Summer has come and gone, Halloween and Thanksgiving have passed, and the early sunsets and short days are upon us. The temperatures are dropping into the single digits, and the snow is piling up. For some, this is not the time of year to drag the family into the wilderness and set up a winter camp. That seems like a bummer to take more than three months off, waiting for the warmer weather to come. The truth is, getting outside during the winter is actually super fun for the whole family. With a good winter tent and some solid winter camping ideas, everyone of all ages can have fun this season.
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A Snowperson for Everyone
It’s a classic activity for a reason. Everyone loves building a snowman. The issue, when trying to do so in the city or the suburbs, is that there is generally not enough snow in the yard for everyone to build one. If you head to a park, most of the snow will be tracked out before the storm has even passed. When the whole family steps into the forest, the possibility of building a whole family of snow people is highly likely.
In many locations, it might be necessary to hike to a meadow or glade where some flat-ish ground might be. There needs to be plenty of snow for everyone to roll and stack their balls to make their snow people. Try to purposely find something away from camp. It doesn’t have to be too far away; even a little hike outdoors in the winter feels like an accomplishment.
Before you and the family head out, bring some carrots and find some rocks along the way to make the faces. You can make it a surprise and hide the root vegetables until you and the kids get there. Everything is better when it’s a surprise. If you plan, encourage the little ones to bring some clothing, old scarves, hats, silly shirts, or gloves, and dress up their snowmen in their own styles. This allows kids to have their own individual expression, something that isn’t exactly possible with one shared snowman. This also makes for an awesome opportunity for a dual-family photo op. Get a shot of your family, the snow family, and then everyone with their respective snow people.
Track the Trails and Teach
Before getting too serious about outdoor adventures, it’s important to make sure everyone has a warm, reliable winter tent to come back to. For winter camping, and especially if the whole family is coming, you can’t go wrong with a canvas tent. Canvas is durable, sturdy, and can take the worst of any weather, in any season. It’s not only the best material for a winter tent, but it’s the best for a 4-season tent, so it’s not just going to sit in the garage and go unused for three seasons. The material breathes in the summer, and because of the tightly spun fabric, it will insulate in the winter and keep warm air in. Throw in a tent wood stove (more on this later), and you’ll have the perfect setting to come home to after a snowy hike.
Once the winter tent is set up and squared away with a roaring fire in the tent wood stove, it’s time to head into the forest and see what walking around. This activity may take a little preparation and front-end work before the trip happens. But with snow comes tracks. Animals are everywhere in the forest, digging about for food, looking for any greenery, and dropping scat. It’s not hard to find, but it can be tricky to identify. Numerous books, websites, and apps can help you learn about animals in the wild. Naturetracking has an awesome app and website for doing just this.
When kids have something to focus on, they tend not to be so concerned about the cold. But when you’re trekking away from your cozy winter tent, make sure you know your area, have plenty of cold-weather gear, and check in frequently with your crew or family. Some youngsters can get distracted because they’re having so much fun.
The Chores Never End
One of the core aspects and intrigues about camping is the solidarity it promotes and how just the act of providing for yourself can build an immediate and deeply rooted community. This can happen in unfamiliar groups and in tight-knit families. When you’re camping, everyone is sharing the responsibilities equally, and if something doesn’t get done, there is usually someone to hold accountable. This accountability isn’t out of guilt; it’s derived from an innate sense of survival. Without a thermostat on the wall to turn up when it gets drafty, or a refrigerator stocked with fresh food, that reptilian brain starts to fire, and the need to survive kicks in. For a brief moment, our brains trick us into thinking we need to survive. With kids, it’s pretty easy to exploit this to get some things done and have some fun at the same time.
Probably the most important chore while winter camping is staying warm. For many locations, like National and State Parks, it’s not allowed to chop down green trees. To get firewood in these locations, it all has to come from dead trees that have fallen. This is usually not an issue in the warmer months and can be assigned to one or two people for the duration of the trip. Heck, it can easily be done in those months with one or two big trips. But in winter, it’s much different.
