Complete camping virgin needs a master class on the basics.

[MustTidyUpMustTidyUp]

I have a tent. That is it. Want enough stuff to go camping with DH and DCs (6,4,2) for a couple of nights, locally, to start with whilst we find our camping feet.
What do I need? (On a budget ie as cheap as poss)
I assume something to sleep on and in and something to cook on and eat off?
Any recommendations?
TIA

[stanoutdoorman]

Hello there. I'm new to this so please be gentle with me! I'm here 'cos I get lots of enquiries from people about camping with small children for the first time. What equipment to buy is the most obvious question. You can go camping with very little equipment or you can go camping with half the shop!! It's up to you.

Please contact me if I can be of any help. I love to help ;-))

[Everythingwillbeok]

We always take fairy lights....not exactly essential I know but look so cosy and pretty when it's going dusk,we have a set in the DDs room inside the tent and some around the entrance as well. Solar ones are not great we use battery ones.

[invicta]

For camping stuff, Mountain Warehouse is a great place to go - they have everything you need and are reasonably priced.

[bochead]

mock crocks! I know they are the shoe style forgot but they really come into their own for camping and you can buy kiddy sizes in the £1 shops nowadays.

So handy for slipping on in order to nip to the loo with little people at 5 am, also great for wearing in the shower if the hygiene standards are less than you'd like etc. I'd never go camping without a pair for everyone in the party.

A picnic blanket with a waterproof underside - so many uses as the grass in the UK is always damp even in a heatwave. A total necessity with kids.

My preference is always to take a gilly or kelly kettle in order to guarantee my am coffee supply no matter what! Originally designed to ensure Cornish and Irish fishermen still got their cuppa in the fiercest storm they can handle anything the average camping hol can throw at em.

They don't require gas canisters and can be fueled with moss/twigs/your rubbish so incur no additional expense. I like the idea of an open fire but find my trusty gillie kettle a much safer option with young children/dogs as the the fire is enclosed, (which also means they never fall foul of the fashion for banning open fires some campsites embrace).

Don't get too stressed about food prep would be my biggest tip. I've yet to have a camping trip where we didn't give in to the urge for fish and chips or a local greasy spoon cafe brekkie at least once during our break, (usually after a day the beach or when we wake up to find it's raining cats and dogs) It is after all supposed to be a HOLIDAY!

Most of us can live on a diet of good bread, cheese or peanut butter, fruit (and wine ) for a few days without coming to any great harm. I only ever fret about taking a very,very few items specific to my son's special diet as he is dairy intolerant - otherwise in the UK you are never more than a brisk walk from a shop, or a short drive to a mainstream supermarket.

Online supermarkets will deliver to campsites if you want - a good tip is to get a bread/fruit delivery for the morning after you arrive to save lugging it with you to the site

Do pack a halfway decent small first aid kit including calpol and your favourite remedy for bug bites/stings.

[Inertia]

One more to add ( have been sorting camping stuff out ) - those supermarket wine bags with six compartments are quite handy for holding cups, cutlery and utensils.

[MinimalistMommi]

Well we just use a nappy bucket that works well.
You might want to go to dog free camp sites because of dog poo/piss though Quen as I always see dog owners out and about with their dogs peeing in the hedges/around trees etc, especially if your little one likes to crawl in hedges.

[Quenelle]

Yes there might be dog wee, but not in (possibly adult) human-style quantities.

And yes, DS does like to explore hedges etc around the tent. It's what being in the great outdoors is supposed to be about and he's too small to go exploring further afield on his own.

[MinimalistMommi]

Quen a hedge isn't the grass around the tent is it? [Hmm]
I guess with the grass around tents there might be dog wee so you might want to be careful of your DS.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

nuffink. Don't take nuffink. No campsite is that far away from a 24/7 supermarket these days so when you're sitting in your empty tent you'll know soon enough what you need, then you can go and get it.

[MustTidyUpMustTidyUp]

Oh brambles what a find! It looks fab! We are in Kent so great location for us too. Pray for good weather for oct half term

[Bramblesinafield]

Oh yes, wowo!

www.wowo.co.uk/

Best ever camping experience. (Yet!)

[Quenelle]

Weeing anywhere round tents is horrible. DS likes to go roaming in the undergrowth around the tent, he's too young to go far on his own yet. I would rather he wasn't crawling through people's piss.

We have a Kampa Khazi which has a lid. You see plenty of people carrying them to the toilet blocks to empty in the mornings.

I'm interested in the green gloop Brambles. Will take a look at Go Outdoors.

[MustTidyUpMustTidyUp]

Wowo brambles?

[Bramblesinafield]

No probs taking a bucket of wee to the loos. I have a luggable loo (bucket with a plastic seat on! I use some fab smelling green gloop from go outdoors which keeps it sweet in the hot summer - then I don't have to trek to the loos/go a little bit away from the tent in the night.

Beware of weeing next to the tent, attracts vermin so I'm told.

Can't wait to go to wowo again this summer, time of our lives last year.

[FairPhyllis]

Oh yes and it's a very bad idea to go all Swallows and Amazons and store bacon in a waterproof wrapping under a stone in a stream which is also populated by voles ...

[NoPartyDay]

I precook a few meals and seal well in plastic containers.
Just reheat for dinner. e.g.curry/pasta dish/your favourite casserole
You can then use the large containers to store food,etc when washed

[FairPhyllis]

Take a tent-peg puller-outer - something with a hook and handle. Makes it so much easier if you can just hoik them all up, especially if you are on hard ground.

[doughnut44]

we always put our pj's on early evening after tea. then we put a big tracksuit on over them that way we can just peel our tracksuits off and jump into bed - no getting undressed in the cold.
I also cook a big chilli or something before we go and freeze it. we then have a nice cooked meal for our tea that night without the faffing. I freeze our bbq stuff and take it out just before we set off - its then ready for the next day.
a bat and ball is a must.

[Cakebitch]

Take 2 mallets. tent gets put up in half the time!

[MustTidyUpMustTidyUp]

Have fun City let us know how you get on.
at buckets of wee - wouldn't occur to me to notice or care

[KatyTheCleaningLady]

Nobody has ever noticed me walking with a bucket of wee.

People at camp grounds in the morning are busy trudging off to brush their own teeth to care what you have in your bucket.

[CityTiliDie]

We are off to the IOW at 5am tomorrow for our first ever camping trip. My poor little ford Fusion is bursting at the seams and I have yet to strap the bikes on the back.

Taking a four year old DD too , she is really excited especailly about the boat trip although she did think I was going to row the boat over to the island!!!!!

It looks like we might actually get some reasonable weather too after five years of holidays in the UK where it has rained every fucking time!

Thanks for everyones tips and advice. I think we have all bases covered and that includes the kitchen sink (a collapsable one)

[MinimalistMommi]

Well if it's just wee and no toilet paper chuck it in the hedge ?
I figure if animals wee all the time everywhere that might be OK?
Or take a nappy bucket (with lid) so at least it's covered and carry it too toilet to dispose of. Or use those disposable pee bags that are used for potty training out and about and tie it up and throw it away but that is the expensive option.

[Pootles2010]

Those that say to take bucket/potty for use in the night - do you just walk with it to loos in morning? I'd be a bit embarrassed walking around with a bucket of wee

But I think it might be neccessary as ds is only fairly recently potty trained..