Our Kent Family: on camping with the kids in Dorset

The Our Kent Family bloggers have been sharing their summer holiday adventures week-by-week for anyone looking for inspiration or things to do in Kent.

But they've also taken a brief break from the county to go glamping with friends in Dorset.

In the style of My Kent Family's Seven Suggestions For The Weekend, Our Kent Family share Seven Things You Need To Know When Camping With Children:

1 Sleep

I'm just going to throw it out there...they won't get much, or at the very least enough.

If you thought battling them into bed at home could be a marathon effort, consider bedtime routines in a tent something akin to an ironman challenge.

They won't go to bed until it's dark, and even then under protest, and they're likely to wake when the sun does.

If they're anything like mine, at least one will also be up in the night needing the toilet, a drink, extra blanket, to discuss a noise outside the tent or establish what might be on the agenda for the morning.

If you approach it like a giant sleepover and embrace it, it's actually fun.

They see the whole thing as a great adventure and you're in for some serious brownie points for overlooking the time on the clock which also serves as worthy blackmail later on when you really do need them to comply.

2 Bring bubbles

And I'm not talking about the grown-up alcoholic kind.

Although when you've got to the bottom of this list you may decide that the odd bottle to toast the children finally being asleep (or in the shower!) might be a good idea.

But the soapy, pretty, wave-in-the-air kid kind is the universal bonding language for young campers.

Wave bubbles and kids appear from nowhere to chase, pop and admire.

It's a great ice-breaker for children, particularly those camping without siblings or friends, and will ensure they have new playmates in seconds.

3 Layers

Pack layers, lots of layers.

Think of those comical memes of people wearing all their luggage to get on a plane? Approach camping with the same mentality.

Start with shorts in the morning and gradually build up. Trousers, T-shirts, long-sleeved T-shirts, jumpers, coats, bodywarmers, socks, extra socks, pyjamas, onesies, dressing gowns.

The days might be warm, but the nights could be cold. If your children are wandering in the dark looking like Mr Puff from Ghostbusters then you've packed correctly. Well done you.

4 Wipes, lots of wipes

There is such a thing as clean dirt isn't there?

Within 20 minutes of arriving on the campsite Liv had tugged off her shoes and socks, lost her trousers to a water spillage and was running through the fields looking like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards at least three minutes before she'd even touched a leaf.

It was a special moment when five hours later, having been left to roam free all evening (see point 6) that she refused to go anywhere near the shower block. (Mental note to rehearse shower bravery before another trip).

And that will be the least of your worries. You might as well take the hygiene rule book and toss it into the camp fire because they will poke slugs and then reach for a biscuit, be extremely vague about the last time they washed their hands or whether they actually did when you asked them to, make a mud pie and then hand out the sausages, go to the park and then shove their hands in the sweet bag, the list goes on..

Bring lots (and lots) of wipes and repeat after me, 'dirt is good', 'dirt is good'...

5 Don't sweat the sugar

My children were talking about toasting marshmallows four weeks before we'd even set off. And their general fixation on sugar, snacks or sugary snacks lasted the entire duration of the trip.

Whether it's the fresh air, the running about, the lack of a sensible timetable for meals, I'm not really sure. But you will feel like you're feeling a small army who gravitate like bees to a honeypot the minute they sense sugar.

Don't sweat it, camping trips are short, and even if you can't get them in a shower at least clean their teeth.

6 Freedom

It's what everybody talks about when you say you're going camping - a chance for the children to taste freedom in the great outdoors.

It perhaps took us a good 48 hours before we felt confident to loosen the reigns a little, perhaps encouraged by the behaviour of our clearly more experienced camping neighbours, and let them roam a bit further across the field, to a neighbouring tent to meet a dog or to collect water from a tap.

If you are confident your campsite is safe and secure and you can still see them at all times, even if at some distance, there is some truth in feeling braver at letting them roam when you're camping without feeling the need to sound a klaxon or send them out with your mobile number scribbled in marker pen across their forehead and up their arms.

7 Washing

Despite it feeling like your children have worn the same ketchup-stained, grass-smeared hoodie for the duration of their time under canvas, however long you're away for, doubling it and adding two is about the number of days you'll seemingly be washing for on your return.

Now maths was never my strong point but bedding, coats, pyjamas, waterproofs, underwear, jumpers, trousers, shorts, blankets...the list goes on....all apparently need their turn in the machine and four days of camping seemingly does add up to 10 days of washing.

You know I said deal in layers? This is payback for being ridiculously well prepared and organised.

Our Kent Family were staying at Higher Moor Farm. For further information click here.