How to Do Backyard Camping the Right Way

Sometimes, after a hard week’s work, it’s just a little too much to find the mojo for digging out the rucksacks from under the bed, packing the car, and heading out on the open road to pitch up just before the sun goes down. Sometimes it’s easier to just stay at home.

But still, you want to satisfy that itch for being in the great outdoors – the fresh air, the campfire, the quality family time together. Well, you still can. Indeed, it doesn’t take much to pitch up at home. Nice, easy, and all within reach of all your needs and comforts, including the kitchen (not to mention a decent loo!). The benefits to children of spending time outdoors are huge - and education in nature can start at home. These backyard camping ideas will help you bring the experience of camping right to your backyard! 

Why Choose Backyard Camping as Your Next Family Activity

Easy and familiar, yet exciting and adventurous, there is simply few things more super cosy than setting up in your own backyard! Sometimes just using your own garden in a way you don’t normally use it can be all it takes to bring the magic back into your week. Backyards are not just about hanging up the laundry or mowing the lawn. They are also places to relax and enjoy. Discover the many ways you can use your backyard by pitching up your tent, hassle free, and enjoying a new home away from home.

Get Your Kids Involved.

Your kids can help you prepare the new magical Neverland in which you’ll spend the night.  They can help you grab the blankets, pitch the tent, gather the firewood, and bring the marshmallows. Not only that; they can design the menu for the food – will it be burgers on the BBQ, sausages on a stick, or melted cheese in baguette? Yum! And after the meal, come on, kids - grab the torches and let’s snuggle in for an adventure story!

Get the Benefits of Camping Without the Hassle

Do we still have enough rucksacks? (Where do we keep them, again?). Got enough changes of coats? (Why is little Jimmy’s zip broken?). Did you ever get a new bottle of gas for the stove? (I thought you were doing it?). Sometimes the amount of prep to leave your house is enough to stop you from going. The endless checklists, the covering-all-eventualities, the remembering about what needs replenishing, can all be too much!

So much easier to just stay at home; and camping in the backyard can give you all the enjoyment and benefits of overnighting in the fresh air, but with all the home comforts in easy reach. No checking. Just fun, comfort and straight into the action of being together. Warm. Cosy. Instant. 

Save Money & Time

It is also cheap and quick! There’s no fuel costs or pitch fees. The garden sits there all year round, and is free from thinking about what to pack, how many socks you’ll need, and do you have enough blankets – because you can nip in and get what you want, and cook what you like.

A Great Test For Kids 

Learn about nature, learn about pitching a tent, learn how to make a fire, build the strength and resilience to be outside (and in the dark!), find ingenious ways to solve problems. Something not working? – maybe that piece of twine will in handy. Create, invent, problem solve.

Fun Activities for Your Kids with Backyard Camping

What can you get up to in your back yard? Where does one start – so much to choose from. Here are a few ideas to get your inspired!

Scavenger or Treasure Hunt

Hide things in the garden, draw a map and get the kids to go and find them (yum, perhaps a chocolate egg or pack of marshmallows as a prize!). Or you could stargaze: how many bright dots do you think there are? What’s that red one? And what’s Orion’s belt anyway? 

Make a Nature Collage 

Go around the garden, picking up pretty leaves and interesting twigs, pebbles and flowers, and stick them together! With a bit of luck, you could frame it and mount it pride of place on your kitchen wall.

Build a campfire

Let’s face it, nothing more fun than gathering different sizes of twigs and wood, building a little pyramid with some paper and card at the base, and lighting it – the colours, the smell, the fun! (And don’t forget the snacks!). Indeed, there’s lots to do in the backyard.

Choosing the Right Tent for You

Tentsile has a range of great products to suit your needs. Of course, if you have no trees, you can use the Luna ground tent – great for a cosy snuggle on the ground. Or you can get a Tentsile tree tent and use a Tentsile Ground Conversation Kit. Cheap, easy, simple and fun!

But if you do have some trees (or two trees and good solid something else!), let the games begin. Choose a Stingray – perfect for a family with small children. Tension it up, and away you go, each with their own in/out door, and a floor hatch for extra adventure! Or maybe you choose two Connects – one for the kids, one for the parents! It’s always nice to hang out in the day, yet equally as exciting to go into your separate ‘cabins’ for the night! “See you in the morning, kids!”

Alternatively you just use the Trillium hammocks range. More for a day’s hangout, but great fun to rest and play, read stories, play the guitar, all sorts. You can even play badminton across the straps!

Or perhaps you use both. There is nothing like setting your Trillium up, then a little higher putting your Stingray to make Tentsile Stack. A real tree house in the trees, with a cosy platform for shoes and clothes underneath. Mix and match. The whole range is modular, so you can go as wild as you like. Make your dream treehouse in your back yard.

And the beauty is, when it’s all over, you can simply pack up your treehouse and put it away for the next back yard adventure! Tentsile and backyard camping; a perfect way to elevate your backyard experience.

Alex Shirley-Smith