The Guide to Backyard Camping With Kids

There are some really fancy tents out there with features like electrical ports, panoramic windows, and ample rooms. However, when it comes to camping, we tend to keep it simple. The tent is for sleeping. I need to be able to set it up quickly, I need it to fit my family, and I need it to be durable. 

REI makes solid tents at a solid price. Though our tent—the Grand Hut 6—was discontinued in 2022, it continues to provide a great night’s sleep outside, and REI has plenty of other options that will fit the bill for your family without racking up a huge bill.

Attempting to keep my kids seated at the dinner table is like attempting to seat a pair of squirrels. They don’t remain still for very long. Yet seat them at a camping chair in front of a camp table and suddenly they go from squirrel to sloth, content to just be. Helinox has been making incredibly portable, functional camp tables and chairs since 2009. The Chair One and Table One ($139.95) are favorites because they are small enough to be stashed into a backpack for sideline crudites at my daughter’s lacrosse practice.

Of course, all the best laid culinary plans will be dashed if the dishware can’t hold its own. Full Windsor’s eco-friendly magnetic stacking plates, bowls, and cutlery are our go-to for outdoor dining. They’ve replaced what used to be a plastic bin full of random plastic dishes in total disarray (or disharray?). Less plastic plus more organization is a win.

There may be no piece of gear that will offer a better bang for your back than the Born Outdoor Mud Mat. At $27.50, this sheet of recycled ripstop fabric has many uses. We pop ours outside the tent as a landing pad for shoes, put it by the screen door when we’re having a barbecue, or bring it on beach trips in case we need to change out of sandy gear on a hot parking lot surface. Simple, effective, essential.

Camp shoes need to be comfy slides that you can kick on and off, withstand a little dirt, and that give your feet relief at the end of a long day. Lusso slides are renowned for their comfort, and the Scenarios are also water-friendly, meaning they are easily cleanable. Plus, the fun colors are a real draw for the kids.

Nothing can ruin an outing faster than a bunch of mosquito bites. The worst is when one creeps into the tent and buzzes your ear all night. Luckily, Thermacell designed the EX90 to be a rechargeable and reliable repeller, so we can focus on the joys of camping and not the itches.

The Breeo X24 has changed our relationship with our backyard. Now every night is an opportunity for s’mores. And when camping out, there is no better exclamation point to the evening than a sticky s’more. The Breeo fire pits come in a variety of sizes, but we found the X24 to be perfect for our needs, and the Breeo Base means we can even pull it up on the deck if we so choose without damaging the wood.

It is an act of cruelty to keep kids waiting for s’mores by lighting match after match and dropping them onto a pile of wood that won’t catch. The Snow Peak Folding Torch will resolve that problem and then some. Screw it atop a canister of iso-butane fuel, strike only one match, and release a flow of burning fuel that will get your fire started in no time. When you are done, unscrew it and fold it away until next time.

A plush camping mattress is a family necessity, and the EXPED MegaMat Duo answers the call. On our recent backyard campout my daughter and niece slept so soundly on the MegaMat it made me rethink the necessity of beds. And though in my younger days I took pride in manually pumping things up, I’m no longer too proud to utilize the incredible ease of the Mega Pump ($64.95), which makes set up and take down a breeze.

Getting my daughter really excited about camping meant getting her her own sleeping bag. Considering their gear is often used at the top of Everest, I’m confident the pros at The North Face know how to design a cozy sleeping bag. At $99, the Youth Wasatch bag won’t break the bank, and it is plenty warm for cool nights in the tent.

For my own sleeping needs, I want nothing more than a non-memorable night. After all, a memorable one in a tent is usually marked by various calamities. Nothing makes my night more unmemorable than the HEST Foamy memory foam mattress. All I need to do is unroll it and I’m ready to go.

The Luno Packable Camp Pillow is the most comfortable camp pillow I’ve ever tried. Plus it comes with a neat two-sided pillowcase that offers two different surfaces depending on the temperature. You almost won’t believe it’s packable and portable.

When camping out there can be a fear factor that makes kids a little skittish about the activity. What was that sound? Why is it so dark? All of that goes away when we turn on our rechargeable Solight Design lantern, which provides a warm and comforting glow.

Once my daughter and niece were asleep I was checking basketball scores on my phone, though its quickly diminishing battery was a concern. But I brought NESTOUT’s convenient and clippable carabiner battery to the tent with me. The lightweight power bank can stand up to all the rigors of camp life and will keep your devices charged and at the ready.