Be realistic and meet your expectations
You may have been dreaming of walking into the box canyon for a day and scaling the rim for years, always wondering what you might see from the top. But if you have children 4 and 9 years old, this is very unexpected... at least not the way you think! There are always rare exceptions, but keep in mind that children of all ages have physical and mental limitations on any activity. Expect a 4 year old child to have 45 minutes of physical endurance, spend 2 hours climbing the canyon wall, and excitedly looking around [more than 2 minutes], then it is difficult to realistically reverse the whole process. will not happen. Most unprepared adults find it difficult to complete this adventure and express it with a smile.
In order to give everyone a satisfactory experience, instead, try to walk into the box canyon and let the children explore and learn naturally. Take out binoculars and see who can find most of the birds flying along the canyon walls. Do a little [supervised] boulder jump at the bottom of the canyon. See which one of you can find the most animal tracks, or the most interesting mistakes or butterflies [take photos on your smartphone, you can use them later to stimulate more conversations]. Give them a hypothetical question by asking them how to climb to the top? Children of all ages like to explore and solve problems, especially if it does not involve pencils and paper, or a potential level of failure. Oh, yes, bring an uncooked lunch or snack. If you take a few minutes to charge the battery with food and drinks, you won't go wrong. You can kill the best part of the day nearby and take some good memories. This method is suitable for all activities. If you start with realistic expectations, you are less likely to have a sour taste in your mouth.
Attract your child
Regardless of the task, there is one aspect that children over the age of 3 can help. I know I know. It's often easier to do everything yourself than to try to explain it to others... they may not do it the way you suggest. The only problem with this way of thinking [I have always done this] is that it is easy to resent people around you. "Why go to ___________ [insert your favorite activity here], I have to do everything myself and don't enjoy myself!" I know that you are fully capable of preparing your own dinner, you may have completed thousands of times. Instead, try to get the children out of the plates and cutlery, pour in the drinks, find the tortillas around the dry bags, and if appropriate, cut some vegetables into tacos. Oops, this is camping, not food! If the tomatoes cut into small pieces are of uniform size, it does not matter. Your child is fully capable of performing the above tasks, letting you work on the stove, smiling and smiling, and wondering why you didn't think about this setting earlier. The children really want to please their parents. If you keep small enough tasks [and remember... realistic expectations] when asking for their help, they may try to complete them. They may even be able to help them to surprise you by asking "what else"?
Shutdown...suitable for everyone
I am not talking about Graham biscuits, hot milk, everyone is facing downtime on the furry carpet; but if you and your child are doing it, Go, no one will have a good time at the camp. Any good memories of your return home will be covered by the shearing fatigue you feel when you go home. Have you ever felt that I need a vacation? Yes. Plan some downtime. Lazy time after lunch [we help you clean up], when you and the children can do their own thing. Play quietly in a tent or campsite, take a nap or read a story. Wandering around the campfire, talking about this day, how do you make laughter in the future, who found the coolest rock music, or why the crazy old uncle Mike tied the ridiculously large dead fish to his kayak for no apparent reason. ! As long as it is not a disciplined, fully centralized, if I don't pay attention to those tasks, I may die. It doesn't matter, you are talking about or doing something, or not doing anything. Your child's attention is much shorter than you or me [well, only you!], and if you often let them take a break, you are more likely to get along better and have a more enjoyable experience. .
Downtime + participation + realistic expectations = more fun!
Let us face it. After all, this is the first point to go out to camp. Have fun, leave memories, enjoy nature and be with each other. You have seen these families in the movies, they are always organized, so a little, very happy, they are not wrong when they go camping. You can't buy these experiences, and we won't be joining the movie "family" in the near future, but if we subscribe to some basic ideas, maybe we can get closer to the ideal? Think about it, it might be more satisfying to make those memories with your own children. Skip the movie family... create your own special memories.
Orignal From: Spend camping with children (or anything)
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