Essential things to pack for a family camping trip with kids

*UPDATED October 2023*

After our first a few years to the music festival – Nozstock – we’ve tackled many family camping trips and I’ve gradually been creating a family camping essentials list of things to take camping to make it easier and more fun for families! Our kids couldn’t be more excited about camping trips and they love a Summer adventure – so here’s our ultimate list of family camping essentials we pack to make every camping trip a success!

Our first camping trip didn’t go as planned because we were not prepared! It was when we just had a 2 year old Elodie and I was a couple of months pregnant with Finlay. We picked a gorgeous campsite in Devon for a week and the first couple of days was lovely but an overtired toddler who awoke crying at 3am every morning, night time roadworks right outside our tent and morning sickness did not make for a fun trip so sadly we waited a few years before attempting camping again – but now we’ve learnt about a few camping essentials that help make our trips go more smoothly! Read on for our must have items for camping with kids!

If you’re camping with kids, you’ll love our best camping toys or activities for kids to keep them busy whilst camping!

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Family Camping Essentials

Here’s the family camping essentials we actually need, if you’ve ever tried packing for a family camping trip before, there are so many options and even simple things like sleeping bags and air mattresses come in such a wide variety that it becomes mind-bogglingly daunting to work out what you actually need.  So we’ve been reviewing camping gear recently and here’s our guide to essential items you need for a family camping trip! If you need help picking a tent – try tips for picking a tent for a family.

Things to pack for a family camping trip

• A mallet (useful for banging tent pegs in) – we like to bring some rock pegs too – they are easier to bang in if the ground is hard!
• Wet wipes/ baby wipes and hand sanitiser – you can’t have too many of these (Johnson’s do some top-to-toe body wash wipes or these are proper full on camping wipes)
• Fleece blankets for under your sleeping bag to keep you warm
• Waterproofs and wellies (all in one waterproof suits are perfect for toddlers!)
• Compression Packing Cubes – we love these for packing kids clothes as they collapse really small, we don’t have to search for a whole big bag of clothes to find what you need AND they fit into small spaces in the car. We have these ones and find them really useful.
• Floor Mat – to keep your tent clean. This one is a real dirt magnet!

Comfy Camping Chairs

When you’re relaxing around the camp fire, making s’mores and drinking (both absolute essentials for packing if you’re camping with kids!) You’ll need a comfy camping chair. It goes without saying that your chairs need to be able to fold up but their collapsibility sometimes means they’re not very comfortable. We like the Regatta Forza reinforced camping chairs as they’re sturdy, really comfortable and fold up well with their own storage bags. You can read here about the best Kids Camping chairs.

Bringing a camping box along is an excellent notion. It offers a convenient solution for keeping all your camping essentials neatly stored in one place. These boxes come in various sizes and are perfect for organizing cooking utensils, plates, cutlery, and other necessary items. Not only does it help maintain order, but it also ensures that everything remains clean and dry throughout your trip.

What to take Camping with Kids

For grown ups, I really recommend the Vango Harmony Deluxe sleeping bags from Simply Hike. These are the snuggliest sleeping bags around, they really do keep you warm – we used them on a wet Summer Camping Trip and they were really a lifesaver. They’re not the smallest of sleeping bags and so if you’re trying to save space, you might want to check on these other sleeping bags from Simply Hike. But if you’re looking for comfort and warmth than the Vango Sleeping bags are perfect!

Another essential on the family camping checklist are camping mats! We love these camping mats from Kamui. The Kamui self-inflating sleeping pad is about 2 inches thick which means you won’t be feeling any sticks or small rocks beneath you. One of the benefits of it being self-inflating is that you do not need electricity or to carry a pump to fill up your mattress, you just open a nozzle. I love the buttons along the side of the Kamui sleeping mattress. They let you connect as many other Kamui pads as you want – so you can essentially make a double mattress or a giant bed! Great for families! These Kamui sleeping mats don’t deflate overnight, they hold up remarkably well and although they’re quite thin mats, they’re long so they’re perfect if you’re tall – I think they’re more comfortable than others we’ve tried and take up less space than an air bed. Try them here.

Can’t Live Without items when camping with young families

• A lantern is a must to see what you’re doing and light up the tent – this Coleman lantern is perfect essential for family camping because it’s small but bright – can be hung up in the tent and is rechargeable. It has a battery lock to prevent battery drain too. I also take some glow sticks for the kids in the evenings! These are the best glow sticks we’ve found – they can last all night!
• Onesies and warm pyjamas and bed socks – good for keeping kids warm at night.
• Make sure you remember the spare batteries!
• Kitchen roll, toilet roll, bug spray and a first aid kit (I swear bugs always go for me first!)
• Lots and lots of sunscreen! We love this sunscreen for kids and us! It smells so much nicer than usual suncream, is less sticky, it’s full of natural ingredients which makes it perfect for little ones skin.
• Head Torches – these are a family camping essential  – they are very useful for night time trips to the toilet with small kids!
• If you have small kids, you may want to consider an emergency toilet. This one folds down very small and is useful for keeping in the car on family trips!
• Matches and firelighters – these ones light a fire every single time!
• Collapsible bucket or fold up washing up basin for transporting cutlery and plates etc.. for washing up
• Sporks – saves so much space as opposed to taking 6 full sets of cutlery.
• Bottle Opener and tin opener (because you will need wine!)
• Flip Flops (particularly useful for the showers)
• Antibacterial hand gel  – we love this one here because it clips to your bag so you can never lose it!
• Bin Bags
• Dustpan and Brush to keep the tent clean
• Solar Stake Lights or Solar Fairy Lights – they make your tent look pretty and stop you tripping over the guy ropes! More boho decoration ideas here!
• Kitchen roll and toilet roll
• Lots of blankets and socks!
• Plenty of bulldog clips (they come in very useful for everything from hanging up wet clothes to fairy lights to light your tent!)
• Cooking Utensils (we love how this handy pack keeps everything altogether and tidy.)

