Some of your favorite childhood memories are summer vacations with the family: camping, fishing, listening to your dad tell his corny jokes, fighting in the backseat about who was taking up too much space. In the middle of those backseat battles, you likely did not realize how much you would cherish the family time you were sharing. As you return from a rather exhausting vacation trip, you hope you and your husband are creating the same kinds of memories for your son. From sleeping in a tent on the rockiest of ground to learning the route to bike back and forth to the city pool, your childhood days were full of wonder and exhaustion. Looking back, that is exactly how they should have been.
Parents can spend a lot of money trying to please their children. Some of the latest research and trends, however, indicate that the better investment is not in the purchase of things, but in experiences. Cabins instead of computers, fishing instead of fidget spinners, gorgeous views instead of gaming devices.
Although the gadgets and gizmos well eventually break or become outdated, the vacations that you take with your children will not. In a time when it can be more and more difficult to get people to disconnect, long weekends in cabins beside a lake might be the perfect solution.
Kid Friendly Vacations Do Not Have to be Expensive Trips to Large Theme Parks Full of Rides
The real draw of finding cabins for rent in the campgrounds across the country is that these stays can help parents teach their children how to reconnect with nature. Parents are often frustrated about the amount of time that their teenagers and kids spend with technology, but if parents do not practice disconnecting themselves they will have a difficult time changing their children’s habits. If, on the other hand, parents disconnect themselves from their email and social media posts, they can teach their children about hiking, about fishing, about kayaking, about relaxing.
Selecting a camping location is the first step for providing your family with a memory making experience. Some families select camp sites where they have access to beautiful day hike trails; others select cabins nestled beside a lake, allowing for fishing, swimming, and kayaking.
Once the location is selected, it is important for parents to make sure that they immerse their kids in the experience. When you are on a camping trip, for instance, everyone can help with every part of the day. Every meal. Every fire. Every hike plan. Giving everyone in your family a task keeps everyone invested in the success of a trip.
Consider some of these facts and figures about the trend of camping, and making memories, with your family:
- 40.1 million Americans, or 14% of the U.S. population over age six, camped in the year 2013, according to the 2014 American Camper Report.
- 57% of campers participated in regular outdoor activities when they were children. In contrast, only 25% of non-participants were exposed to the outdoors when they were children.
- Like other kinds of vacations, some kinds of camping trips take planning. In fact, 43% of campers planned their trips at least one month in advance.
- 98% of parents said camping makes their kids appreciate and connect with nature, according to a study by the Institute of Education at Plymouth University.
- 95% of parents said their kids were happier when camping, according to a study by the Institute of Education at Plymouth University.
- 93% of parents felt that it provided useful skills for later life, according to a study by the Institute of Education at Plymouth University.
- As one of the most beloved outdoor activities among Americans, the campground industry in America grossed about $5 billion in the year 2013.
When was your last family vacation? Do you have one planned for this summer? Families that take the time to vacation in the outdoors together may find that they come home with a new perspective. When parents take the time and make the effort to create outdoor experiences for their children they teach them disconnecting is not only a worthwhile option, it is a must. A long weekend at a comfortable cabin by a lake allows you to adjust your schedule to the laws of nature.
