Teaching my 3 yr old granddaughter about camping.

[BornthatWay]

My granddaughter saw my tent and wanted to sleep in it. At first she talked about putting up the tent in the house and I explained that tents were put up outside. So the next day we took the tent outside and began putting it up. She helped by carrying the hammer and tent stakes. She then handed me tent stakes and the hammer to get the tent staked out. while doing this we talked about how important it is to set the tent to catch the breeze to blow through the tent to help keep it cool.

Once the tent was up we went inside the house to get water bottles. We discussed how important it is to drink water when working to keep your body feeling good. I gave her a water bottle with a snout so she could squeeze the bottle and get a drink and she thought this was great fun. We also got a couple of blankets to take out to use as padding in the tent. She thought it was great fun to lay on these and drink water.

While we were in the tent I told her it was important to always zip up the door when she came into the tent or got out so that the bugs did not get in. Then we put the windows down in the tent so she could feel the breeze blow through and make the tent cooler.

Next week we will attempt to spend the night in the tent. We will fix hotdogs and beans for supper and then roast marsmallows over the coals of the fire. If you have any suggestions of what all to teach her please give suggestions just remember she is 3 yrs. old.

[crashdive123]

Great lessons, and a great age to get her interested in being outdoors instead of playing video games.

[hunter63]

Outstanding....get'em young and train 'em the way you want 'em.
Our kids started early, didn't think nothing of it to sleep in a tent, camper, or where ever they laid down.

Might want to start out with checking out birds and crawly stuff, some kids are afraid to death , and other want to take them home in their pockets.

Doing some cooking on the campfire is great, "smores" and marshmallows are still a favorite.........

[JPGreco]

Yeah, there isn't much that you can show here right now that she will retain, so its more important to have fun. I agree with the bird watching and bug watching. A little about fire safety is always good. And once the sun goes down, do a little stargazing. Point of some stars and look for shooting stars.

[finallyME]

About that age is a great time to take them hiking. Short distances of course.

[BornthatWay]

Thank all of you for your suggestions. She definitely does not like bugs or creepy crawlies. Of course I am not too wild about creepy crawlies either. I have a very healthy respect for them. We are fortunate that most of our snakes are nonpoisinous and few and far between. Otherwise Granny might be sitting in the top of a tree.

[hunter63]

Well, there you go....tree climbing 101....Still a great time to her started.