Camping with an Only Child

Camping with an only child is one of the best holidays you can have. It is a chance to work together as a family to build your shelter and teach new skills to your child. It is also a chance to explore nature. Plus, you can meet other families on the campsite and build a little community together.

Through camping, you can work towards meeting all of your child’s needs from Maslow’s Triangle of Needs.

Abraham Maslow wrote a paper in 1943 entitled, “A Theory of Human Motivation,”. This is when he first introduced his Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. This is a great simple visual aid to help people identify and prioritise their needs. For a person who is starving, they must focus on meeting their physiological needs before anything else. However, if your child’s basic needs are being met, but they are lonely or lack confidence they may need to focus on accomplishing their psychological needs.

Camping is a great way to help your child develop key independent skills so they will know how to meet their own needs in the future using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid.

Meeting Physiological Needs When Camping With An Only Child

According to Maslow our most basic needs to survive is to have food, water, warmth and rest. When you go camping this is the first thing you need to think about. What are you going to sleep in? Where will you rest? How will you be protected from the elements? What are you going to eat and where is the nearest clean water supply?

If you have a really young child it would be worth staying on a larger family campsite with easy access to local shops. However, if your child is older it may be worth going to a more remote campsite where they could learn new skills such as fishing to gather their own food.

Obviously, the first thing you need to do when you are camping is to decide where you are going to pitch your tent. Here are some tips on finding the best location:

• Always pitch your tent on higher ground. If it rains you do not want to sleep on marshy ground.
• Find a place where there is shelter from the weather e.g. trees, larges bushes or fences. You don’t want your tent getting too hot during the day or being bashed about in the high winds.
• Find a place near a source of fresh water. This allows you to conveniently meet another basic need without travelling too far.

Make sure your food is stored safely. You don’t want bugs and bacteria getting to it. If you are camping where there are large dangerous mammals such as bears and wolves, be sure to store your food high above the ground.

See below for a list of useful websites for learning basic survival tips.

Meeting Security Needs When Camping With An Only Child

(NB. There is an affiliate link in this post. This means if you use the link Sops and I may make a small commission. For more information go to our Affiliate Disclaimer Page)

I once read a novel where a child was kidnapped at a busy family camping site. That must be a parent’s worse nightmare. After reading that novel I became a proper helicopter parent.

To protect your child whilst they are camping you can add a tracker to their clothes or give them a tracker.

This will allow your child to run free and explore the campsite with other children or on their own and you will know where they are.

It is vitally important that you meet your own and your child’s security needs whilst camping. Tents are easy to enter so if you can put a small lock on your tent do so. Also, make sure you have a cash box for your valuables.

If you stay at a large family site or at a festival the organisers tend to provide security personnel. However, if you are on a smaller site or out in the wilderness then you will have to have your wits about you.

For more advice on securing your site in the wilderness read the useful websites list below.

Meeting Psychological Needs When Camping With An Only Child

Sops and I have camped all over the country. We have visited small local sites, large family sites and even festivals. There are always other families camping too and Sops’ thrives on the social interaction. She automatically finds children of different ages and bonds with them, but she is a major extrovert. One of the reasons Sops’ loves camping is so she can meet new people and play with other children.

When you go camping you automatically join a little community of families near you. People tend to be more welcoming and helpful on a campsite. Sops and I have been invited to join other people’s BBQs and have sat up in the evening roasting marshmallows and talking with new friends. People also help you if you are struggling to put up your tent. You can definitely help meet your child’s needs for companionship when you go camping.

Meeting Self Esteem Needs When Camping With An Only Child

To keep your child occupied and engaged whilst camping it is worth asking them to help with the chores. You can show them how to put the tent up and encourage them to bash the pegs in the holes. You can show them how to do other domestic chores like washing up when camping. They may not enjoy doing these things at home, but it is more exciting to do when you are camping. This is a great opportunity for you to praise your child for doing a good job with the chores and building their self-esteem.

Another way to boost their confidence is to teach your child to ride a bike. Many families teach their children to ride a bike whilst on camping trips. The child will have the support of their parents as well as a community of campers around them.

For more advice on teaching your child how to ride a bike and which bike to choose check out our post ‘Teaching your child to ride a bike‘.

Meeting Self-Fulfilment Needs When Camping With An Only Child

Does your child have a talent? Are they good at sports or maybe they can play the guitar? When you are camping there are many opportunities for your child to demonstrate their talent such as leading a football game with other children or playing the guitar around the campfire. They can also learn new skills such as foraging or building a stick shelter. Perhaps they can use their artistic talent to create an image with natural materials or take some awesome photos.

Make the most of the site you are staying at to help enhance your child’s experiences. This will help them to grow to be independent confident adults.

Useful Websites

We hope we have inspired you to consider camping with your family this year. Over the coming months, we will add some more useful posts on camping.

In the meantime, here are some other useful sites about camping to get you started.
Camping and Caravaning Club – UK based
Love Camping – Campsites UK
Pitch Up – Campsites around the world
Go Outdoors – Sports and Outdoors Retailer
The Campers Arsenal – Securing your campsite