Car camping with kids

What size tent works best for camping with kids?

Size up more than usual. A family of four with children needs the gear space a 6-person tent gives more than an adults-only group does, because strollers, extra bedding, a portable crib, and toys all take up floor space that a strict 4-person rating does not account for. Run your family's real gear list through the tent size calculator rather than sizing purely on headcount.

A dark-room tent, like the Coleman Sundome Dark Room ($149.99), blocks a large share of daylight through the fabric, which matters more with kids than with adults, since young children often sleep on a schedule tied to daylight regardless of what time everyone else wants to get up.

What sleeping bag do kids actually need?

A kids-specific bag, sized shorter than an adult bag, keeps a small child from losing heat into the extra empty space a full-size bag leaves around their body. The Coleman Kids 45F Sleeping Bag ($48.49) is a lightweight youth bag suited to warmer three-season nights; for colder trips, size up to an adult bag rated well below your expected low and let a younger child use it with extra socks and a hat rather than a marginal-rated kids bag.

Bring an extra blanket regardless of the bag's rating. Kids move around more overnight than adults and are more likely to end up partly out of the bag by morning, so a blanket over the top of the bag is a simple backup that costs nothing to pack.

How do you handle naps and bedtime at a campsite?

Keep the nap and bedtime routine as close to home as you can: same rough timing, same steps in the same order, even if the setting is different. A dark-room tent helps significantly with daytime naps, since full sun through a standard tent fabric makes daytime sleep difficult for most children regardless of how tired they are.

String lights inside or around the tent, like the Camping String Lights ($15.00), give kids a soft, low glow for reading or settling down that is gentler than a bright headlamp pointed around the tent interior, which tends to wake up anyone already asleep.

How do you keep kids entertained without a screen?

Bring simple, low-mess activities that do not depend on level ground or a table: a deck of cards, sidewalk chalk for the picnic table or a rock, a small nature scavenger hunt list. Kids generally entertain themselves well at a campsite once they have explored the immediate area, which usually takes less coaxing than parents expect.

Give kids a job at camp, gathering kindling, holding the flashlight, helping unpack the cooler. Most children engage more with a task than with being told to go play, and it keeps them near camp rather than wandering.

What safety basics matter most with kids at a campsite?

Bring a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector even if you do not plan to run a stove near the tent, since conditions and plans change at a campsite and kids sleep more soundly than adults, making them less likely to notice early symptoms. The Kidde Carbon Monoxide Detector ($19.89) is small, portable, and runs on AA batteries with no outlet needed.

Walk the site with kids before dark and point out the fire ring, any water hazards nearby, and where the bathroom is, so nighttime trips are not the first time they have navigated the path. Set a clear boundary for how far from camp is okay to wander, and reinforce it early rather than after someone has already gone too far.

What should you pack extra for camping with kids?

Pack more layers than you think you need. Kids run warmer during the day and colder at night than adults, and they are less likely to tell you they are cold until it has already become uncomfortable. Bring a full backup outfit per child in case of a stream, mud, or a spilled drink, since a wet, cold child at 8pm is a bigger problem than a wet, cold adult.

Extra water and snacks matter more with kids than the trip length alone suggests, since children dehydrate faster and get cranky from hunger faster than adults. See our basic car camping setup guide for the full core gear list to build a family kit from.

Keep planning

• Tent size calculator
• Best family camping tents
• Carbon monoxide camping safety
• Basic car camping setup
• Best camping sleeping bags
• Do you need a sleeping pad?
• Planning your first car camping trip