each other instead, which was plenty fun for them.
Playgrounds are a great place to build social interaction for kids. But, it also helps them develop skills to navigate those complicated peer relationships in their lives. Learning to take turns at the slide, what happens when someone pushes you, or the rules to tremors all happens at the park.
They’ll be more confident in themselves
I have seen it over and over again with my kids. Kids that are too scared to go down the slide eventually take that leap. One that don’t know how to swing finally learn how to pump their legs. Everything that kids do at a park has an effect on their emotional development and self confidence.
Parks give kids the tools to practice new skills. If you don’t frequent them, or hover over older kids, they’ll be missing out on this part of child development.
A safe way to play “alone” outdoors
Sometimes it’s fun to play with your kids, but you should also take the backseat at times too. Nowadays, kids aren’t allowed to ride their bikes to the park alone or walk to their friends’ houses as much. Kids use to develop independence doing those things in the past, but now we don’t allow children as much freedom.
Going to the playground gives kids a chance to learn some of those independent skills. That means if your child gets stuck, don’t rescue them right away. See if they can figure it out. Or make them come find you if they skinned your knee.
We can’t go back to the good old days of free range kids, but we can’t lose those skills either.
Just getting outside
Sometimes you just need to get out of the house! If you’re a stay at home mom, you know how taxing they days can be. Playgrounds can give mom a little break while the kids burn off some of their energy. There’s no mess to deal with after, too!
Being outdoors is a natural mood booster for everyone in the family.
There’s a statue of Winnie the Pooh, who was inspired a bear seen in Winnipeg.
Tips for when you take your kids to the park
Unless they’re very little don’t hover
Pack snacks/water/sunscreen/hat/etc so you can stay longer
Keep it fresh and try out new parks
Talk to your child about rules beforehand (especially if leaving is difficult)
Give timed warnings before you leave
Wash hands or hand sanitize after playing to prevent the spread of germs
Although most parents do take their kids to the park, I know I don’t do it enough. It sure was nice getting out of the house and we plan to go back again soon. (When it’s not too hot.) There’s just too many reasons why you should take your kids to the park to ignore.
