Camping with Kids - Safety Tips and Rules

"I'm sorry, but these burns will need skin grafts," "We stitched it up, but he will still need a Tetanus shot and antibiotics to fight the infection." These are not phrases you want to hear when you go camping with kids!

Camping safety is more important than ever when kids are involved. And it is your responsibility to make their camping experience as safe as possible. That means RULES, and paying attention to the basics. Things you take for granted as an adult in a camping environment, are not so obvious to kids.

These rules and tips for camp safety may seem like basic common-sense to you, but you can't assume they are to kids too! It's your responsibility set the rules, tell the kids the rules, and then enforce the rules. It's too late when you are driving to the hospital.

The above statements weren't intended to set a tone of doom and gloom for your camping trips with kids, they were intended to get your attention and make you realize that camp safety, especially when kids are involved, is something that must be openly addressed, not taken for granted.

Of course you know not to run and play around the campfire, but do the kids? And even if they do, will they automatically remember to slow down and walk through camp when they are in the middle of a game of "Tag?"

Camp safety means rules! "But camping is supposed to be fun", you say. Yes, and it will be as long as you set the rules for camp safety, - and enforce them.

It may not seem important when you explain camp safety rules to the kids, but it is. Telling them on the drive to camp is almost a wasted effort. They will acknowledge you, but they are really thinking about the fun they will have at camp. Your lecture on safety and rules will go in one ear and out the other.

The best time to explain the rules, (and the reasons for them), is after you get to camp, but before you turn them loose on their own. You should actually put on your serious face, and have everyone sit-down and pay attention while you talk. If it's the first time, your attitude will impress them that you take this seriously, if it's not the first time, it will reinforce the seriousness of camp safety. Also be sure to explain why they have to have camp rules, it may help them understand why they need to follow them. (maybe a little, if you are lucky)

A kid-friendly, kid-safe campsite layout will also help ensure a fun and accident free camp outing. You can see an example here: Safe Campsite Layouts for Camping with Kids

Yes, you do have to tell the kids things they should already know.

1. No Running in Camp! None! Roots and lines to trip over, campfires to fall into, camping equipment to knock over.
2. No Horseplay in Camp! Take it out of camp to do it. Same reasons as No Running, but more so, with horseplay you have multiple bodies flinging around.
3. Must Always Wear Footwear! Thorns, splinters, sharp rocks, hot coals, and maybe even broken glass in poorly-run campgrounds. Bare feet are an easy way to turn a camping trip into a miserable ordeal.
4. No Food, Snacks, or Candy in the Tents! Not even empty wrappers or baggies. Think bait - for bears, (maybe), raccoons and other woodland varmints, or at the least ants and other bugs and flies. Odors from human foods are not natural to nature's environment, and even the residual whiffs from a candy wrapper can be like a magnet drawing critters from hundreds of yards away.
5. No Lighters, Matches, or Candles in the Tent! Just think of all the flammable stuff in a tent. Remember those opening statements above?
6. Use the Buddy-System, Never Leave Camp Alone! This one is most needed for younger campers, but the more wild the camping environment, the more important it is for kids of all ages.

Simple common sense stuff, you say? Yes, of course it is to adults, and experienced campers, but those thoughts will never cross the mind of a young camper enjoying a great camping adventure, unless you put them there!

It is your responsibility to do all you can to ensure that they have a safe camping experience, and you must start with the basics, just as if you were teaching them to build a campfire or lean-to for the first time.

Some camping locations and campsites will require some additional rules and guidance, just as the outdoor activities you plan will, but if you take the basics seriously and start your young campers off right, other needed rules and quidelines will come easily.

You can get more specific camping with kids safety rules and guidelines here at: Camping Safety and Rules for Kids

• Kid's Favorite Camping Card Games - Slapjack
• Camping with Kids- Hiking and Camping Activities
  
• How to Make an Indian Weather Rock Forecaster
  
• Camping with Kids - Bad Weather Survival Kit
• Camping with Kids - Kid-Safe Campsite Layouts
• Camping with Kids - Camp Safety Rules (you are here)
• How to Pack for Camping with Kids (coming soon)
• Best Tents for Camping with Kids (coming soon)

The author behind Camping with Kids is Gus, from Campingwithgus.com. An avid life-long tent camper that has camped in the mountains and on the plains, and in all four seasons - from 100+ to -10 degree weather. As a kid, with adults on week-long bear-hunting camps, and as an adult Boy Scout leader. Check the Camping with Kids profile to see more from Gus.