First family camping trip

[220yotekiller]

So we are going on our first family camping trip here at the end of the month. I have camped a few times, but I am a minimalist. I am taking my wife and three kids, none of which have ever been camping. We are going out overnight with tents, I am going to have my 4 wheeler so that we can get away from people.
What should we take as extras so that everyone has fun and doesn't hate it?

 

[kwyeewyk]

So we are going on our first family camping trip here at the end of the month. I have camped a few times, but I am a minimalist. I am taking my wife and three kids, none of which have ever been camping. We are going out overnight with tents, I am going to have my 4 wheeler so that we can get away from people.
What should we take as extras so that everyone has fun and doesn't hate it?

Let the kids pick out snacks, my kids love that, and don't forget flashlights/headlamps. Bug spray?

 

[TOGIE]

jiffy pop

 

[Dubz337]

Throwing knife sets are usually really cheap, the knives don't have to be all that sharp so not too dangerous, and have the 'cool' factor for kids. Me and my brother were entertained for hours throwing at stumps around camp as kids. Also an opportunity to teach knife safety to the young ones.

Also fishing is a great thing to do thats good for filling up a day.

 

[BigHornRam]

Smores.

 

[Wild Bill]

Similar to what Dubz said, supervised (or unsupervised if kids are old enough) use of a hatchet to chop up kindling/firewood.
Bring a first aid kit too, I suppose.

 

[Steiny77]

Any camping trip is better if you can work in a little fishing.

 

[RoughCountry]

A travel trailer.

 

[220yotekiller]

Bring a first aid kit too

We have one in every vehicle haha.

 

[Deez Nutz]

Plenty of food and snacks. Plenty of warm and comfortable clothes. Its amazing how much fun my young kids can have with very simple things like a shovel. Rope, flashlights and glow sticks are also very useful tools to occupy a kid in the woods. Last trip out we all found sticks and made bow and arrows and went "hunting". It was a blast, even for me. ha

 

[Gellar]

If your tents are big enough air mattresses and a battery operated pump. Lots of bug spray. And no set itinerary. Let everyone say what they want to do, let the kids explore and have unstructured time like skipping rocks, turning over rocks and tearing apart decaying logs. Don’t be afraid to let them get dirty.

 

[gouch]

When my girls were kids, we went tent camping all the time. The campfire always seemed to be the focal point. The first dinner was always hotdogs the kids roasted over the fire themselves. In the evening, we just sat around the fire enjoying each other's company and eating smores of course. Kids were always in charge of tending the fire.

 

[recon6036]

Not sure if you’ll be near water or how old your kids are, but mine always loved to have nets and buckets to catch crayfish and/or anything else that moved.