Family camping - do you have a list you could share please?!

[GoofyIsACow]

I have been camping quite a bit with my 3 boys but only ever for one night because DH doesn’t camp so we have a great tent, air bed and loads of blankets etc but not much else.
He has just booked a weekend camping for a festival in summer and so I’m going to need to up the camping stakes!
I’ll get a camping stove but does anyone have any top tips that only seasoned campers know please? I have one chance to make is so fun that DH is hooked! 😂
Thank you in advance!

Squirty cream - a camping favourite with us!

We have a table and chairs and a little set of shelves plus boxes for all our cooking stuff and food. We also have a little barbecue (as well as the stove). If we have room we take comfy folding chairs (nice for sitting in the evenings, having a drink).

Check the festival rules a lot don't allow gas stoves any more. For a festival I would take a couple of little backpack tables to put things on like the stove. Comfy chairs that you can carry onto site. If the kids are coming perhaps one of those trolleys to carry your stuff on and off the festival bit unless they are older. Are you planning to bring your own food? You will need a cool box and maybe look at the picnic back packs. Also bare in mind at a festival you will have to carry everything on site. If dh doesn't like camping he will hate festival camping!

Invest in a camping table (you can get ones that fold up reasonably flat and the stools fold up inside). Also chairs to sit in during the evenings...the ground can get quite hard !

If the campsite allows campfires and you can rent a firepit then definitely go for it ! Campfires add to the whole experience!

Get a couple of decent camping lights so you can see at night.

If you've got room invest in a little camping loo for middle of the night emergencies !

Also make sure you take mosquito repellant just incase etc !

In our family I was the one with the camping reservations and now I am hooked !

• Shoe bucket by the door and doormat to stop the mud coming in.
• Comfy camping chairs
• gazebo or awning; this makes it bearable to cook outside if it's raining and you have an extra area to chill in when the kids go to bed.
• you don't say how young your boys are, but if you have a toddler, take a paddling pool. You can keep all the toys in there (in one place) and stops them crawling around in the mud. We still use ours, for chilling alcohol (kids are much older).
• Decent headlight torches, good pegs for the tent and wet wipes.

Food wise... we take precooked crepes that can be heated in seconds, I do scrambled eggs another day and overnight hot oats on the third day. Box cereals also go down well. Snacks and sandwiches/wraps for lunch. For tea, anything on the stove works. I typically tend to pull something I have batch cooked out of the freezer, so vegetable spag bol on night one, chicken casserole with new potatoes (no bones!) on night two, with the meal defrosting in our coolbox during the day and then a trip to the chippy on night three. It's got to the point where takeaway chips on the last night Is The Law.

Whatever you want to eat, the key trick is to prep in advance, so you don't have four pairs of hungry eyes watching you chop up onions.

Is it a festival where you have to park your car miles from the tent and carry all your stuff? And then be crammed in close to other festival campers?

I am a seasoned camper and I hate festival camping.

But maybe your DH will enjoy the festival enough in its own terms.

What is it he doesn’t like about camping? We need to know what he doesn’t like so that we can address that!

Thank you everyone. Great tips!
It’s Carfest, so not as grim and festivally as say leeds or glasto... I hope! cars are parked in another field but unsure how far away. We have three DC’s 10,12,13 so they can all pull their weight carrying. I’m considering getting one of those garden trolleys too.
His issue is the lack of hotel level bathrooms! He hates being dirty and sweaty. He knows he will have to suck it up and get on with it though! We haven’t received the full details about the camping and there is nothing in the FAQ’s about whether gas stoves or fires are allowed, does anyone know?
We have booked standard camping, the pitches aren’t allocated by size or location, they just ask ‘you are considerate’

Would he be happier with your own portable toilet in the tent?

Good idea, I wondered that actually, i’ll ask him. Thank you :)

Wine, wet wipes and fleece pyjamas.

How big is your tent?
I've never been to a Carfest but I assume it's pretty similar to a steam rally as far as the camping side of things is concerned, so, if you're lucky, the loos will be less vile. I'd still pack antibac wipes, hand sanitizer and waterless shampoo/bodywash, I like Halo and Full Circle best and Full Circle are currently have their hygiene 'survival' kit on sale www.gofullcircle.co.uk/full-circle-pack-1/eco-friendly-hygiene-pack. If you're already looking at a garden trolley I'd really recommend one, just make sure it's got decent 'all terrain' wheels. I went through three before getting this one: www.amazon.co.uk/Bokofa-Handcart-Foldable-Off-Road-Transport/dp/B08D3W141H/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&rnid=419157031&keywords=folding+garden+trolley&rps=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1622396726&refinements=p_76%3A419158031&sr=8-6
Which still has 4 working wheels 3 years on. Also I'd highly recommended electric coolers, they're like minifridges with the added bonus of being much more portable you can get a mains adapter or they run off the cigarette lighter in your car and you can use them like a regular cooler with icepacks too. Since your boys are bigger too I'd consider getting a couple of cheap insulated backpacks that way you can spread the weight a little and no one person is responsible for making sure everyone is hydrated. An all surface swingball not only gives you something to do but can make a handy holder for a solar shower (not great for showering but good for freshening up and keeping hands clean which I'm sure your OH will appreciate.) We're usually going for longer than a weekend but my checklist is something like this:

