Posts Tagged ‘Sleeping Bag’
Getting Children Organized For Summer Camp
For most children, summer camp is what you might call a more-and-less experience: They may have made a lot more friends while away, but they usually return home with a lot less of the clothes and other personal items than they originally packed. Blame it on the camp laundry or just childish carelessness, but that tends to be what sleepaway camp boils down to. Finding their own camping gear is also essential and this can be found in military clothing stores especially for children who will go to summer camps.
So, what’s a parent to do? The obvious answer: Label everything.
Ah, but what parents have time to write their child’s name on every piece of clothing, camping equipment, toiletries and sporting goods that kids tote off to camp each summer?
One convenient option is labels and tags that come pre-personalized with the child’s name, address and phone number. Parents save time and headaches, and kids are a lot more likely to bring home the T-shirts, flashlight and sleeping bag they left with.
“One of the biggest challenges parents and children face when organizing for summer camp is packing and keeping track of personal belongings,” notes Amy Lipton, an organizational expert, mom and CEO of Stuck on You.
Some of the company’s camp-friendly products that can help keep kids organized include:
• Vinyl labels-Available in big and small sizes, these waterproof, UV-resistant, peel-and-stick labels go on any smooth surface, from water bottles to sunscreen, from goggles to iPods to hairbrushes.
• Clothing tattoos-Permanent, iron-on transfers available in white, navy or pink. They stick to clothing the way a logo is printed on a T-shirt.
• Bag tags-Brightly colored plastic tags that make it easy to identify children’s luggage. Mini- tags are also available to identify keys or pencil cases; they can even hook onto zippers, so children can identify jackets, duffel bags and more.
• “Call me” cards-Preprinted with a child’s contact information, these cards are great to hand out to friends, easing the bittersweet emotions of summer goodbyes.
The Camping Must Have Checklist
Whether you’re are interested in sleeping under the stars, or using a traditional tent, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye to what the short term weather forecast will be. Despite the fact that you can still have fun camping when it does rain, you still want to make sure the weather is appropriate for your next camping adventure. Regardless of whether or not you are sleeping with a tent, you will need a sleeping bag or blanket. Additional sleeping equipment would include pillows and the ever popular air mattress.
Once you have these essential items ready for your next camping trip, you can move on to the important item on the Must Have Checklist. That is of course, the Food. What many campers enjoy about camping is eating outdoors. There is something out cooking food on the open fire that just makes even the most ordinary food taste especially great. The type of food you cook should all depend on your preference and the preference of the other campers.
In addition to a full dinner meal, you may also want to think about having snacks on hand. There are a large number of snacks that are ideal for campers. These snacks may include, dry fruit, chips, pretzels, cookies, and other dry foods. Be aware of your selections because a lot of dry snacks are unhealthy. Look for dry snacks that are low in sugar or low in fat. Of course don’t forget the most important camping snack, smores.
The last item on the Must Have camping list are outdoor toys. These toys may include water guns, water balloons, a kickball, a Frisbee, baseball equipment, or other similar items. Even if these items do not get used, they are still nice to have on hand. Even though there may be many activities planned, such as fishing, canoeing, swimming, etc., it’s great to have a fairly large selection of outdoor activities to choose from which will help to ensure that boredom is a never something that happens when you plan effectively for your next camping adventure.
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The Best Way to Pack a Backpack for Camping or Hiking
Personally, I hate camping. Every time my brothers take me camping I see a snake and I am hysterically terrified of snakes. However, my brothers love to go hiking, backpacking, and camping and usually drag me along. Despite myself, I have learned quite a bit about camping; how to pack the right way and the wrong way. Here are my top tips for packing a backpack to carry when camping or hiking. Number one tip is, of course, watch out for snakes!
No matter what kind of sleeping bag you carry, make sure it is stuffed into either a waterproof stuff sack or a garbage bag and then a stuff sack. You definitely don’t want to sleep in a wet sleeping bag! Since you won’t need your sleeping bag until the evening, it should go in the bottom of your bag.
Heavy and dense items, such as food, should be kept in the middle of the pack and as close to your back as possible. This helps maintain good balance. The best way to pack is to fill up any “dead space”. For example, cooking pots can be filled with food. If you are carrying any fuel for cooking stoves or whatever it should be BENEATH your food. If it leaks, you don’t want it to leak on your food. For internal packs, try to keep everything inside the pack. You will have a more balanced pack. Things are less likely to come up missing, and it just looks better.
On top of your food should go items that you might need quickly accessible like a first aid kit. Trust me, if you ever went hiking with someone like me you want that first aid kit at hand! If you need it, rain gear is another item to add to this layer.
The very top of your pack, or the outside pockets depending on your backpack’s design should be frequently used items; sunglasses, sunscreen, compass, map, camera, etc. Tighten your pack’s compression straps to make the load more balanced and compact. Now you are ready to hit the trail!