The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids: How to Plan Memorable Family Adventures and Connect Kids to Nature [Paperback]

Helen Olsson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 17, 2012

Plan your family camping adventure!

Whether you’re a first-time camper or a veteran backpacker befuddled by the challenges of carting a brood—and all the requisite gear—into the great outdoors, here you’ll find all the tips and tools you need to plan the perfect nature adventure with your family. Humorous and irreverent, yet always authoritative, this guide to camping with kids, from babies through pre-teens, is filled with checklists, smart tips, recipes, games, activities, and art projects.

Helen Olsson, a seasoned camper and mother of three, shares lessons learned over the years of nature outings with her own family. Learn the basics of family camping, from choosing a destination and packing gear to setting up a campsite and keeping little ones safe. Create the perfect camp menu with simple and tasty recipe ideas. Discover foolproof tips and tactics for keeping kids happy and entertained while hiking. Explore nature through clever and creative camp arts and craft projects. This guide is your game plan to unplugging from the digital world and connecting your kids to nature. Whether it’s roasting marshmallows around a crackling campfire or stretching out on a camp mat to gaze at the stars, the memories you’ll be making will last a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“For the uninitiated—or else panicked—Boulder-based freelance writer and New York Times contributor Olsson offers this thorough and accessible guide that covers all the bases. From slathering cotton balls in petroleum jelly as firestarters (love it!) to freezing stews ahead of time and letting them double as ice packs, Olsson has you covered. This would make a lovely addition to a display on summer adventures and is enthusiastically recommended for all public libraries. Bring on the dirt.”—Library Journal, starred review

“Olsson provides a comprehensive guide to car camping with children, from infants to preteens. Through her extensive advice, greenhorn parents will quickly evolve into knowledgeable campers, capable of offering their children rewarding experiences in nature that will last a lifetime.”—ForeWord Reviews

“A treasure trove of information and ideas that would be a fine addition to any camper’s bookshelf. The author’s conversational, first-person approach feels like a chat with a friendly neighbor. Her well-crafted prose is sprinkled with a humor that parents will particularly appreciate.”—The Deseret News

“This book is an incredible resource for families just beginning their outdoor adventuring.”—Eco Child’s Play, www.ecochildsplay.com 


“I love the author because she is a mother herself, as well as a very organized one!  Perhaps the most appealing parts of the book are the numerous checklists. The illustrations are clean and simple and they fit with the whole retro theme of the book. Perfect for your kids to browse and learn from. Olssen makes it easy for busy moms and dads to plan, pack, and execute an amazing camping weekend.”—Natural Family Today, www.naturalfamilytoday.com 

“The book is packed with enough detail to allow someone who has never camped in their life to venture confidently into the woods, but even veteran backcountry campers will find plenty of useful tips on everything from first aid to making camp.”—The Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)

“If you’re like me, no matter how much you plan, the Wing It factor always comes into play when you go camping with children. But now there's a book that can help you tame the chaos of mushing your whole family and a ridiculous mountain of gear into a single tent. You won’t find a more comprehensive how-to on the subject than The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping With Kids. Olsson leads you through practically every decision you need to make—from where and when to go, to what to bring (less than you think), to what to cook (single best compendium of s’mores recipes ever), and how to keep the kids out of your hair (berry paints! photo safaris!). Because it’s so sensible, the guide is great for everyone, from seasoned backcountry veterans who want to learn a few new shortcuts to families that have never once set up a tent or banged a stake into the ground. Olsson’s tone is chipper yet informative, and never condescending. The book is crammed with handy packing checklists, simple but clever camp recipes, and lots of genuinely helpful advice, like always bring your bikes and orient your tent door to the best view.”—Katie Arnold, Outsideonline.com.

About the Author

Helen Olsson is a freelance travel and skiing writer and a regular contributor to the New York Times Travel and Escapes sections, where she writes about family outdoor and adventure travel. Among the camping trips she's chronicled are llama-trekking in Colorado's backcountry and a canoe-and-kayak trip in the Niobrara River Valley of Nebraska—both taken with three children under nine. Visit her at www.maddogmom.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Roost Books; Original edition (April 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590309553
• ISBN-13: 978-1590309551
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Camping
  • #65 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Instructional

More About the Author

Helen Olsson is a freelance writer based in Boulder, Colorado, and a former executive editor at Skiing magazine. Winner of the Canadian Tourism's Northern Lights Journalism Award for magazine writing and a finalist in the Women's Sports Foundation Sports Journalism Awards, Olsson has written for Self, Ski, Women's Adventure, Delicious Living, Sports Illustrated for Women, and Women's Sports & Fitness.

Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, including a story about a llama-trekking trip that appeared in the travel section in August 2009. That adventure was the inspiration for her new book, The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids.

