Rent your camper van and take your children along on the road!

Camping with Kids

We offer the best campers for you in order to bring your kids along. Click through our list and find the perfect match for you and your family. Your kids will be happy as well about the perfect VW camper van for your next holiday.

Camping with children sounds stressful for some people. This is nonsense though. Children most likely love camping and enjoy the freedom to do whatever they are up for. Get your breakfast when you feel like it and do not be bound for any hotel buffet. Once everyone is awake and hungry, start eating. However, traveling with children should be considered more carefully, since you have to make a few preparations for the little ones. Here we will provide you with a few of our best tips from many experiences.

Advantages: Camping with kids

Children love being able to move freely and carefree, even to explore the world without mom and dad always around. They are open for new encounters, which is a great advantage at any camp site, because here the little ones can make new friends quickly. Even faster than at home! Why? Obviously, everyone is outside, the neighbors line up in only small distances. The kids will be happily talking and playing with the others around them and have a good time.

Many campsites are designed for families with children: playgrounds, football fields and even pools are among the many attractions. Once your children have explored the territory, the benefits for parents at the camp site become clear: your children are busy themselves and you have some time to yourself. If you are lucky and get a good site at the camp, you will be able to watch them while they are running free and nothing stands in the way of some relaxing sun bathing. Mom and dads, put your feet up and let them be!

Rent a camper with children and discover the world together

Camping keeps children socially and intellectually alive. They experience nature, the weather, changing temperatures and various smells and feels on a daily basis and train their social behavior in a relaxed and calm environment. If you leave them on a long leash, they will quickly contact the neighbor’s children. And who knows? Maybe they even pick up one or two other phrases from a foreign language! You will be amazed when your sweeties tell you “Bon Appetit!” and “Buona notte!” after dinner and before they fall asleep.

Our roadsurfer camper vans offer up to five sleeping spaces. For infants, a suspended bed can additionally be build in the passenger area. That’s why you do not really need a tent. But children love nights under the open sky, so it’s still worth packing. You can always spend a night outside, or use the tent as a playground for rainy days! Very handy too: In the tent you can also stow the childrens seats, because if you want to eat in the camper van, you need space there!

Bad weather? There is no bad weather for a camping holiday!

Important when camping with children is the basic equipment for all weather conditions. Sun protection like hats and sun screen are just as important to pack in your luggage as rubber boots, mud pants and rain coats. Since clothes, once wet, sometimes only dry slowly, you better take additional clothing than usual. Our Roadsurfer tip: fleece fabrics keep you warm, are light, and dry extremely fast. Whether in the morning or the evening, they are the best choice, especially with windy Atlantic weather.

The right sleeping bags are worth a lot

The pajamas should be a bit thicker than the ones from home. Remember to sleep in robes that you like anyone else to see, since you might have to sneak out to use the toilet or breath some fresh air. Sleeping bags should also be packed per your convenience and also the temperature at the time of traveling. By the way, two sleeping bags of the same brand can be easily connected, so that nothing stands in the way of some cuddling at chilly nights. For children, there are age-appropriate sleeping bags that are not too long, so they cannot disappear (and choke) in them. Some brands even offer extendable children’s sleeping bags, so that the kids do not grow out right after a summer. When you travel in the mid-summer-heat, sometimes a usual cotton sleeping bag seems convenient.

You want to spend a night in a tent?

Then it is important to isolate well. The best way to build a camp is to do it from sleeping pads and then connect them with a fitted sheet. So nothing slips through and no child is suddenly lying on the bare floor of the tent! A lot of body heat is lost via the head. Hence, especially with children in mind, it will not hurt to have some hooded sweaters and hats ready for any sudden temperature drops.

A torch is indispensable as well. You might wish to head to the toilet in the middle of the night or choose a night walk around the beautiful starlit lake. Remember to take one with you, most of them are even included in any good camping equipment. Our Roadsurfer tip: children love headlights. You get them from 10 Euro already.

