By Nancy Baker
Camping presents a great opportunity for kids to connect with the people they love and nature, as well as provide hours of enjoyment.
It also comes with a range of incredible health benefits for both adults and kids. The physical and health benefits are all the more reasons you should spend a night under the stars with your kids more often.
More than 9.2 million overnight stays in American national parks were recorded in 1998. Fifteen years later, the number dropped to 7.91 million in 2013, and this isn’t just limited to the USA, but the UK and Australia as well.
In short, no one is taking their children camping as often as they used to. Before you opt for hotel stays for your next family vacation, consider these reasons why camping is good for your kids:
1. It Helps Then Unplug and Disconnect
Technology is a real thing in this day and age. Those born in the 80s can remember a time without cell phones, computers, and the internet. Kids born into this world, find technology everywhere.
Most kids born in this era don’t even know what it’s like to go a day without the internet. Heck, even two-year, have an online footprint.
Negative effects on the inappropriate living style of children:
· Too much sleep is linked to eating and sleep disorders
· Children who watch TV for more than two hours are more likely to become overweight
· Too much multimedia content can potentially cause shortened attention spans
· Kid cell phone use is linked to ADHD
· Computer and TV use have been linked to horrific levels of psychological wellbeing
As a parent, it may be hard to deny your kids all forms of technology. However, you can take them camping so that they can learn how it feels to unplug and disconnect.
2. It Helps With Family Bonding
Some of our best childhood memories are from when we had backpacking trips with our family or friends. It is more likely that you will remember singing country-western songs on a bus ride to Adirondacks than how you celebrated your birthdays.
Without all the distractions from technology and work, you can bond with your children when camping. Out in new environments will help you see your children’s strengths, fears, weaknesses, and interests. During camping, you will get to know them better, and they will also get to know you.
3. It Will Teach Your Children How to Respect Nature
Because people are not out in nature a lot, they start to fear it. Keeping your kids indoors could make them fear nature and lose their innate affinity for nature.
The more time they spend outdoors, the more comfortable your kids become with nature. The last thing you need is for your kids to fear the forest rather than develop a healthy love and respect for it.
It is easy to take nature for granted when home all the time, but when your kids get to spend a long day outdoors, with a beautiful campfire, a marshmallow on a stick, a hot dinner in a single pot, and a dry sleeping bed, never forgetting a rain jacket for an eventual change of weather, but all this will help them appreciate the small things.
The more they learn to appreciate nature and everything in nature, the more they also realize how great it is to have flush toilets and hot showers at home.
4. Its Good Exercise
In America, more than 1/3 of kids are obese or overweight. The main reason for this is because our children are spending more and more time indoors instead of playing outside. And, you can’t burn calories and run around when indoors.
Camping provides exercise opportunities for your kids. Children get exercise when they gather firewood, run around like crazy in the wilderness, go for hikes. And, they also get to fall asleep faster after a full day of camping.
5. It Increases Vitamin D Intake
Camping provides your children with the chance to spend more time out in the sun when the timing is right. The more time kids spend catching those rays; they are getting extra vitamin D, which is beneficial for them. Exposure to sunlight is an excellent source of Vitamin D.
Sun exposure has been linked to mental health benefits like improved moods. However, parents should expose their kids to sunlight in moderation, and they should ensure they provide their kids with adequate protection from the sun to minimize risks of skin cancer.
To learn more on this, visit childmode.