Olsson first camped with her family as a toddler in the late sixties in the wilds of upstate New York. Subsequent family camping trips in the East and one particularly rainy camp outing with the Girl Scouts left a lasting impact. She now camps often in Colorado and elsewhere in the West with her husband, Jeff, and their three small children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Resource! April 24, 2012

By William Rogers

Format:Paperback

I've read or skimmed other books providing advice on camping with kids over the last decade, and most are either boring or just don't add anything to the mix. They seem to offer nothing to anyone who has slept in a tent for more than a night or two. I started off camping with my parents in diapers, and have been car camping and backpacking most of my life. Once we had children 10 years ago, I started doing it with my kids. Our first couple of trips, despite what I thought was my abundant wealth of knowledge and experience, were nothing short of disasters! Where was this book then?!

The book by Olsson is fun, funny and helpful. I now know way more than I did 10 years ago about camping with kids (having learned the painful way), but there is much in here I did not know and everything in here is what is wish I HAD known. It is that good. The book included humorous stories from her camping days as a kid and with her own family (and who doesn't enjoy a good camping disaster story!). My favorite was the one about the sister who used poison ivy to wipe her backside after a pit stop in the woods. I have vague recollections of a similar error. Mixed in with the entertaining anecdotes is plenty of solid advice. The poison ivy story is followed up with guidelines for avoiding poison ivy, for treating a poison ivy rash, and for getting the oil out of your clothes. The author isn't afraid to let us learn from her mistakes. Isn't that the best way to learn something - from someone else's mishaps? It's a refreshing take on camping with kids.

The book is packed with the basics on gear, planning, and food (great recipes for a new kind of s'more), but there's also beefy chapters on arts and crafts and games and activities to keep the kids entertained at the campsite. I'd buy this book for the unbelievable checklists in every chapter (and listed together at the back). One thing I have learned on my own is that the checklist is key. While the kids are screaming, the car is jammed with your crap, and you are worried about forgetting beer, some key piece of gear - a lantern, matches - something that will cause you to turn around when you remember it, will be forgotten. This is inevitable. I've replaced my lists with hers. They are that much better!

I especially liked the tips sprinkled throughout. Like bringing along earplugs to mitigate the sound of your wife's (or your friend's wife's) snoring. Or to pack wintergreen lifesavers: when kids crunch on them, you can see sparks in their mouths. Who knew? If you have camped for years, and are about to embark on the activity with kids in tow, I'd say it is a must-have guide. It is not targeted to the RV crowd (not that there is anything wrong with that activity), but would seemingly come in helpful to them as well. Heck, it would be a great camping resource even if you didn't have children.

Happy trails campers!

William

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for those with kids! April 24, 2012

By Matt Forster

Format:Paperback

I've read a few books on camping with kids over the years, but none emphasizes the importance or explores the full landscape of preparedness more than this new one I picked up the other day. Olsson is a list maker, and there is perhaps no better trait you want in someone who's planning or helping you plan a trip. As I've mentioned before, the motto we lived by in my scout troop was "A prepared scout is a happy scout." This is true in for all campers.

In this book, Olsson answers all your questions about camping with kids. There are sections that deal with having all the right gear, from boots to tents. Later she gets you prepped and ready to camp with her signature lists--Little Tykes Gear Checklist, Software Checklist (that's clothing), Camp Kitchen Cleanup Checklist--before explaining in the next section how to setting up camp, prepare meals, keep the site clean, etc.

The third section is my favorite. Anyone who has planned a camping trip knows the risk of over planning the sleeping and eating to the neglect of the other 14 or so hours in the day. You have to have something planned, be it hiking, rafting, fishing, throwing horseshoes, collecting flowers... something, or your family will go nuts and take you with them to the funny farm. Olsson's final section has you covered enough games, activities, and crafts to keep your brood happy for a month in the woods.

But that's not all (trying hard not to sound like a infomercial), there's a lot of sound advice here. Smart Tips are scattered to nearly every page with sage guidance that will make your trip as smooth as a well-swept tent floor (she has advice on that too):

Save some cash by buying kids' hiking boots used. (They're going to outgrow them before they outwear them.)

Fish away from other anglers. Your kids will scare all their fish away and ruin it for everyone.

Stash socks in a mesh bag for easy locating. And don't forget a plastic bag for dirty laundry.

All this is sewn up with important safety and first aid info, meaning you'll want to take the book along with you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the book if you are new to camping with kids September 11, 2012

By Jacqueline Kim

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My husband and I transitioned from backcountry camping to car camping when our first little one arrived five years ago. As an experienced backpacker and now car camper with kids, I can say that this is a book with sound advice. I was a bit skeptical about this book at first - is it going to be another that is a bit dated or tell me nothing new - but having read it, I highly recommend it to any family contemplating taking the kids out for the first time (or to one always looking for new tricks - I like the bit about building a fire). The writing is concise and witty. Very easy to read. The sectional breakdown logical. Highly recommended.