A good way to get the kids engaged is to make a competition out of it. The best way to do this is to get a good canvas log carrier. White Duck Outdoors makes an awesome one that will last you multiple lifetimes. With an accompanying adult, send out each child who is of an appropriate age to gather a bundle of wood. Describe the right size it should be to fit into the tent wood stove, and see how much they can bundle. Make a rough estimate of the size for each person, and allow them to stack their piles in the canvas winter tent. Set aside something for the winner (a snack or sweet treat), and they’ll compete for the biggest pile for the rest of the trip.
If All Else Fails, Just Look Up
One of the most mesmerizing phenomena that happens every winter is the brilliant shine of the speckled dark sky. Without the sun rising as prevalent and during the longer nights, the night sky gets darker quicker, and the stars seem to stay out longer and be brighter. One of the best winter camping ideas is also one of the easiest: stargazing. It seems that during winter camps, a lot more time is spent inside the winter tent. It makes sense. After all, that’s where it’s warm. By the time the sun goes down and everyone is fed, a bit of restlessness can come over the crew right before bed. It might only be 7:00, but in camping hours, that could be 2:00 am.
Get the crew lit up and ready to go, and gear up for a little nighttime stroll in the woods. Find a clearing near camp in the daylight that you’re confident you can lead everyone to (not too far, just 50-100 feet away), and walk out to see the incredible night sky. It’s fun to point out stars together and make the shapes yourself. If you’re more technologically inclined, as everyone is these days, there are also stargazing apps that are similar to the tracking apps. So, when the sun is out, spend some time looking at the ground, and after the sun slinks away, have a gander at the skies.
Here is a guide to some of the best-rated star-gazing apps. Not only are there millions of stars to check out, but many of these apps also track satellites. For those kids who are space inclined, the future intergalactic explorers, this will be the best half hour of the trip. Make sure you stoke the tent wood stove before you head out because this activity is bound to get a little chilly. That’s okay, though, getting cold means the body is working harder to stay warm and burning more calories and inevitably getting more tired. Everyone will be ready for a warm sleeping bag once you get back.
There’s Always Inside
It’s pretty obvious that all of these activities listed above are outdoor activities, and that is intentional. There are numerous options and fun activities to do inside a warm winter tent. If most of the time your winter camp is going to be spent in the tent, then you might want to invest in a slightly bigger living space. White Duck Outdoors makes an incredible wall tent made from durable canvas material that will provide ample interior space for everyone in the family. These Wall Tents are also perfect 4-season tents and offer the versatility that any year-round camper needs.
Inside a larger canvas tent, there can be multiple foldable tables for cooking prep and a lower setting table for cards, board games, or otherwise. While cards and board games are the standard go-to activities, some people like to get back to something traditional: candle-making. Using the tent wood stove, one with a flat cooking surface, get an old pot from a second-hand store and melt some paraffin wax. Get each person to take a long fabric string and dip each end into the wax. The strings should be about 24 inches, or two feet, long. Dip each side in the wax, and retrieve it from the pot full of melted paraffin. Letting the wax cool on the end of the string, it will slightly harden as you hold it in the air. After a few moments, dip the string back into the pot. Do this numerous times until you reach the desired thickness of the candle you’re making.
This is an awesome activity that feels a little like returning to the past. While the canvas tent everyone is sleeping in for the night dates back to ancient times, the first patent for one was in the mid-1800s. This was right around the time the frontier was settling in the American West. During this same time, people were making candles, digging farms on rugged ground, and learning how to navigate some of the roughest land ever seen. Doing things like making candles shows kids how their ancestors, or at least people from a different time, did things.
Embrace the Winter Wonder
Is it colder in the winter? Of course. Is it easier in the summer? Almost always. But is any season better than the last? Never. There are great qualities and plenty to learn from any time in the wild during any season. There is also a resilience that is earned from being in the backcountry during the cold. You can’t wish it away. You can’t just wait for the sun to come up. Sometimes, the only way around is through, and winter camp will definitely teach you that.
Keep your equipment up-to-date, check the seams on your winter tent, and let it dry out properly when you get home. Get some good sleeping bags to keep you warm at night, and get a good fire stoked in your tent wood stove. Winter camping will go from a small battle to a real pleasure in no time.
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