Camping in the rain?

You’ll need our top tips for camping in the rain including a ‘handy camping in bad weather checklist’!

A Picnic Table is vital camping equipment

It makes things so much easier if you can sit down for meals and not have to worry about toddlers wandering around and stepping on people’s lunches! This fold up picnic table makes camping meals stress free – it is sturdy but folds up small and can fit at least 6 people around it. You can also use it for preparing food.

• Portable Picnicware –

Something I really like about camping is having good storage where everything slots into small spaces – anyone else?! This Vonshef Picnic Bag for 4 people has everything you’d need to eat al fresco –  for picnics and camping. It even has a chopping board and a bottle opener plus mini salt and pepper! The picnic mat folds up to the front of the bag and there’s plenty of insulated pockets to keeps drinks and food cold on your journey.

• Collapsible Water Storage

I love the Colapz water carrier. It folds up very small with it’s own carrier (much better than previous carriers we’ve had which fold up small until they need to be folded again and then they don’t!!) It holds 8 litres and has an easy to operate tap for constant or short pour. The container fills very easily (our kids love filling it up on the campsite) and is very stable when full and it has a comfortable handle when carrying. What’s also brilliant about it is that you can add a showerhead, it comes with a thumb-trigger spray attachment and a jet nozzle. There’s a charging cord, hanging thingy and instructions – all in a neat carry case. The Colapz Camping shower can be used for proper showers when wild camping but is also brilliant for washing up as well as washing off dogs or muddy boots! Given the current climate, private showers are useful in this time! You can shower outside with the shower and the pressure is pretty good. The shower also comes with suction cups if you want to attach it to the side of your car, caravan or camper van.

• Sand Free Lightweight Towels from Teselate.

Towels can take up a lot of space, are big and bulky and take forever to dry but these lightweight towels are essentials for family camping and are perfect for travelling. They fold up really small, are super absorbent and have a massive choice of pretty colours and vibrant designs. They dry very quickly and if you’re taking a trip to the beach – the sand doesn’t stick to them! I love these towels and will be ordering lots more of these for the kids swimming lessons too – will cut my swimming bag weight by half!

Mini floodlight Torch

Here’s another family camping essential…..It’s always a bit tricky to find your tent at the end of the night or on the way back from the toilet – so this mini torch which fits into your pocket but also lights up a room – is perfect! Head torches however, are also perfect for toilet trips at night !

• Something to cook on.

A family camping essential is something quick and easy to cook on. You’ll want the most compact and versatile of camping cooking equipment you can find. We love this Party Grill – it’s perfect for mini BBQs on the beach but you can also pan cook,  grill, griddle plate and the lid even doubles up as a wok for noodles etc….. Best of all it folds up together into a handy carry case.

• If you prefer something more sturdy to cook on or want to cook a variety of different meals, than this is a great Camping Stove. We prefer to take our  Campingaz 400-SG Series Two Burner Stove. as it has two hobs so it is easy to cook family meals on it. For a more detailed review, see this post on how to cook for families and large groups.

• Zippo Power Bank

I know camping is meant to be an off grid experience but just in case of emergency – you might need the zippo power bank for your phone! It’s small but it really packs a charge! We managed to fully charge 2 phones from 0% and it has 6 hours of battery life. If you’re on a cold adventure or camping in winter – this brilliant power bank also doubles as a hand warmer! Perfect for chilly nights around the campfire!

I’m sure this FAMILY CAMPING ESSENTIALS list will expand and I’ll pop back and amend it after every camping trip!

And checkout here if you’re looking for the best UK campsites that are perfect for families. If you’re camping solo (you lucky thing!) you’ll love this solo camping list!

Have we forgotten anything? What would be on your family camping essential list? Please let us know! Call me crazy but I’m actually really excited about our camping adventures and hope it’s the start of many camping trips to come!

Looking for camping trips to take in the UK – this is a fun itinerary for camping in Devon and Cornwall.

If you’d like to save this list – pin it for later!

*We were gifted these items in exchange for a review. All words, photos and thoughts are my own.*  *This post contains affiliate links which means if you purchase from these links, I qualify for commission if you buy from the link at no extra cost to you.*