Get Your Children Camping in The Garden

Here at Herding Hill Farm, we all love camping in Northumberland, but you can still enjoy  camping experiences closer to home when camping near me.

Our Hadrian’s Wall campsite is child-friendly so why not think about booking a Northumberland camping trip in one of our glamping pods with hot tubs or dusting down your tent for some family friendly camping near me? We have a children's playground and animal petting farm on site and there are plenty of child-free activities nearby to enjoy. We offer fire pits, BBQ hire and stargazing kits for hire, so you are able to teach younger family members about the constellations and famous dark skies of Northumberland. For more ideas check out our Child-Friendly campsite blog article HERE. We also have a child-friendly facilities page with all of the details of what's on offer for children when visiting our campsite with animals.

In the meantime, as the nights get lighter and Spring is around the corner why not re-create a camping experience in your own home for some home made camping near me? All you need is some imagination and a sense of fun and adventure. We all know children love dens and the great outdoors and camping at home is perfect for this. So - what do you need to create your own child-friendly Wigwam adventure at home after checking the weather forecast is going to be mild and dry of course?! 

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A healthy element of competition

Get the children involved in putting the tent up and making it slumber ready. If they are reluctant why not pit them against each other in terms of who can assemble the poles quickest or blow up the air bed the fastest? If they are old enough why not let them sleep in their own tent, with adults in another to give them a taste of independence? And of course, get them to do the washing up. Our younger guests at Herding Hill love taking the pots and pans to the amenity block to wash up in the fresh air. It's easy to re-create an experience of glamping near me.

Depending on where you live you could organise a nature trail or treasure hunt for the children to enjoy. Or what about some outdoor craft activities or face painting?

Put away the electronic devices and bring out the Board games – the old family favourites can bring young and old together. Or why not teach the young ones some card games? At our Hadrian’s Wall campsite we encourage our guests to leave their devices behind and enjoy the great outdoors. One of life’s great adventures is playing board games under a dim light inside your tent (especially if the rain is hammering on the canvas outside!)

Make your pitch look pretty and welcoming

We all know that having the right equipment and clothing makes any glamping trip more comfortable and the same applies when camping at home or creating your own campsites near me. Layer the beds with plenty of blankets, cushions and throws, get out the picnic rugs and camping chairs and decorate the garden with fairy lights and candles or solar lights. Obviously if you want to use the night to stargaze whilst camping near me make sure you keep the lighting low. Why not ask the children to make some pretty home-made bunting using colourful spare fabric and string to decorate the tent? Perhaps you could give them a theme to decorate each tent and award a prize for the best one?

An open fire is always a great centerpiece for family friendly camping and story telling and if you are lucky enough to live in a dark sky area it will keep you warm whilst stargazing. If you don’t then Herding Hill Farm is a Dark Sky Friendly campsite and perfect for your next star-gazing adventure in Northumberland. Encourage the children to use their imagination by making up stories and if you are musical why not bring out the guitar have a camp-fire sing-a-long? Some children might enjoy performing a play or a dance for their parents. We offer fire pits for hire whilst staying at our Dark Sky Friendly campsite.

Make cooking an adventure

When staying at our North East glamping pods, our guests love to hire a BBQ and dine al fresco. We even have a BBQ hut for hire You can obviously cook on an open fire and we also offer campsites with fire pits for hire. Involve the children in the meal preparation and make sure you keep the fire or BBQ going long enough afterwards for the youngsters to enjoy marshmallows or s’mores (marshmallow sandwiched between chocolate coated biscuits such as digestives). Or if that’s too much of a hassle then a simple picnic should do it.

Get the children to decorate the outdoor table with handmade centerpieces and colourful crockery.

Enjoy the outdoors

Whether it is stargazing under clear dark skies, waking early to enjoy the sunrise from the door of your tent or the sound of the dawn chorus or getting the children to serve you drinks and nibble whilst you watch the sunset ensure that you benefit from the different times of the day whilst being outdoors at your very own campsite near me. Get the children to identify the birds from their plumage or their call.

If you are stargazing make sure you allow your eyes the time to adjust to the dark skies and then the stars will appear. Avoid the use of white light from things such as mobile phones. Keep an eye out for the brightest “star” which may in fact be a planet. Why not get the children to spot constellations in the star and make up their own names and stories for what these are? An app such as Stellarium is a fun way to discover which star constellation or planet is which.

Until you are able to return to our beautiful child-friendly best campsite in Northumberland, why not re-create the experience with glamping near me. We hope that this blog will provide some fun and entertainment during lockdown.

Looking to book your Northumberland getaway? Check availability HERE.