“Mom, I’m bored!” – Ways to keep your child busy during your camping holiday

“Are we there, yet?”, “Dad, I have to use the toilet!”, “I’m hungry” and “I’m bored” are familiar to anyone traveling with kids, because you have probably heard them many times before. Especially long rides in a car are not easy on the little ones. Hence, we provide some tips and ideas to keep your kids busy during the ride and at the camp site.

Games for a long journey

A great activity for traveling with children is to bring along games. Any games are great that make use of the natural surroundings in order to learn and observe. Travel bingo, for example, is such a game: all the people in the car – the driver perhaps excepted – choose one color. Now it is about discovering as many cars or other objects who are painted this color or that way naturally. Whenever you discover that chosen color, you will loudly shout “Bingo!”. Alternatively, you can choose different categories instead of colors, for example buildings like churches, tunnels, castles or car models like convertibles, trucks and buses.

Camping with Children

The classic “I see something that you do not see” is still a great game for long rides, but more suitable for the little ones, because outside the environment is constantly changing and in the camper might be less to discover and you will run out of options sooner or later. Try something like “Who or what am I?”. Think of something your kids know, such as the name of its favorite toy. Now your child has to ask questions that you have to answer with a simple “yes” or “no”. Bit by bit it feels like solving a puzzle. Sounds like a lot of fun to us.

Try playing with language as well, which is a lot of fun. Try teaching them about phrases or compound nouns. Let them group certain categories together such as highway, train ride, luggage, luggage belt and so on. Or collect as many types of words from specific categories such as animals that begin with the first letter of a particular license plate. On that occasion, teach your kids about license plates. They will have fun trying to remember the certain area cars belong to.

You like to read while being in the passenger seat? No? We thought so, because most people get sick. Why don’t you try and invent your own stories and fairy tales with your children. Start with a sentence. Your children then have to complete them piece by piece. Here is an example from our own experience on the road: “Suddenly Indian Chief Red Pen had a great idea…”-”…he caught a chicken in the bush…”-”-…should I have it for dinner or keep it as a pet?”…now it’s your turn. Continue the little story. Our roadsurfer tip: Written down, these stories become a beautiful reminder of a perfect camping holiday.

And your children will definitely remember these games better than having watched a boring movie on an iPad. In any case, have some music with you to enjoy and sing along to.

Camping mit Kindern roadsurfer-Campingbus

Games at the camp site

Children enjoy time with their parents, but also a little free time to themselves. Let them roam free if the weather is right. If not, remember to pack board and card games for rainy days and indoor activities.

If the weather is sunny as is expected, most camp sites offer bike and scooter rentals. Let the children explore the camp site with a bike and lend yourself one too if you left yours at home. Furthermore, football fields and badminton playing grounds can be found. Hence, bring a football and some racks in order to make use of the opportunities..

If your camp site is not providing a pool or your children are too small to swim in them, think about taking a small inflatable swimming pool with you. This ensures a cool down during hot days and attracts the neighbors children as well and your kids will be the coolest at the camp site and make friends in an instance.

For a nice evening during summer, most camp sites offer fire places. Get in touch with other campers and enjoy some dinner at the fire with sausages and bread on a stick. Afterwards, take that hike in the middle of the night. After these many exciting experiences your children will definitely be exhausted and sleep really well, so you get some time off as well, if you are not tired as well. Another thing that we just thought of is face painting as an indoor activity. Let them paint each other and pack some pencils and colors in your luggage. Instructions can be found online in various languages. This road trip promises adventure and fun. Your children will probably thank you twenty years later and remember the great roadsurfer holiday.

Camp fires, music, bread on a stick, the outdoors, nature. Enjoy the feeling of freedom and start your camping holiday now.

A camping holiday with children will probably be the annual highlight for the youngsters. They will proudly talk about that special trip once school starts again. Let go of any worries and let yourself and your children roam free and enjoy everything nature has to offer.

We hope we convinced you to pack your children and we are looking forward for your booking. Be a roadsurfer – be free.