Most kids get excited at the idea of going camping. After all, spending a night in a tent out in the woods sounds pretty adventurous! The trouble for parents and chaperones is that once you get kids out into the woods away from the PS3s, Facebook, and TV is that they might not know what to do with themselves! Thankfully, there are plenty of different games and ways you can make camping fun for kids. Here are a few such ideas:

Take Pictures!

Equip your kids each with a disposable camera and encourage them to take whatever snapshots from the camping excursion that they please. Kids like having their own camera to do with what they wish. Plus, the finished product is a bunch of pictures to give them fond memories of camping!

Scavenger Hunt

Nothing is quite as fun as a nature scavenger hunt. Send your kids out, with parental supervision, of course, on a nature scavenger hunt. Give them a specific leaf to find, a specific rock, have them find and take note of a number you’ve hidden in a certain place they’re given instructions to find, etc. You can keep kids busy for hours and having a blast with a good scavenger hunt!

Campfire Stories

One of the great joys of camping with kids is the chance to scare the crap out of them with a good campfire story at night. Tell your favorite campfire story, flashlight pointed at face, of course, and have them entranced for hours. If you don’t have a good campfire story, there are plenty classics available online that shouldn’t take too long to commit to memory.

Board Games

Bring a deck of cards and a couple of board games on your camping trip. You never know when your trip might get rained out or when there will be a moment of boredom where a deck of UNO will come in handy.

Have Them Help!

Camping is a great chance to teach kids the importance of responsibility and safety. Have your kids help you set up the tent and unload supplies. A great way to help your kids unload a little wild energy is to send them out on a mission to collect firewood. Have them gather as many twigs and sticks as they can. These will help keep the fire going later. You can also have your kids help prepare the food you’ll be eating at camp. Don’t forget supplies for s’mores. Graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars are a camping classic!

Star Gaze

Since most people live in urban settings these days, fewer and fewer kids truly know what a starry night sky looks like. Camping is a great chance to star gaze. Visit the site Earth Sky to learn a few interesting things to look for in tonight’s sky. Getting to see a constellation for the first time is a great memory for kids!

First aid preparations should be a top priority for any camper. Most camping excursions take participants away from modern amenities like drug stores and hospitals. As such, it is important to prepare for any situations that could arise in which a drug store or hospital would otherwise be called upon. Moreover, since camping presents additional danger elements as compared to a night at home (ie: snake bites, hiking accidents, etc), all precautions must be taken.

Here are some basic camping first aid tips that any wise camper follows:

Carrying a well-stocked first aid kit

Some must-bring items for a camping first aid kit include:

• Various sizes of bandages and gauze
• Antiseptic creams (like neosporin)
• Stomach medicines (Pepto, Ex-Lax, Tums)
• Tweezers, scissors
• Pain medicines
• Aloe and lotions
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Chapstick
• Burn cream
• Snakebite kit
• Eye drops
• Thermometer
• Smelling salts

Keep yourself prepared for any potential problems with the above-listed items. Stomach medicines are good in case anyone faces intestinal issues on the trip. Tweezers are good for removing thorns while scissors and a knife come in handy for cutting gauze and bandages. Hydrogen peroxide is effective for cleaning out wounds prior to bandaging. Antiseptic creams like neosporin help prevent infection in a wound after it is bandaged. An aloe-vera lotion is effective for relieving pain caused by burns. A snakebite kit may be appropriate depending on what region you are camping in. Eye drops are useful in the event that someone’s contacts begin to dry out. A thermometer is handy for checking someone’s temperature. Smelling salts may be useful if someone in your camping party loses consciousness after a fall. And of course, it is always good to have some asprin or ibuprofen on hand to treat pesky headaches and soreness from sleeping on the ground.

Don’t Overstock

A good first aid kit is usually pretty basic. You don’t need to complicate your trip by bringing too many first aid products. This will only make it more difficult to find the things you actually need in the event of a minor emergency.

Keep Your Kit Updated

A first aid kit that you’ve had sitting in storage for ten years may be as good as worthless. A good rule of thumb is to restock your first aid kit prior to the first camp of every season. Spend ten minutes going through and figuring out what needs to be replaced and what can remain in the kit.

Some people prefer the great outdoors when the weather is crisp and cold. A few reasons may be to have that not-too-often chance to ski, snow board, ice skate, ice fish or just enjoy the beauty of the land blanketed in white snow. If you prepare properly, you can enjoy camping in the winter weather as well. There are several places in the United States listed below, to give you a starting point on where to take your next winter camping trip.

South Dakota is a good place to start if you are looking to have a laid back, peaceful getaway. There are plenty of places to choose from here, which typically consist of a more quiet and serene atmosphere than some places. A few of these places are; Newton Hills State Park, Black Hills Snowmobile Trail Systems and Oakwood Lakes State Park.

Another great place to go to do a little winter camping would be Colorado. This beautiful state is well known for it’s lovely snow-capped mountains. Some great areas in Colorado would be, Mueller State Park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Parry Peak, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, Meadow Ridge so many more.

If you are looking to go further north, Michigan has quite a bit to offer for winter camping and activites, most of which include cabins, teepees, yurts and lodges. A few of the best campgrounds in Michigan are; Wilderness State Park, Interlochen State Park, Burt Lake State Park, Wilderness State Park, Fisherman’s Island State Park, Ludington State Park and Lake Leelanau RV Park.

Yosemite National Park is as wonderful in the winter time as it is in the summer time. You may actually be limited on the amount of driving and hiking that can be done in this area compared to the warmer months, but the fact that there is a significantly smaller amount of tourists around the park this time of year makes up for it. All lodging options in Yosemite are open year-round, including the non-heated tent cabins in Curry Village. Only a select few campgrounds, though, are open in the winter months, including, Yosemite Valley’s Upperpine Campground, Camp 4, Hodgdon Meadow Campground and Wawona Campground. Also, a lot of the roads are closed to automobiles during the snowy months, but are open as snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing trails this time of the year. All in all, Yosemite is always a beautiful place to be, no matter what time of year it is.

You can always find a wonderful place to camp or lodge in the United States during the winter. Just knowing some of the best places to choose from always helps in your search for your next wonder winterland getaway.