Creative Backyard Camping

Essential Equipment
There are a few essentials that should be part of any camping experience. Not only will they make your adventure more enjoyable, they’ll also reduce the number of trips back into the house—making it feel more like a true outdoor expedition.

• Tent*. Find a dry, level spot to pitch your tent.
• Sleeping bags (or blankets) and pillows.
• Table. If you don’t have a picnic table, bring a patio table or even a folding card table to your camp site for food preparation.
• Insect repellent and citronella candles.
• Flashlights. Bring at least two if the kids are sleeping in a separate tent.
• Portable fire pit or chiminea; dry firewood or twigs. A campfire is essential to the experience. Include a grill if you can’t cook easily (or safely) with your portable fire pit or chiminea. Let the kids gather sticks and twigs for you to use to start the fire, just like they would at a campground.

*Tip: No tent, no problem! Creating a tent from materials around your house can be as easy as 1-2-3. First, tie a piece of rope or cord between two trees or poles. Next, drape a large blanket, sheet or tarp over the rope. To finish, weight or stake down the four corners of the blanket.

Backyard Bites
Nothing says “roughing it” like campground culinary staples. Slowly heat an open can of beans on the side of your campfire and use grilling forks or sharpened sticks to toast hot dogs, corn on the cob and marshmallows over an open flame.

Tip: Make sure the forks or sticks are long enough to keep them a safe distance from the open flames, and exercise caution when placing food on sharp forks or sticks.

However, you don’t have limit yourself to these tried and true classics. Excite your family’s taste buds and create new family favorites for camping—whether in the backyard or beyond—with these innovative ideas:

• S’mores: Banana or Pastry
• Spiced Oranges with Gingersnaps & White Chocolate
• Apple Crisp
• Trail Mix

Tip: For more great ideas, read our article, Perfect Picnic and Grill-Out Recipes.

Family Fun
The greatest part of any camping adventure is the main reason to go camping in the first place—quality family time. Make the most of your night in the “wilderness” with these entertaining suggestions, sure to create memories for campers of all ages.

• Be a Botanist. Encourage your kids to discover the amazing diversity of plant life in their own backyard. Challenge them to collect leaves from at least a dozen different trees and shrubs. Help them identify each species, and put the leaves in a nature journal.
• Be an Astronomer. Walk away from the campfire and shut off the flashlights after dark, and look for constellations in the night sky. The next day, get on the computer and identify what you saw. Check out astronomy web sites for kids that identify constellations and explain what planets and constellations are most visible in the sky this month.
• Be a Storyteller. Stories told around the campfire can stay with us for a lifetime. Use encyclopedias or search the web to research your region’s early inhabitants before your campout. Then, tell your children a story around the fire about the history of their neighborhood.
• Be a Singer. Campfire songs can be just as fun and memorable as stories, so pick a favorite and start a family sing-along. Just don’t wake up the neighbors!
• Be a Zoologist. Grab a pair of binoculars and keep track of the numbers and types or even sketch the birds and other faunae that call your backyard “home” too.