Camping and Halloween

We here at MAD Family Fun love, LOVE, love Halloween! For us it is not just one night of dressing up and getting candy. In fact we don’t just decorate our house, we take Halloween with us camping! Every year at a nearby state park they have a “harvest” aka Halloween weekend and we wouldn’t miss it for the world. People decorate their campsites. Some people do amazing displays. Sadly this year it rained most of the weekend. We decorated in the down pour anyway!

 We even did up our picnic table under our awning with a few of the crafts we have featured here on MAD Family Fun, like our Mummy Jars. The flowers with the skull added a touch of color to the rather gray weather. And of course we needed a steady stream of sugar from the candy cauldron to keep us running.

 

Sure we COULD have been moody and gloomy like the weather. We could have had a miserable time, but my belief is that things are only as fun as you make them. We decided to make our trip as fun as we could, so through the drizzle (and at times the downpour) we laughed and had a good time. We carved pumpkins we had brought with us, joined in the activities and when it was time for trick or treating, the rain finally stopped!!!

So why am I sharing all this with you? Well first to show you that you can have fun anywhere, you just have to have the right mindset. Secondly, checkout you local state parks for fun events, like this one! And last, to inspire you to go out and have fun! For us, rain or shine, our Halloween camping trip has become a tradition and year after year has and will provide wonderful memories for our children.

 

 

 

 

It's National S'mores Day!

This has to be one of the best days ever! A whole day for S'mores. It is not as if we need a National day to enjoy these lovely melty ooooy goooy yummmmyy.......

Oh sorry, where was I, oh yes, National S'mores Day. So of course the question you might have is how to celebrate this wonderful day..... make a S'more!! No campfire? No problem! There is always the trusty microwave. Make sure you nuke the chocolate longer the the marshmallow. Oh and watch that marshmallow as they tend to explode if left too long.

Feeling a bit more adventuresome? Or you just don't want to have to clean the inside of your microwave? Why not try the indoor campfire method! Campfire in a can will make you the coolest S'mores mama ever!

Now I know there are many ways to make a s'more so I am not EVEN going to touch that one. I respect each and every s'more right to be built with what ever it's builder wants and will not be draw into a which is better war... though I think I might try some peanut butter cup on one today. You know, spice it up a bit.

Now if you love s'more as much as we here at MAD do, then you should go check out the wonderful ladies over at The S'more Store. They invented this wonderful little item that makes having s'mores easy and organized time after time. I was given one to test and I can honestly say, we use this thing, ALOT. I would never recommend something I don't personally love.

No get off the computer and go have a happy S'more Day!

Campfire craft

Here is a very cute craft that lets you bring the campfire INSIDE. All you need to do this craft are:

• a CD (if you don't have any you want to recycle you can pick up a 3 pack for $1 at Dollar Tree)
• Tissue paper (also available for $1 at Dollar Tree)
• Sticks
• Rocks
• Dirt
• Glue

Cover your CD with glue and press on some dirt. Next glue your rocks around the edge to form the campfire ring. We used tacky glue for the dirt and a hot glue gun for the rocks because the Fun Tester does not have the patience to let things dry and come back to it.

Once your rock ring is ready, it is time to build up your sticks for your fire......... Again Mr Fun Tester just could not wait for glue to dry so we used the hot glue.

Last you need to rip off pieces of red and yellow (orange if you have it) tissue paper and slightly rumple it and just stick it in between the stick. We used no glue on this part as glue makes tissue paper icky fast.

Simple, fun, and great for livingroom campouts!

The Great American Backyard Campout is June 23

Saturday is the annual Great American Backyad Campout! You can join in by camping in your backyard, a park, campground or even your balcony. You don't have to register and raise money for NWF, you just need to get out there! If you do register you get access to all sorts of fun ideas, recipes and more. (And no you do not have to raise money.)

We did the Great American Backyard Campout last year and had a great time in our backyard. So be brave and get out there, if not for yourself, for your children. They will have a wonderful time and great memories!

Camping (outdoor) BINGO

Check out this totally awesome game of BINGO from the NWF! Even if you don't like camping (I know some of you hate bugs) you can still have a fun time with these on a nature walk! So warm up your printer and make a set for your family. Now, turn off that TV this summer and get outside for some good old fashion unplugged fun!

