Camping with 2 yr old

[LadyT27]

Hi All,
Going camping for 5 days next week with DP and DD 2y. Any recommendations on essentials to bring? We have an electricity on our pitch. Are planning on bringing a small cooker and cooler box. What are the best things ti bring food wise and any other essentials for DD.

For breakfast, we normally have instant porridge pots like these www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/Product/sainsburys-express-porridge-pot-original-55g and I cool it down for dc with a pouch of Ella’s fruit purée. When we last went camping there was a heat wave so we had these cereal boxes instead.

For dinners, we had:
Bolognese www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/305047858 with quick cook pasta.
Sausages on the bbq with instant Smash and tinned ratatouille www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/258437779
Burgers on the bbq in burger buns
Tinned vegetable curry with added tinned chickpeas, and boil-in-the-bag rice
Salmon on the bbq with instant couscous www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/Product/sainsburys-roasted-vegetable-couscous-110g
Tinned tuna and tinned sweetcorn in tomato sauce with pasta

For lunches, we normally grabbed a bite to eat in a cafe wherever we happened to be.

For snacks for the dc, I took small boxes of raisins, easy peelers, small cartons of fruit juice, Capri Sun and oaty bars.

For your dd, I’d also take lots of quiet toys which she can do on her own in the tent if it’s raining, when you’re cooking or if she wakes up before you:
Aquadoodle Tavel bag
A small tub of stickle bricks or Duplo
Magnetic fishing
Wooden bear dress up
Also, take a book for bedtime each night,

Their own torch to play with, bubbles, glow sticks can be fun. Snap cards. Mine are older now so I’m struggling to remember toys but my DD had her 3rd birthday in a tent in France with a marble run
Vests to wear under onsies so don’t get cold changing nappies/potty. Fluffy socks for inside tents and wellies or crocs for easy pull on shoes. LargePlastic square shopping bags to store shoes, waterproofs, toys, clothes etc.
Bowls for eating everything as easier to hold on laps than plates, picnic blankets to sit on. Wet wipes or flannels for strip washes in tent easier than cold shower block showers that are push buttons made for 6ft+ giants!

I cook and freeze a tub of chilli or spaghetti bog which stays cold in cool box then just needs reheating with wraps or nachos. Also precook sausages & freeze them so we have sausage wraps for first breakfast. Plus I freeze a small bottle of milk which is then ok till day 2/3 as it slowly defrosts in cool box whilst keeping other stuff cold.

Bubbles damage tents so they are a no no on a campsite.

Glowsticks are fab though. My teens still love them when we are camping.
Plenty of blankets, putting one under the airbed helps with cold rising off the ground.
If it needs 2 of you to pitch the tent then you'll need a way to contain DD while you do that.

Do the zip up at the top of the door opening, so little fingers can't get to it in the night.

Their own little camp chair!
We take premade pancakes and fruit for breakfast.
Lunch we do sandwiches normally with oat bars.
Dinner one pot wonders sausage casserole, chilli with wraps, pasta with stir in carbonara sauce.
Frubes work well whilst away. We have a plug in cool box which helps keep everything cold but take long life milk just incase.
Multiple layer options as it can be chillier in the morning. A huge oversized towel for shower block to just carry them back as the floors can be tiled and slippy!
We take DS balance bike along and a range of small toys but colouring as well.

Make it as fun as possible my DS loves it and we currently go about once a month!