RV and Outdoor Learning Activities
Teach Your Child New Skills While on Your RV Travel Vacation
Outdoor vacations and family RV getaways are a great place for children to explore and learn about culture, nature, survival, as well as how to help with planning a trip.
Teach your child valuable lessons during all stages of your vacation planning and during the actual holiday itself. Take advantage of the times preparing for a family getaway by involving your children. Younger children can benefit from the everyday experiences parents may take for granted. Children are eager to help and to learn how to do the things that adults do. Here's how:
Planning Stage of the Trip
- Help your children look up information online and ask for their input on the destinations and location for the family trip.
- Your child can help plan activities. What does each family member enjoy doing? Is it within the family budget to incorporate these interests? Consider scheduling an excursion with a local tour company or business.
- Making lists and shopping for necessities: get your child's input into what they would like on the trip and help teach them concepts about budgeting - how much your food your family will need for the trip and for how long?
- Meal planning and food preparation: this is an opportunity to teach food safety, the proper ways to store food on the road, cooking tips, measuring and making meals for different times of the day.
- Stocking and organizing the RV/camper: get your child to think about where things can be stored and what needs to be within easy reach.
- Talk to them about the actual driving part of the vacation, and get them to help you read street signs and follow directions.
- Planning an itinerary and learning how to keep to a schedule: what does the family want to accomplish in a day, on the trip, or at each activity?
- Establish a budget for the trip: how much does the campsite cost, food, gas, activities, what should each child be allowed to spend on souvenirs?
During the Trip - Children can learn the following useful skills:
- Map-reading and giving directions: what do the symbols on a map mean and how do you navigate on the drive?
- Assisting in the set up of the family spaces organizing the RV: unloading and setting up camp once your family has arrived at the site and to help you make it convenient for the time you will be living out of your RV.
- Learn local history and information about the region in which you are traveling. Ask them to keep an eye out for specialty attractions or restaurants in the area.
- Learn about local flora and fauna. Teach them about resident animals and birds, as well as the trees, flower and other wildlife. Get them to think about how it may be different from their own home.
- Environmental issues/conservation: explain to them about recycling, cleaning up and how to have a better impact on the environment.
- Travel safety: teach them about water safety, ways to stay hydrated in the desert, safe ways to navigate the rocks in the mountains, etc.
- How to build a fire in a safe and supervised way, how to maintain and safely let the fire die out. Children should also learn about the impact of forest fires.
Spending time as a family in a relaxing atmosphere is an ideal setting to turn learning into a fun activity for both you and your children.
Visit Daniel Kreisberg's articleCamping Fun With Kids(Camping Life Magazine Web Exclusive, 2007) for a first hand look at camping with children.
The copyright of the article RV and Outdoor Learning Activities in RV Recreation is owned by Elizabeth Borer. Permission to republish RV and Outdoor Learning Activities in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