Camping with Kids (Part 3 Packing for fun)

There are a million and one websites out there that will give you equipment lists for what to pack when camping. This is no such list. I am here to tell you how to pack for children when camping. This is just my take on the whole idea. For me when the kids are happy, mom and dad have more fun too! So here we go…..

1.) When packing your child’s clothing always pack at least two times as much as you think you need. Camping is about getting out in nature and if your child does it right they will get wet and dirty and make more clothing changes then a pop star at a concert. Also bring a trash bag to put wet and dirty clothing in because I promise you, they smell!

2.) Never forget your child’s favorite friend, be it blanket or stuffed animal. Nothing ruins a good time faster then a younger child’s need for their best friend when it is missing. First time campers might be nervous and it is great to have that lovie there to go on adventures with and snuggle down with at night. Forget your child’s friend and it could be a long night (or worse, long drive home in the middle of the night.)

3.) A child friendly medical kit is a must. Yes they make big medical kits full of thing that no one will ever need (because if stitches are needed we are going to the ER.) What you need to keep your kids healthy on a camping trip are surprisingly simple. Sun block, bug spray, calamine lotion, sting stick, triple antibiotic cream and cute, fun band-aids. If you can’t prevent or cure it with these items it is time for the professionals.

4.) Child friendly food is a parent’s best friend on camping trips. You may want to cook in that cast iron pot and be an outdoor chef, your child is just HUNGRY. Make sure you take a variety of quick and healthy snacks that kids can grab. They will need more energy running through the woods and you will have less whining about how long till dinner. Fruit, cracker packs, and individually packed items. Individually packed items are great because they can be put in backpacks and if your child does grab one and forget it at least all the snacks aren’t discovered by ants or worse Mr. raccoon! And honestly who wants to reach for a chip only to find a child has been there and they are covered with dirt.

5.) Most important for the parental mental health is activities. No, do not bring a mini DVD player….your camping!!! But do bring lots of little indoor and outdoor activities. Bring things they can take out and use in nature like kid binoculars and magnifying glass. Bring thinks for those rainy periods like a picture frame to glue found nature objects on or some cards. Make sure the children do not have access to this stuff, it is your sanity stash! Things to pull out and surprise them with. Use your imagination and your child’s interests.

This was by no means all inclusive and I am sure I have missed a thing or two. But I just wanted to help make your camping trip a little more fun for everyone based on our past experience. So get your stuff together and go camping!!

Camping with Kids (Part 2 Location, Location, Location)

So you have decided your gonna go camping with your kids. Yeah!!!! Now if you have never done this before or didn't have fun doing this before I will let you in on a little secret. Camping is like buying a house, it is all about location, location, location!!!

Camping can be done anywhere, your backyard, a state park, the middle of nowhere...... BUT think really hard before you just pick one. All locations have pluses and minuses for example,

Your backyard is close to home with snacks, potty, etc. But it is also close to home. Maybe too close. Next thing you know the kids are sitting inside watching TV. Camping is about more then just sleeping "outside."

Here are a few things to think over when picking a location when camping with kids:

1. How far from home are you should the weather go bad or the kids just hate doing it? We usually camp 30 minutes to an hour from home.
2. If you are using a tent, distance to the restroom at 3 am is VERY important. We have a very small RV so we are lucky to have our potty with us. Are the bathrooms modern? Trust me you WANT modern.
3. Is the campground kid friendly? The state park we go to has playgrounds, in the summer a junior ranger program and special weekends (like at Halloween) just for kid fun! More kids to play with means your kids will be happier.
4. How far away are other activities? You might need to get out of the woods for a few hours if the kids start claiming to be bored. Is there a mini golf near by? Or other activity they might enjoy?

When picking where to camp, keep in mind what you want out of the trip. Find a place that fits YOU and your family. And most of all, don't sweet the small stuff and have FUN!!

Camping with Kids (Part 1 Safety)

Summer is upon us and that means it is a great time to get out into nature by camping. When I first stared to think about this series on camping it was all about the fun stuff to do. After our first trip of the season, I need to step back from the fun and for this first part of the series, address the serious side of camping, SAFETY.

Now I am sure we have all given the fire safety talk. But it is a very important thing to remind everyone about each season. Thankfully at the state park we frequent, they have these raised "pits" so falling into the fire is VERY unlikely unless you stand on the rim (hey they are kids, they just might if you don't tell them not to.) If your camping experience does not come with one of these then enforce the "only behind" rule. What is that? Well, everyone usually pulls a chair up to the fire so the kids can walk "only behind" the chairs, not in front. This cuts down on the chance of falling in.

