The Down And Dirty Guide To Camping With Kids

Plan your family camping adventure! Whether you’re a first-time camper or a veteran backpacker befuddled by the challenges of carting a brood—and all the requisite gear—into the great outdoors, here you’ll find all the tips and tools you need to plan the perfect nature adventure with your family. Humorous and irreverent, yet always authoritative, this guide to camping with kids, from babies through pre-teens, is filled with checklists, smart tips, recipes, games, activities, and art projects. Helen Olsson, a seasoned camper and mother of three, shares lessons learned over the years of nature outings with her own family. Learn the basics of family camping, from choosing a destination and packing gear to setting up a campsite and keeping little ones safe. Create the perfect camp menu with simple and tasty recipe ideas. Discover foolproof tips and tactics for keeping kids happy and entertained while hiking. Explore nature through clever and creative camp arts and craft projects. This guide is your game plan to unplugging from the digital world and connecting your kids to nature. Whether it’s roasting marshmallows around a crackling campfire or stretching out on a camp mat to gaze at the stars, the memories you’ll be making will last a lifetime.

The revised and updated edition of the bestselling guidebook that equips parents with all the confidence they need to embark on and enjoy the ultimate outdoor activity with their kids: camping. Written by a seasoned camper, adventurer, and mother of three, this book is a practical, irreverent introductory guide to all things camping. Helen Olsson writes from a parent’s point of view, giving readers a clear plan—and plenty of encouragement—for an enjoyable family camping experience. Whether you’re planning a simple outing, a multiday trek with babies or teens, or camping with several families, Down and Dirty has you covered. Each chapter features helpful checklists, including “Little Tykes” lists dedicated to items for babies and toddlers. The book focuses on car camping but nods to alternate ways to camp: backpacking, pull-behind campers, canoe/kayak trips, hut camping, and trips with pack animals. The second edition is updated to reflect the latest products, outdoor etiquette, and lifestyles. You’ll have guidance on: choosing a destination packing gear and food setting up the campsite planning menus and staying safe This timeless camping resource addresses the myriad unique needs and concerns of parents and children.

Get ready to go out and play… Based on the author’s acclaimed Integrated Outdoor Program, Let Them Be Eaten by Bears is Peter Hoffmeister’s inspiring guide to helping kids enjoy nature and appreciate the great outdoors. Drawing from his personal and professional background as an educator, guide, writer, and father, and focusing on fun rather than fear, Hoffmeister offers an approachable, fun reintroduction to hiking, camping, and all-around exploring that will help parents and kids alike feel empowered and capable. Whether you’re a veteran outdoorsperson, a first-time hiker, or anything in between, get ready to put on your sneakers, turn off your video games, and rediscover the simple, powerful joy of going out to play.

That fun flock is raring for a rugged hiking adventure. Rapid rhythm, rhyme, and colorful illustrations make this a perfect introduction to poetry.

Could there be another way of life? Can I survive with less stuff? Should I run for the hills? These are all good questions that people have asked before, throughout history, and which have inspired people to set up camp. But now camping is part of the drive for self-sufficiency, a reaction against mass tourism, a chance to connect with the land, to experience a community, to leave no trace . . . From packing to pitching, with hikes into the deep history of the subject and encounters with the great campers and camping movements of the past, this is the only book you'll need to pack when you next head off to sleep under the stars. IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT CAMPERS LIKE MORE THAN CAMPING, IT'S DREAMING ABOUT THEIR NEXT TRIP

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An imperative call to action” (Nick Offerman) to get children off their screens and into nature, with tips for bonding activities that teach the importance of outside time and build tough, curious, competent kids—from the New York Times bestselling author and host of the TV series and podcast MeatEater “A revelation for families struggling to get kids to GO OUTSIDE, or to just stop using the darn smartphone.”—Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Hunt, Gather, Parent In the era of screens and devices, the average American spends 90 percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for kids’ physical and mental health, it jeopardizes their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. Thankfully, with the right mind-set, families can find beauty, meaning, and connection in a life lived outdoors. Here, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem. No matter their location—rural, suburban, or urban—caregivers and kids will bond over activities such as: • Camping to conquer fears, build tolerance for dirt and discomfort, and savor the timeless pleasure of swapping stories around a campfire. • Growing a vegetable garden to develop a capacity to nurture and an appreciation for hard work. • Fishing local lakes and rivers to learn the value of patience while grappling with the possibility of failure. • Hunting for sustainably managed wild game to face the realities of life, death, and what it really takes to obtain our food. Living an outdoor lifestyle fosters in kids an insatiable curiosity about the world around them, confidence and self-sufficiency, and, most important, a lifelong sense of stewardship of the natural world. This book helps families connect with nature—and one another—as a joyful part of everyday life.

Perfect for everyone from novices to boondockers, How to Camp in the Woods compiles contemporary and classic wisdom, practical tips, and illustrated DIY advice on every aspect of equipping, packing, setting up camp, cooking, and improvising no matter where you are in the great outdoors. If you want to immerse yourself or your family in the natural world but still be warm, dry, and comfortable, How to Camp In the Woods is for you. How to Camp in the Woods will teach readers: Camping and survival basics including fire building, essential knots, site finding, wilderness first aid/CPR, map/compass reading, and camping off the grid. Essential gear, packing light, recommendations for DIY if you've left something behind, and how to keep everything relatively clean. Guides to camping comfortably in all seasons and weather, as well as tips and etiquette for camping around the world, including with pets and kids. Tips for enhancing the experience, including recipes for easy and inexpensive meals from 25 base ingredients, stargazing essentials, fireside games and songs, bird-watching, and the perfect campfire reading list.

A knitting book focusing on the sheep-to-shawl process by a well-known knitter, shepherd, and artisanal yarn producer. Gain an insider's view on fiber farming and yarn craft, from sheep to skein, all told through the eyes of shepherd and textile artisan Barbara Parry. Follow her flock over the course of a year and discover all the facets of life with sheep: from shearing day and lambing season, to preparing fiber for yarn. Along the way you'll find projects for the fiber obsessed by top knitwear designers, essays on country life, and over 100 stunning photographs. With the growing locavore movement, the rising trend in sustainable farming, and the ever-increasing interest in crafting, this book is perfect for those who yearn for a closer connection to a rural lifestyle and who enjoy making things by hand.