Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Weeknd camping alone with 3 DC

4 replies

AdaHopper · 10/02/2019 19:47

This spring and summer I would like to go for short camping weekends with my 3 DC (11,9,6).

We are used to camping for long periods with an emperor tent (and lots of glamping stuff Grin and DH.

DH won't be able to come along so it'll be just the 4 of us. What do I need in terms of:

  • tent
  • table / chairs
  • cooking gear?

We are fine for beds and bedding

We'll have just boot space.

OP posts:
Ricekrispie22 · 12/02/2019 05:18

If you’re on your own with kids and you’ve only got boot space, and you’re going just for a weekend, I’d go for a campsite with pre-erected tents where you can hire fire pits. Then just get camping chairs and a camping table.

Eigercounter · 13/02/2019 19:31

I've done a bit of this alone, but with just one dc, from when she was about 8 years old. Your two eldest will definitely be able to help you put the tent up, so that's good. Have you got a tent already? If not, just get a one-bedroom thing that says it sleeps 5 - that will be plenty of room. Get what they call a 'tunnel' tent, so you have somewhere in the front to sit if it's raining and play board games and then the bedroom behind.

I just took minimal cooking stuff - stove, kettle, canned food (those chunky soups are good, and baked beans, and spaghetti hoops), cartons of long life milk. Usual stuff like a sponge for washing up, a tea towel, some bowls and cutlery, something to carry your dirty dishes to the washing up area..... Torches, matches to light the stove.

Fold up table and fold up chairs.

OnTheHop · 14/02/2019 08:02

How big is your car / boot?

Look at the 5 person tents in the Millers sale. A tent with fibreglass poles will pack up smaller than steel poles or air beam.

Or go to GoOutdoors it big camping shop and look at pack sizes.

If you buy a tent with a small living area get a tarp to cook under if it is wet.

A folding chair each, a table, maybe one of the ones with a roll up top, a small low table to put a one ring stove on.

A roll up foam mat / SIM for each person, sleeping bag for each person.

‘Kitchen Box ‘ : don’t go mad: plan meals that can be cooked either either in one frying pan or one saucepan. (Take a ready made chilli, curry, stew etc). Have a look at the ‘collaps’ Stuff, a fold flat casserole pot/ kettle/ washing up bowl.

We go to ‘wild’ style sites and cook on a campfire so I don’t take a BBQ, I have one iron casserole that can go in the embers and in which I can cook a while chicken surrounded by spuds and carrots, and a grill that folds flat for barbecuing or putting a pot on. This means no gas bottle, big stove, BBQ etc..

Depending on your car and how the kids sit you have a spare seat space. You can fit loads of stuff under seats, footwells, under the kids feet. Soft stuff like sleeping bags on their laps, mats standing up next to their legs.

My cool box sits in the middle seat with the seat belt round it, or jammed in the footwell of the empty passenger seat (seat jammed up against it).

It’s big rigid things like tables that are awkward to pack. A small table to cook and prepare food on (mine is roll top) and they can eat if laps or a picnic rug if you maybe stick to non sloppy food like burgers, hit dogs, quesadillas (in frying pan) , risotto. I also use enamel ‘rice plates ‘ which have higher sides, like v shallow bowls, so kids spill less from plates.

anniehm · 14/02/2019 08:06

Take a smaller tent if you can and somewhere with picnic tables is handy. Fire pits even better but you can't guarantee weather. We always choose a site near a pub in case weather makes cooking tricky (never cook inside due to carbon monoxide)

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.