There are other safety concerns when camping with kids. Like poison ivy, don't mess with wild animals, and such. But what about the wandering off and getting lost in the woods with dusk approaching issue. I don't know if you remember I posted on Facebook about an issue we had the first night out camping this season but it fell into the getting lost area of camping.

A little back ground... Our son just turned 6, we have camped at this state park before, it is very family/kid friendly place, with roving bands of kids having good old fashion, none electrical fun (thats right, no gaming systems in the woods for us.) Our son knew the rules. What rule you ask? Well there are two playground in the park and we camp right by one of them so he can easily come and go to the park. He knows to check in with us before going to a new friend's camp and give us their site number. Like I said this park is roving bands of children making new friends and having the kind of fun we did as children. We have never had a problem with the rules till now.

So dusk is falling and my husband goes to fetch our son from the playground and he is NOT there. No panic yet. We head out around the camping loops looking for him and nothing, A little panic. Darkness is falling fast. We contact the park rangers who join the search. A little more panic. He is a smart kid who has been raised outdoors so I hadn't lost my mind just yet. Darkness had fallen and I returned to camp to find my son had been brought back by the rangers. THANK GOODNESS.

But where was the rule breaker? He had meet some kids at the playground who wanted to show him a LAKE. Instead of checking in he decided to just go on an adventure. He was soaking wet since they had played in the water. PANIC just set in. First, he went some where without us knowing where to find him, he is not a good swimmer, and he didn't have a flashlight with him and it was dark before he got back.

So why do I share this with you? Because it was a reminder to us, kids break rules and do stupid stuff that could get them very hurt. Have the safety talk with them before they break the rules. Don't assume they remember because you have said it before. And explain the rules so they understand your not trying to be controlling but trying to keep them safe. Remind them at length how things can quickly go bad. And if all else fails and they break the rules and that trust is broken, don't be afraid to "ruin" their fun by restricting their movements. At least they will be alive to have restricted movements!

The S'more Store

When I say S'mores, what comes to mind? Joyful memories of childhood camp outs? The overwhelming pain in the hind end of transporting the ingredients when you go camping as an adult? What if I told you there is a product out that that cuts the mommy hassles of making S'mores and returns the joy for not only the children but you too?

What is this miracle? The S'more Store! This convenient and portable storage container is durable and eliminates having to dig through cabinets or camping supplies to find your S'more ingredients. Just ask my 5 year old! He can quickly locate everything he needs with in seconds and have a S'more made in the microwave in under 30 seconds. Gone are the days of "MOOOOOOOM, where are the marshmallows?"

I was so excited when I got mine to review. It was much larger then I expected it to be and holds 3 packs of gram crackers, 6 bars of chocolate and a whole bag of marshmallows! Gone are the day of marshmallows on the ground around the campfire. Gone are the days of missing chocolate! Let's be honest, you wake up, crawl out of your tent for that morning cup of coffee only to find half used chocolate bars here, there, and everywhere, well that is just chocolate abuse!

Besides being super convenient, totally practical and an essential item for any mom (dad, grandparent, even people without children who just love S'mores), this thing is also absolutely adorable! I mean come on, it looks like a big ol S'more!

Hats off and thank you to Jill Schwanz Warsaw and Diane Rinaldi Mathis  for coming up with an amazing product!  You can  order your own S'more Store too.

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Campout, fun and done!

Home Sweet Home (in the backyard)

Did you take part in the Great American Backyard Campout? We did!! We had a wonderful time roasting marshmallows and catching fireflies. We had crawled in the tent for the night and someone would NOT stop talking so I told him a campfire story.

I told him there were Oooblies who were bigger then cats but smaller then dogs. They had purple eyes and ate grass. But their most favorite thing to eat ever was a child filled with marshmallows. At this point, the boy claimed he had not eaten a single marshmallow. I told him when they found a tent with a kid full of marshmallows, they scratched at the tent. Well of course I had to scratch the tent!

He then claimed to have had 3 marshmallows. When the scratching got louder he yelled "I HAD MORE THEN 3!!!" I could not stop laughing. Needless to say, even though I assured him there were no such things as Oooblies, the tent was abandoned around midnight. Though to his credit at 3 am he wanted to go back out!

