Planning our first camping trip (eek!) what do i need to know?

[DedalusDigglesPocketWatch]

We are planning our first camping trip for the first week in July with dcs (4yrs and nearly 2yrs)

What do I need/ don't need?

What can make the trip go smoothly?

Things for the children to do whilst at the tent?

Erm... and lots more questions that I can't think of right now!

Ooh air dryer
And belt on sleeping bag for little ones. Brilliant! Thanks

No, our microfibre ones aren't like a chamois leather. They certainly aren't as luxurious as home ones, they're v v thin but amazingly able to dry you! Quite hard to describe, you kind of have to blot yourself dry rather than rub but they do work & they just save soooo much space for a family of 5 - we take 7 which would otherwise be 5 bath sheets plus 2 hand towels!

I'm quite nervous about it being freezing cold . We're camping Sat and Sun night. Keep checking the MET office website, even though it's too early to see!

I am taking hot water bottles with us in July!

Also, if anyone is looking for cheap waterproofs, Robinsons equestrian do jackets and trousers very cheaply.

We went mid-September, year before last (pre DS so there was only a toddler to worry about).

It was lovely and warm during the day but freezing on the evening/at night, so remember your layers. And, after doing some very handy research, we put blankets under her travel cot and around the sides as insulation. She slept well like this after the first night of hell.

In the evenings we read, with torches.

If we camp with friends we drink, eat and tell ghost stories!

We put PJs on under clothes before it gets too cold in the evenings, keeps you warm and makes going to bed much nicer...
The children have cotton PJs + fleece ones on top if its chilly. Then if they wriggle out of their bags they don't get cold. Socks too (and wooly hats if v cold). DH is the tent heater so the baby goes in between me and him with a squiggly boy at each end (we use self-inflating mats).
Now I am looking forward to going - bring on some nice weekends on the beach...

Have an emergency clothes bag, hidden in the car somewhere you'll forget it's there, containing pants, t-shirt & trackies for all members of the party.

You'll be glad of it if the lurgy or horrible weather strikes!

Also, get to a poundshop & buy a few stuffsacks & extra tentpegs (they always seem to have them this time of year).

Use stuffsacks for dirty clothes etc, & it never hurts to have extra pegs.

marking place. we are going on our first proper camping holiday in June with nearly 4DD and nearly 2 DS. Great ideas here. (we don't know where we are going!)

Plastic bags for wet/muddy clothes when coming home...................