• wagon
• tent
• beach shelter (for cooking when the weather isn't great because we don't have an awning)
• windbreakers (sometimes)
• self inflating pillows/sleep mats
• sleeping bags/blankets
• air loungers or comfy camp chairs (depending on space)
• clean clothes (always take more socks than you expect to need)
• slippers/tent shoes, and flipflops for quick trips to the loo
• sanitizer 1 per person
• baby wipes 1 pack + ziploc bags (1 per person)
• antibac wipes (keep these in the original pack you do not want to confuse Flash wipes with your Pampers Wipes)
• lidded bag/bucket for muddy shoes
• portable BBQ/ camp stove (where site permits)
• electric cooler
• solar shower
• swingball

food: breakfast

• instant porridge/overnight oats
• cereal
• eggs, bacon bits, crispy onions etc
• UHT milk or milk powder

meals

• tinned foods soup/tuna/stew/chilli/beans/veg/fruit etc (we don't even always bother breaking out the pot to heat these just stick the cans straight on the BBQ grill or hot plate (after removing the paper)
• Pasta/noodles and stir in sauces (maccaroni or the pasta from cheesy pasta boxes will cook if you cover it with boiling water and then cover the container and wait 5-10 minutes)
• salad stuff
• cous cous and seasonings
• potatoes and tinfoil (butterbuds or kernel seasons butter flavour are handy travel friendly alternatives to real butter, my OH also likes to sprinkle on MRC the Red Tub garlic and butter glaze, also handy if you pop to the supermarket and pick up some chicken or pork for the BBQ)
• frozen batch-cooked meals like @TheABC suggested are also handy.
• we tend to take flatbreads like tortillas or similar rather than bread for on-the-go lunches, saves space and they don't get squished.

Drinks

• juice/squash
• bottles of water
• tea/coffee/hot chocolate or your other favourite hot drinks and sugar/sweetener

snacks

• homemade trail mix
• cuppa soups (we add in some rice noodles to make them a little more filling and have them as a lunch sometimes)
• whole grain crackers
• snack bars
• fresh fruit

And no camping trip will ever be complete without toasting marshmallows. If it's a special occasion we'll also throw in a BBQ fondue, they work just as well on the camping stove. I hated camping until I didn't. You get used to it after a while. We had a portaloo but stopped using it when My DSD was 7 or 8 but will probably start again now our LO is potty training. I don't recommend them though but only because I hate emptying them.

Must-have items:
Tent
Mallet
Mattresses (air mattress/SIM/roll mat - stick the last 2 on top of a fold-up camp bed for super luxury)
Sleeping bags
Washing up bowl
Washing up liquid
Fairy liquid
Sponge
Scourer
Tea towel
Camping crockery
Mugs
Gas stove
Camp kettle
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Knives
Chopping boards
Tin opener
Bottle opener
Matches
Picnic mat
Torch
Lantern
Kitchen roll
Bin bags
Antibac wipes

Good-to-have items:

• Camping chairs
• BBQ, charcoal, skewers, marshmallows
• Glow sticks
• Solar-powered power bank for phones etc.
• Microfibre towels
• One of those peg octopus things for hanging up tea towels/towels to dry
• Dustpan & brush
• Wind break

Oh and a collapsible Jerry can.

There is a big difference between camping with your car (ie having it parked near your tent) and festival camping. There will be loads of food trucks etc you can buy food from, I’m not sure if I’d even bother with a stove (although I can cope without tea and coffee). You need comfortable beds/bedding, changes of clothes/shoes, raincoats etc, loads of snacks/drinks, torches (head torches are really useful), microfibre towels (take up less space than normal ones), waterproof picnic rugs for sitting on (camping chairs are better if you can carry them), wet wipes, kitchen roll, shoes for putting on for a quick walk to the loo (I like crocs for this) and warm clothes to sleep in including decent fluffy socks.

We use a Petrol twin burner coleman stove, its compact light and burns much hotter than gas more like a proper stove at home, boils much faster and still works if windy. We also had cooking practice runs in the garden so we know whats needed for each meal then we are not taking stuff we wont need.
We ended up with a £100 caravan and never looked back much better having your own facilities

Head torch and hot water bottle?