I think backyard campouts might have to become a tradition, Oooblies and all!

Catching fireflies

Hot dogs and S'mores. Check the dog out eyeballing the boys s'more on the arm of the chair!

You gotta get one of these

If you don't know by now, I am a Dollar Tree junkie.  And since it is science Thursday I couldn't think of a better item to share. This bug kit will also be great for the Great American Backyard Campout on Saturday.

The reason I like these is, well, they are only $1. They are awesome for kids to drag around. They have not only built in air holes, but a magnification window on top. And if you as a parent don't like touching bugs, you don't have too!

Think of the fireflies you can catch and watch with one of these....

Campout Cooking

Saturday is almost here and that means the Great American Backyard Campout!!! Since it is Art Wednesday, I thought we would cover the "art" of cooking. So here are some easy, kid friendly eats for your camp out. Remember the Internet your friend, a quick Google search will bring you TONS of recipes.

Grilled Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Recipe Ingredients:

• jar of peanut butter
• bread (not too scrunched)
• butter or oil

Cooking instructions:
Spread peanut butter on one piece of bread and put another slice on top to make a sandwich. Butter the outsides and cook on skillet till golden brown. Flip and do same to other side.

Mini Pizzas
Recipe Ingredients:

• Pizza sauce
• One or two packages of english muffins (2 muffins per person = 4 mini pizzas)
• Package of shredded pizza cheeses
• Package or two of pepperoni slices (four or five slices per pizza)

Cooking instructions:
Heat grill on camp stove and coat with a light amount of butter or cooking oil. Cut english muffins in half and lightly grill inside surfaces. Turn muffins halves over, add pizza sauce, pepperoni and shredded cheese. Leave on grill until cheese is melted and then serve.

Walking Tacos

Recipe Ingredients:

• Small bags of tortilla chips (crushed)
• taco meat (pre-cooked)
• Shredded cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Salsa
• Sour cream

Cooking instructions:
Mix everything in tortilla bag and enjoy.

S'MORES (can't forget these!!!)
Recipe Ingredients:

• Chocolate
• Marshmallows
• Graham crackers

Cooking instructions:
Put chocolate on graham crackers at edge of fire to melt while you toast the marshmallow. Stack it all up and eat!!

Camp fire songs and stories

It is reading Tuesday and with the Great American Backyard Camp out coming up fast I thought I would share some resources to help make your camp out more fun!

First off we have the NWF official Backyard Camp out link of stories and songs. You can hear and print of the song from this site. My son is currently singing "Alice the Camel" as I type!

Next is the Scoutorama site. It has over 700 camp out song lyrics!

Last, from Ultimate camp resource we have we have a bunch of stories to tell around the fire.

If you still want more, just google campfire songs or stories. There are many, many, many sites out there that can help you. Just remember to keep it fun, keep it silly, and above all have FUN!!!!!

Campfire in a can

Is it raining? Do you live in an apartment? Or maybe you just can't wait for the Great American Backyard Campout!!! Well now you don't have to!! You can roast marshmallows anytime, with campfire in a can, aka Sterno.

You can get Sterno cans just about anywhere. They are normally used for keeping serving trays warm or in fondo pots, but they also make a great source for roasting marshmallows. Kabob sticks make the perfect mini roasting stick. So why wait? Roast a marshmallow today and get into the summer fun!

***edited to add***
Hubby said "remember not to set it on the table." LOL Hmmmm had not thaught of that but the can says it too! So put you can on a plate!!! Safety first people :)

Join the Great American Backyard Campout!

On June 25 tens of thousands of people across the nation will gather in backyards, neighborhoods, communities and parks to take part in a one-night event that will provide a memorable experience for all generations, a night of old-fashioned fun outdoors. Great American Backyard Campout is family fun with a purpose: helping American kids benefit from outdoor time.

I am not doing this to raise money, though if you want to donate to the National Wildlife Federation, they are a good cause. I am doing this to encourage people to get out and have some FUN!! So join us, well maybe not in person, but in spirit, from wherever you may be, and camp out!

MAD Family Fun has started a “team” for this event and I encourage everyone to join in. When you get to the team page you will see the blue join team link. Why join? Because you get access to tips, songs and stories, recipes, and games and activities. So get registered with the MAD Family Fun team for the Great American (or wherever you may be) Backyard Campout!