Family Camping Checklist: What Do We Need?
We are not yet a “family who camps,” but I hope we evolve into one. We have a family goal of camping twice this year. Soon we will go on our second overnight camping trip (in tents). It’s time to prepare our family camping checklist!
I’ve been using the Packing List app to keep track of various lists.
Our Family Packing Lists
- Family Road Trip
- Work Trip
- Weekend Adventure
So now it’s time to add our family camping checklist. Here’s what I’m thinking:
- Tent
- Adult sleeping pads
- Kid sleeping pads
- Adult sleeping bags
- Kid sleeping bags
- Sheets for sleeping if it’s hot
- Pillows, if there’s room (hooray for car camping!)
- Towels
- Trashbags
- Two large plastic bins
- Cooler
- Water bottles
- Headlamps
- Lantern
- Battery-powered string lights
- Hanging cord (to string between trees to hang wet clothes/towels)
- Playing Cards
- Uno
- Skipbo
- Rummikub
- Knife with cover
- Large frying pan
- Pot
- Handwipes
- Metal cups, bowls, plates
- Utensils
- Camping soap
- Silicon sponge
- Tongs
- Pot holder
- Spatula
- Stirring spoon
- Backup batteries
- Papertowels
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Marshmallow roasters
- Toilet paper
- Lighters
- Camping stove
- Cutting board
- Water
It’s so much stuff! As much as possible, I’d like to keep a lot of this stuff in a bin that we store. The more camping can feel “grab and go,” the more likely we’ll be motivated to do it.
What’s on your family camping checklist that I’m missing?
5 Comments
Clare
Bins are the way to go! We have two clear plastic stackable bins with handles that we keep all of our camping stuff in, and it makes it soooo much easier to pack everything. I try to organize them so that food-related stuff is in one bin and non-food-related stuff is in the other, but that always seems to go straight out the window the moment we get to the campsite.
The other piece of gear that we really like are backpacker-style folding chairs. They fold up into a small pouch so that we can store them next to our camping stuff. They’re not cheap (Helinox is the top of the line, and it’s over $100), but there are also cheaper knock-offs (I bought one for like $70, and it’s held up as well as my husband’s Helinox). They’re great for sitting around the campfire and not as bulky as the standard folding chair. We’ve even taken them to outdoor movies and music festivals.
Oh! One more suggestion…thermoses. We have two small ones that we keep in our camping box; they’re great for keeping tea/coffee warm all morning, which is especially welcome when camping in the mountains! Although if you had a Hydroflask or similar insulated water bottle, you could easily use it for tea/coffee in the mornings and then rinse and fill with water for the rest of the day.
Sara Cotner
So much wisdom! Thank you, Clare!
Mamaschlick
Camping is so fun! If you want, you can add a fun factor by getting glow in the dark glowsticks. Cheap and fun. We hung them from the top inside and sides of the tent to make sleep time more calming. Also a plastic bin for washing/rinsing/storing dirty dishes. We usually bring two tarps: one for the tent if it rains and one to lay out for kids to play on if they want to stay out of the dirt/just showered etc. Last time we brought a cheap doormat to put in front of the tent entrance and it worked great to remind and encourage everyone to remove their shoes outside of the tent before coming in (a very strict rule). And a trick-take a bungee cord, put it through a paper towel roll and hook under picnic table in a way that stabilizes it–finally! No paper towel rolls rolling on the dirty ground! Don’t forget matches!!
Sara Cotner
Ah, so many great suggestions! Thank you!
Jessica
Sara – thank you for this WONDERFUL list. When my family of 4 (two adults, 5 year old twins) was getting ready for our first camping trip, my memory if this post surfaced and I was thrilled to easily find it using the ‘camping’ tag on your site. The list was PERFECT for our family of nascent camping enthusiasts. Thank you for sharing it!