Outdoor Inspiration for September

Posted inOutdoor Inspiration
Our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by Outdoor Parents over the past month.You won't typically find gear reviews or travel guides here - on this site we focus on the skills and inspiration to help you get outside and stay outside with your kids. We also believe that everyone should feel welcome in the outdoors, so we share articles by parents and outdoors-people of color to make sure everyone is learning each other's perspectives.Hopefully, this encourages you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the…

How to pack up from camp quickly

Posted inTips & How-ToTags:
This week's post is an update to our Simple Packing section of the Camping page. It has been updated to include our tips for unpacking and some clarification to packing. Here are our tips on unpacking:​ As we have optimized our car camping system over the years, more and more I think the key to fast packing and unpacking is carefully picking what you bring with you. This means being honest with yourself about what you actually will use and understanding how many comfort items you need to still have a good time, without going overboard. This means that you do…

Book Review: The Nature Connection

Posted inBook Reviews
“The Nature Connection; An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms”Written and illustrated by Clare Walker Leslie This workbook is a great resource, full of ideas for activities to inspire kids to learn about the outdoors. The first section, “How To Be a Naturalist,” introduces kids to a wide range of ways to document their experience with the outdoors, including drawing, writing poetry, journaling, and tracking their observations. The second section, “Learning the Sky,” engages them in exploring the night, including encouraging a night hike, which can be intimidating for kids and parents, but teaches an essential aspect of exploring…

How to avoid spending a lot of money on kids gear

Posted inTips & How-To
I’ll get straight to the point: we don’t believe you need a lot of fancy, expensive, new gear to adventure in the outdoors with kids. If you have been playing in the outdoors yourself for many years, you’ve probably splurged on some good quality clothing or the lightest pack available, but your intention was most likely to use it for the next 10-20 years. For example, I still have the Whisperlite stove I used hiking the Appalachian Trail over 20 years ago, and it still works great. But kids grow quickly and (unless you have a teenager) the gear probably…

Outdoor Inspiration for August

Posted inOutdoor Inspiration
Our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by Outdoor Parents over the past month. We also a few other outdoor parenting related articles. Hopefully this inspires you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the past month, or what you learned and would do differently. Enjoy! summer climbing with our 7 year old Climbing: Why We Chose a Treadwall | Cragmama  Hiking:How Far Can Kids Hike? | Tales of a Mountain Mama School & Kids Books: 1000 Hours Outside School Handbook | 1000 Hours Outside 25 Books About Simple Outdoor Adventures | Colorado Parent Travel:…

Hiking Gear

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You don’t need lots of special gear for hiking - that’s the beauty of it! But it is a skill that sets kids up for so many other adventures, so it is worth it to do your best to ensure they are comfortable and having fun. Here are the key items to think about selecting gear:Babies: Child carrier or baby backpack carrier: If you use a backpack carrier, it’s helpful to get one with a rain or sun cover Make sure it's comfortable for you (and your partner, or have a separate one for them) An attached mirror can be…

Interview: Corbin Dunn (Mountain biker, skier/snowboarder, backpacker)

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I have known Corbin for almost 15 years, most of it before he had his son. I have watched him go on many adventures and use his creativity, engineering talent, and mechanical skills to modify equipment and test out new ideas (which you can read about on his website Corbin's Treehouse). So I was excited to learn more about his approach to outdoor parenting and I'm even more excited to see what he and his family do as his son gets older. I hope you enjoy this interview also! Name: Corbin DunnLocation: Santa Cruz, CA, USAFamily Activities: mountain bike, ski, snowboard, camp, hike, backpack​Kid: 1.6…

Outdoor Inspiration for July

Posted inOutdoor Inspiration
This is our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by outdoor parents over the past month and also a few other outdoor parenting related articles. Hopefully this inspires you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the past month, or what you learned and would do differently. Enjoy! ​CragKid on the Sharp End!!! | Cragmama Trip report of her 10 year old son's first lead climb. Solo Distance Hiking and Kids: Six Things I Learned | The Trek by Tracy (Scrappy) Buro. Sometimes outdoor parents need to do…

Interview: Shannon (Skier and Backpacker)

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This week I'm excited to introduce our friend Shannon. She and her wife are masters of organizing group camping trips, which we have been lucky to be part of for many years now. (They created the camping spreadsheet I shared last week). They have also started taking their kids backpacking and skiing, while impressively managing sports and activity schedules. She is right about how friends help kids hike more - when my kids hike with them they go much farther! Name: ShannonLocation: Bay Area, CA, USAFamily Activities: hike, camp, backpack, cross country ski, downhill ski​Kids: 5 and 9Work Schedule: ​1 full time, 1 newly self…

Group Camping

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This week we have an update to our Camping​ section focusing on group camping. As always, we love hearing feedback from readers so we can make this page as helpful as possible. This advice is based on our experience camping in groups organized by our good friends who have amazing organization experience. Plan for no more than about 6-8 families of about 4 people Have one person book a group campsite or multiple campsites that are close togetherUse the campground maps on the reservation websites to find sites nearby (don’t assume consecutive numbers mean they’re close together!) Use a google sheet to like…