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Family camping hack, tips, and tricks can make family tent camping go so much smoother! These camping ideas for families makes camping with kids frugal, simple, and wonderful!

Clever Family Camping Hacks You Need To Try This Summer!

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Camping is fun but leaving our nice, clean, running water, homes can really throw you off!  But your trip will go so much smoother when you use my 10 family camping hacks sure to make your next trip a breeze!

Let me just preface by saying, “camping is awesome.”  I am so excited right now.  We are going camping tomorrow for three days and I am so glad that I have prepped with tons of brilliant family camping hacks to help the trip go smooth.

Family Tent Camping Requires Tips and Tricks

It’s amazing that in such an advanced society that we live in, that going back to our roots stirs this amazing utter happiness within us all.  Heck, even those who love the city decide to go ‘glamping’ on vacation.

Things can get messy, sticky, and buggy very fast with kids and the outdoors. There are so many amazing camping hacks you pick up over the years. Not to mention the huge resource of Pinterest these days! For more Pinspiration follow my camping board.  (Camping Hacks by Vigor It Out).

For now I’m going to give you a great round-up of camping hacks that we are definately using this week!  They are helpful for camping with kids as well as camping… period! These 10 family camping hacks are sure to make your next trip a breeze!

 

1. Store Eggs In A Water Bottle

Ok, so I’ve been camping many times and this is my first time trying this. It is definately the best way to store eggs and I will repeat this EVERY time we go camping!  The first time I went camping as a family I brought the eggs in a carton.

Have you tried that?  It’s an epic fail.  The carton gets soggy, the eggs barely make it to the second day.  Then you are left wondering, “What do I do with the eggs now?”

The next few times I packed all the eggs in their shells into a Tupperware.  It works fine, but sure does take up a lot of room in our already small cooler.

Eggs are a very healthy and simple protein and are always coming on our camping trips!  So from now on you should crack all eggs into a plastic bottle using a funnel.  Simply pour them into your pan in the morning and you’re good to go!

 

2. Clean Baby Play Station

The first time we went camping with our youngest she was only eight months old.  I was so stressed on how that would go, but it went amazing.  She has always been our nature baby and we we’re so blessed that the days went smoothly.

That being said, I remembered this awesome hack that my best childhood friend sent me years before; about using a fitted sheet at the beach to keep baby contained and clean.  We no longer lived at the beach, but it was super applicable for camping with a baby.

The clean-baby-play-station gave me the time to set up the tent while hubby played with her in the awesomely simple play-space we created. (My husband rocks, he knows I love building and creating and fully absorbs my normal ‘mom-jobs’ to give me the opportunity to do them.)

 

3.Hand Washing Station

Our campsite this time does not come with running water!  **gulp** Never done that one before.  Camping is messy (heck life with kids is messy regardless of where you are… am I right?)

A handwashing station right at your base camp is absolutely necessary!  Save a huge laundry detergent or fabric softener bottle.  The ones that have a spout as well as a regular bottle opening.

When washed out and refilled with water these make an awesome handwashing station!  Place a bucket or large tub under the spout to scrub off or rinse feet to get the most of your water.

 

4. Soap Holder

Have you ever noticed how quickly soaps often get… (well for lack of a better word) nasty at a campground?  Sand and pine needles completely embed themselves into your nice cleaning agent.

To prevent this and just to make a simple super holder, just tie your soap into a nylon at the spout of you hand washing stations!  It is so easy to suds up in this way and it really helps to keep SOME of the grime off of your soap!

 

5. Pool Raft Camp Beds

So once clean, fully fed (probably hopped up on a lot of s’mores), and exhausted it’s time to turn in to that cozy tent!  A great, and amazingly cheap way to make a kids camping bed without purchasing an air mattress is to turn a pool raft into a bed.

We picked up 2 of these pool rafts off Amazon, (wrapped it in a fitted sheet as those things get cold!), adorned with a pillow and blanket; and they made amazing portable beds!  They aren’t the most comfy but children are so resiliant with sleep that they absolutely love them.  I, (even with chronic joint pain) adapted to sleeping on a hard surface to benefit my joints and my children and I super-love these too. We definitely saved some money and headaches going this route!

 

6.  DIY  Bug-Off Bracelets

So bugs suck. (Yes pun intended.)  I completely love being in nature but with that you have to be resilient against bugs.  They are not only annoying, they can harbor life debilitating diseases as well.  (Which I unfortunately have personally experienced and it’s absolutely horrible so please take precaution!)

I’ve purchased the bug off bracelets before but did you know you can make your own? It is a far more natural and healthy alternative than generic bug sprays! While they do a great job (usually) at keeping the bugs away, they are also loaded with toxic chemicals!

