What little extras/ luxury so should we take?

[Verynovicegardener]

We are going camping at the end of May. I am not that into camping but we are going with another family and all the kids are really excited so am doing it for them!

The kids are ages 3/4 and two seven year old boys.

The campsite is quite basic, one shower block and a cafe open if weather good, you can light a fire.

We have all the basics ( I hope) but would love to hear recommendations from more experienced campers for little bits and bobs to take to make it extra special for the kids in particular!!

Fluffy dressing gowns! Makes everything easier, from sitting out on an evening, to nipping to the loo in the night. They can also be used as a pillow or extra blanket if needed.

Watching with interest and bumping for you, we are new to camping too

Hot water bottle, winter duvet, wine ! Also, a head torch or lighted Kindle very good for reading in bed.

Oooh fab! Will be taking wine as a necessity lol :-)

Will definitely take our dressing gowns ( hadn't thought of that!) and will be investing In a new torch so will check out a head lamp too. All the suggestions are great please keep them coming!

Pillows and a duvet.

Lots of nice food.

Gas or wind up lamp.

Cool box for wine and beer food.

Blow up air mattress

DH and I love camping but haven't been in beards. Fingers crossed for this year

Slippers for inside the tent, hot water bottle, nice snacks, hot chocolate and wine help a lot imo

Bottle opener

Extra blanket - can be useful to put this under the mattress as insulation

Bucket/bottles for water

Hats and gloves in case you get cold at night

Board games in case it rains

We always take foldable chairs like these

If it's a basic site then maybe a spare loo roll in case they run out

Baby wipes- have a multitude of uses
Sharp knife- nothing more soul destroying than trying to cook, in the rain, with a blunt knife
Skewers or kebab sticks- an open fire demands marshmallows :o

For luxury I like a pair of warm fluffy socks for in bed. I take my own pillows and duvet and treat myself to a slightly nicer than normal shower gel/ shampoo to ease the pain of cold shower blocks

lidded bucket for middle of night wees

Cereal bars for when kids first wake, means you don't have to get up and dressed immediately to feed them. Not croissants which they then sit on your bed and eat (bitter experience)

Washing line of sorts to dry wet towels.

lots of black bags in case you pack up in the wet, and to sling dirty washing into etc

Pimms / Gin in a tin

kitchen rolls for mopping up (inevitable) spills

silk sleeping bag liners. a bottle of rum to add to your cocoa. a bialetti to make decent coffee in the morning.

Yep, hot water bottles.

Hot chocolate making facilities.

Slippers

Snuggy socks

A gazebo with 'walls' to keep the cold draughts off you in the evenings.

Glow sticks and marshmallows keep the Dcs very happy

Fleecy blankets - for adding to the bed, wrapping round you in the evening, as picnic blankets etc etc.

Really good hot choc and marshmallows. And baileys..

A flask so the next cup of tea is that much faster by saving the rest of the kettles worth of hot water

DH and I like our down duvet and proper pillows for camping

Depending on the ages of the kids, penknives. Ours whittle twigs for toasting marshmallows.

Yes to glo sticks, the 99p store sell tubes, but chuck them away before they go to bed, they are nasty if they leak and can dissolve the covers of air beds or SIMS, and cause a skin reaction.

Intake a cafe tierce, proper coffee and an insulated stainless steel mug so that I can enjoy my coffee.

Binoculars and a star book.

Go to the £1 shop and buy as many pairs of fluffy socks as you can fit in your bag. Our kids have a sleeping pair - which MUST NOT leave the sleeping bag- that way they're always dry...and numerous other pairs get worn throughout the day but they always forget to put shoes on and wander outside so they get damp fairly quickly...hence the advice to buy as many pairs as possible!! May I add they're teenagers and have been camping for ever and they still make this mistake!!
Get yourself some 'treat' food. Really nice stuff that you talk yourself out of buying normally as it's too nice/pricey...that way, even if it's chucking it down, your tastebuds get pampered!
Antibac wipes for cleaning chopping boards and knives rather than waiting till you've boiled the kettle or gone to the wash-up station...you'll be surprised how often you run stuff under the hot tap at home!
Maybe get a bag of new toys for the kids to share...that way they don't belong to any of them so fewer arguments should occur! Explorer kits, colouring in stuff, frisbees, inside and outside toys.
Cosy blankets...I'd take them rather than dressing gowns as they're less bulky. DH and I have nice wooly ones as we are less likely to trail them through the mud...the kids have fleece ones from Primark!

Slankets (fleece blankets with arms)
Do you have EHU? Electric blankets & halogen oven
Baileys for cheeky hot chocolates / coffees
I (too late now) often buy a few extra tins of Xmas chocs to take camping.
Glow sticks
Marshmallows
Small bottles of water
A new book
Individual sachets of coffee
A proper mug (not plastic)
Most expensive washing up liquid money can buy
Cricket set, bag of tennis balls & a football