My wife and I often joke that regardless of where we take our kids on a summer vacation, they always seem to love our UK camping trips more. In fact last year we took the kids to Florida, a trip of a lifetime which cost a lot of money, yet they did seem far more happy when we took a camping trip a month later, which as you can imagine cost significantly less. For my family camping in Cornwall is the best place simply because of the nice weather, the amazing range of campsites and the variety of activities. Having said this there are so many great camping spots around the UK and here is why I would recommend that you take the kids on this type of trip.
Nature
I love letting the kids connect with nature and I feel like it can teach them a lot about how things grow and what nature means to us. The kids also love getting into the natural environment to do just what kids do best, get muddy, get lost and fall about the place. Camping provides the kids with the ultimate natural setting to have fun in.
Values
Whilst we do have a great amount of fun when we take the kids away camping something which I also enjoy is teaching the kids some values. We don’t like luxury camping very much and always prefer to do it as backwoods as possible, building fires to cook food, putting our own tents tents up and trying to make little gadgets to help us get by. This teaches the kids brilliant values and they really seem to enjoy learning how to look after themselves.
Activities
If you choose a family friendly campsite then you will find that there are a huge range of outdoor activities which the kids will just love. Normally we find that there are archery courses, kayaking experiences as well as plenty of bike trails, hiking routes and plenty of chances to go climbing swimming, caving and abseiling.
Making Friends
When we take the kids abroad, even to a hotel with the infrastructure to keep kids happy, there is often too much going on for them to make many friends. When we go camping however there are far less distractions and because the kids are staying so close to each other, they very quickly strike up a bond. Our kids have friends now who they met 3 years ago, and we plan on visiting one of the families later this year.
Time
Believe it or not kids do enjoying spending time with their parents, especially if they both work hard and don’t get too much quality time with the kids. Our kids seem to love the amount of time they have with both of us and there is something about sitting around a campfire and chatting with your kids which puts a smile on everyone’s faces.
You kids will love camping, why not give it a try?