There’s no doubt that children love camping, they enjoy the natural breeze, open spaces and wild experiences as well as the other fun activities. We’re sure your children also love to camp out into wide-open wilderness and relish the natural beauty. However, as much as it’s an adventurous venture, camping can also help your child learn numerous valuable lessons. 

In all probability, children learn extra new things with face-to-face interactions and lived experiences than they do in classrooms. This experiential learning has been declining rapidly since the past few decades in schools and other educational institutions. They primarily focus on teaching curriculum and bookish knowledge rather than actual practical understanding. But this is where your role comes in. 

Now it becomes your responsibility to teach your children the most extravagant lessons which they’ll remember and embrace for the rest of their lives. And you can do that by spending more time with your children. One of the ways to accomplish that is through camping trips. Either you can plan a family camp out or allow your child to go for a sleepaway camp organised by their school. For planning your own trip, you can check out this article for the best tents for your family. Now, whatever the case may be, we’re here to help you educate your child about these 10 valuable lessons that they can learn from camping. 

1. Value Of Family 

Camping is simply the best activity to rejuvenate your family bonding and build stronger ties with your family members. When kids are away from their routine school life, you’re away from work and other errands, you’d have all the time in the world for each other. This will teach your kids how important family ties are, that you’d always be there for them no matter what. 

You’d feel more connected with your children when you’re away from all the extra burden of work, and who knows maybe your child will love that random joke. And maybe they’ll learn about your fun side and enjoy your company more, that’s a definite bonus. 

• Planning & Goal Setting 

While planning for any trip, you’d definitely encounter questions like- where to go? what to pack? Which road to take? And many more similar questions. You should include your children in these planning and decision-making. This will ensure that they’re aware of the fact that their opinions matter. 

All this planning will also teach them the importance of making a schedule and setting goals for yourself. For example, being on time, being able to organise their schedules and work, etc. 

• Appreciation For Nature 

While you’re camping out in the wilderness, it’s highly possible that you’d first-hand experience the true wonders of nature. And these definitely can’t be experienced through books, stories and reading other people’s accounts. 

This is a great opportunity to educate your child and make them understand the true attraction of natural habitat. Make them aware about the kind of animals you run into, the smells you encounter, the fishes you catch and other wilderness. This will ensure that your children know what it’s like to firsthand experience and appreciate the natural habitat in all its glory. 

• Environnement Conservation & Protection 

The increasing threat to our environment and wildlife due to technological advancement and modern innovations is a point of concern for all of us. And the next generation would be very affected by present day scenarios. So it’s best to prepare them for what they should do to protect the environment. And what better way than a camping trip? 

It’s always a good idea to mention the ways in which children can help to keep the surroundings clean, green and safe. Make them understand the importance of planting trees, helping with picking up the trash and making the campsite habitual for others. This is also a good time to discuss the things you can improve as a family, like conserving unnecessary electricity, saving water, etc. 

• Independence & Endurance Skills 

Doubtlessly, the older generation knew some of the basic things like cooking over an open fire, catching a fish and similar activities. But the newer modern kids aren’t aware about any such skills. And camping is a great way to make them learn these. 

Some of the other basic survival skills that they can learn while camping include first aid and fire safety. You can make them do some of the work themselves, like helping in pitching the tent, keeping their food safe from animals, cleaning the ground area, or even helping with cleaning the water and making it safe to drink. These tasks will teach them the importance of being able to work on their own and learn survival skills for demanding situations. 

• Importance Of Hard Work & Team Work 

As aforementioned activities state, you can make your child learn the true value of working for a goal. When they’re expected to complete a task as basic as pitching a tent, cleaning after meals or catching a fish, they’d learn to work hard for achieving that goal. To make sure they understand it, make them help you with every chore you’re working on and wherever possible. 

And while you’re at it, some of these activities are better achieved in a group, when your child can’t finish a job or is struggling with anything, you can always help them. This will help them learn the importance of working in a group, the community feeling and make your family’s bonding stronger. Make sure you talk your ways through and help them understand that it’s easier to complete a task in a team.

• Confidence To Face Fears 

Camping out would definitely include other activities like hiking, swimming, fishing, bungee jumping among others. And this might be the first time that your child does all these things. All of these activities would require your child to come out of their comfort zone and face their fears.

On the other hand, It can become quite intimidating for young children to camp out in the wild, with few talks of bears and other wild animals, especially during nights when they hear multiple sounds. Your work here is to reassure your child that everything and everyone is safe and they’re fine. This will teach them to face their fears and not get bogged down by any hardships and hiccups. 

• Gratitude & Simple Living Standards 

Lying down in their comfy beds and the cozyness of your house, your child might start to take these little things for granted. Sometimes, they forget how lucky they are to have gotten everything they’ve desired and wished for. And it can also happen with adults as well. 

So when you camp out and go some days without all the luxuries and amenities, you’d understand the true value of them. When you go back home, you should talk to your children and make them understand the importance of having all luxurious items. This will teach them to be thankful and obligated towards everything and not desire irrelevant things. 

• Problem Solving & Analytical Abilities 

It’s a high possibility that some or other thing would go wrong even after being completely prepared. It tends to happen when we’re away from our routine and comfort. Maybe you forgot to pack utensils, or it started raining or maybe you didn’t think ahead for something. During these times, it’s a great idea to involve your child in deciding what to do and to find a solution for the issue at hand. 

You might be surprised to know all the clever, imaginative and innovative ideas they can come up with. Since children have much more capability of suggesting original and inventive ideas, they can actually help in solving problems. This will surely help them for future endeavors whenever they’re in the middle of any crisis. 

1.  Modesty & Humbleness 

Another similar theme to being grateful and showing gratitude towards their lives, children also need to understand the importance of being humble, modest and respectful. When out in the wide open forests, surrounded with big and small animals, your child would realize that they aren’t the only species on this planet. 

Maybe they were thinking about buying a new iPad, maybe they wanted that ice cream, but looking at the vastness and beauty of nature, they might forget all that material happiness. Looking at the big struggles of people trying to conserve the environment, keeping the wildlife intact would make them realise how small their problems are. This will teach them the true value of being empathetic, humble and thoughtful towards others. 

So now you know there’s more to camping than just enjoyment and adventure. Yes, those are the primary factors and reasons, to make you feel relaxed and enjoy nature away from the hassle of city life. But it can also turn into the greatest learning experience of your child’s life. Therefore, keep these points in mind whenever you go camping next and let your child learn these greatest of life lessons. 

Author Bio: 

Res Marty is an excellent advisor and guide for camping and hiking. He loves to challenge himself and travel to most difficult destinations. During his innumerable trips, he’d learnt many new skills and love to share them with the world through his blogs.