To make your own bug-off bracelets with bug repelling all natural essential oils simply twist two pipe cleaners together and saturate with these essential oils: lavender , geranium, and tea tree.  These oils come from my absolute favorite essential oil company that I used to create a less toxic life for my family with. Their quality is phenomenal so the bugs will definitely stay away (no lyme disease here!) AND the prices are out of this world for such a high quality of oils.

Simply Earth is my favorite for their quality and prices but also because they have an essential oils subscription box that I think is just the coolest! For only $39 a month you get 4 full sized oils, along with tons of amazing recipes and all the tools you need to make them! Like cleaning products, lotions, soaps, and more.

It’s a really fun way to stay clean, healthy, and smell amazing. The reason I mention this awesome box is because if it’s something you happen to be interested in you can use my personal code ALLIELAVIGUEURFREE at checkout to get a free Big Box of surprises in addition to your monthly or quarterly subscription box including tons of containers to make your oil blends in for your trip, plus a $20 off coupon sent to your email. (Which you can then use to get the bug repelling oils for your trip almost for FREE!!! Just an idea.)

Then take this cute little fragrant bracelet and wrap it around your kiddos wrist.  This combination of oils will deter ticks (those evil little ********), mosquitoes, and flies.

 

7. DIY Bug Repelling Tikis

Just as much as bugs hate citronella, so does my husband.  Which led me to discovering a much cheaper alternative to refilling our tiki torches.  Did you know they burn well on vegetable oil?  OMG I just saved you $10 a summer at least.

Now it’s super simple to turn these regular tiki’s into a bug repelling master.  Simply add ten drops each of lavender, tea tree, and geranium essential oils into the tiki torch.  (Sound familiar?  Yes, it’s the same concoction from number six on this list.  If it works, don’t fix it!!)

These tikis have a much more mild smell than the stuff you buy in stores but are equally effective at repelling those icky bugs!

 

8. DIY Portable Camp Lanterns

One very important thing to bring camping is lighting! The glow of the camp fire is gorgeous but fleeting.  When turning in to your tent it’s important that each person has at least a flashlight.  These super-cute, easy, simple, and cheap lanterns are perfect for the kids and ridiculously fun and frugal!

Save a peanut butter jar and pick up some battery powered string lights!  You can easily use those tiny flicker “candles” but I found super-cute LED string lights this time!

Wash out the peanut butter jar and stuff in your battery operated lights.  Create a handle by cutting a bit of string and tying knots on both ends. Then secure the knots under the cap while twisting it shut.  My girls loved having their own camp lanterns.

9. Tent Lantern

It’s equally as important to have a way to light your entire tent! Camping lanterns are very effective but really expensive! Not to mention, they usually require C or D batteries, also expensive.

Have no fear!  Find a nice bright flat LED light and strap it to a water jug.  It illuminates the entire tent!

We picked up our awesome light free with a coupon for the local hardware store, washed out a milk jug and refilled with water, and tied it on with a bit of paracord.  The entire cost for our lantern was about $1, simply to purchase brand new batteries! You can pick up a great LED Headlamp here for a decent price if you don’t have anything that will work great already. 🙂

 

10. Hobo Dinners

Do you know what a hobo dinner is?  They are so easy to make and cook in an open flame.  You wrap your food in foil and stick it in or over the fire.  It couldn’t be any easier or more delicious.

Hobo dinners usually consist of ground beef and potatoes but we got all fancy.  Ground turkey, shrimp, mushrooms, potatoes, onion, corn on the cob, and bell pepper double wrapped in foil.  Make these the night before for the first evening camping!  C’mon didn’t you do enough setting up that first day?

 

 

 

 

Hope my 10 camping hacks sure to make your next trip a breeze helps you out this summer!  Have fun camping and stay safe!  Remember plenty of water, bug repellant, and sun block.  I’d love to give you more camping hacks if you are interested!  Just Let me know in the comments below and I’d be super psyched to put together another roundup. (It might even inspire us to take another little trip.)

Other Summer Posts from Vigor it Out:

• The Best Food and Activities to Keep Kids Cool and Entertained this Summer
• DIY All Natural Summer Beauty Hacks
• Summer Fitness Series to Get Bikini Ready in No Time!

Some of My Other Resources You Might Totally Love:

First off TOTALLY FREE:

• I have available a printable Ingredient Replacement Guide

Because you don’t have to eliminate your family favorites to move in a healthier eating direction! You simply need to be aware of ingredients and with this substitution guide you can still have all of favorites! Just slightly altered to add in nutrients and eliminate empty calories and bad fats.

• ALSO FREE is a Healthy Mom’s Snack Checklist

With this free printable checklist so you will always have ideas for healthy, satisfying, protein packed snack on hand. You deserve more than munching on leftover goldfish and pizza crusts between meals. (I’ve been there!) This healthy snack checklist will ensure that you always have the healthy snack on hand that you and your kids deserve.

PLUS:

Are you interested in learning exactly how and why you should be eating chocolate every single day?

Check out my ebook for mouthwatering recipes and more!

 

 

 

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