Camping holds different meanings for people, but for most, it is an opportunity to reconnect with family and nature. Reports show that UK households love camping and a majority do it with immediate family members. Statistics also indicate that before 2021 ended, 5 million people in the UK had already gone camping. The thing is, what can you do to turn your camping activities into a family tradition and an excellent bonding experience? The camping traditions options are endless, and here are some ideas to consider.
- Consider making it an annual family tradition
Families with young children usually opt for a time when kids are not in school to organise a camping trip. It makes sense to do this if the objective is to spend time with all nuclear or extended family members. For many households, this happens in early spring, summer, or just when autumn is about to set in. The best way to get this right is to find a season that allows everyone to be available for the camping trip. As an annual tradition, it will become a period everyone looks forward to.
The underlying reason for camping is to reconnect with family and nature. Yearly events give everyone ample time to prepare. Admittedly, not every family member can make it on these trips yearly. However, the most important detail is informing everybody in the family of the time of year the camping trip is scheduled. As an annual tradition, there is an increased chance that younger family members will maintain the event when they get older.
- Make a tradition of who adds to scrapbook memories
Scrapbooks are still popular because they help keep memories intact. This DIY activity has been trendy among children and teens, but you can adopt it as a family tradition. Since the overall purpose of a camping trip is to reconnect with each other, it would be best to create great memories while at it. A scrapbook allows you and your family members to chip in with ideas on what should go into it. You can assign the responsibility of making and documenting memories to various family members. For example, you can assign video photography to the older children, picture-taking to adults and putting together the photos to the younger ones. You can also have a challenge where everyone is tasked to collect a fascinating object for the scrapbook, with a prize for the person with the most fascinating collectible. This works great if you’re camping with extended family.
That way, everyone gets the opportunity to add to the scrapbook according to their wishes. For this to be successful, you must know the type of scrapbook design for your family tradition. There is the traditional (physical) option and the digital photo book. The former is an already-designed book that allows you to attach printed photos and other physical embellishments. So, if you capture images with your Olympus EM10 camera, you can glue the printouts to the pages. On the other hand, a digital photobook may be useful depending on your family’s needs. While this cannot be passed around, everyone can access uploads on a shared digital platform. This option allows everyone to contribute photos, comments, and other ideas that make it worthwhile.
- Hold major family reunions in a specific location
The psychology behind this is to make every family member see a specific campsite as a reunion ground. It will take some work, timely planning, and creativity to see this through. The reason is that a particular campground spot may not always be available to your family.
To make this happen, expert campers say it would be best to choose at most three campsites in a geographic region, just to be on the safer side. If one is not available, another close by might be. It’s all the better if the campground can be pre-booked to avoid inconveniences. Major family reunions during Christmas, Easter, or New Year’s Day are excellent holidays for this.
- Make a specific fun activity a constant feature on all camping trips
There are countless activities that you can turn into a family tradition on every camping trip. It can be an adventure sport that every family member must participate in. Activities like capture the flag, ring toss, cornhole competitions, etc., are great camping sports to adopt as a tradition. To avoid boredom, you can tweak these games on every camping trip to renew interest and participation. It is also a good idea to allow everyone to bring ideas, so that it is a fun time for all.
