If you’re the only one in the household who has any interest in going outside and enjoying the fresh air, you might have difficulties convincing everyone to go on a family camping trip. A slow, gradual introduction to fun in the sun may help your cause more than a sudden drop into camping.
Whether you have young children who haven’t considered outdoor activities in general yet or children who need a push to enjoy the great outdoors, learning how to introduce your family to outdoor activities will get everyone excited for your next nature-centered family outing.
Start With Shorter Activities
The first step you need to take to instill enjoyment of the outdoors in your child is to show them that time spent outside can be fun. Don’t make them stay out of the house for too long at a time—start with a simple walk down a bike path or around the block. Take time to bond with your child; make the walk a regular routine for them to talk to you one-on-one. If they’re young, take the whole family along to make it a family bonding trip full of laughs and love.
Once they enjoy the walks, they may enjoy walks around other parks to see different sights. They may even enjoy a hike at a local trail!
If You Take Your Child Camping, Teach Yourself How To Camp First
Now that you’ve allowed your family to dip their toes into the idea of outdoor activities, you can start to prepare for your next big step. If that step is none other than a camping trip to distance everyone from technology, you need to make sure you know how to camp so that it goes smoothly. Camping trips that go south fast will make your family never want to camp again.
Smooth everything over by researching how to camp and where the best campsites are—you may want to choose something close to civilization to start out. If you’re already confident in your ability to camp, but just want to make sure you aren’t rusty, take some of your friends out on a camping trip first before committing your family to one.
Prepare for Anything
While children are young and impressionable, anything that goes wrong on a camping trip can make them hate the entire idea of camping. If you aren’t prepared for the worst during any foray into nature, knowing how to introduce your family to outdoor activities won’t matter anymore—they’ll just want to stay home.
You may want to overpack when you take your first family outdoor outing. Help everyone in the family pack their clothes to make sure they’re doing it correctly for a camping trip, keep up on everyone’s sunscreen, and keep an eye on the weather. If you can stay calm and collected when something goes wrong, you can turn an outdoor disaster into a more positive learning moment in an instant.
