Sure, technology is making it super easy to keep kids preoccupied these days. Games, puzzles, quizzes and educational programs are feeding their brains like candy.
Aside from the “sit and be quiet” benefits these motherboard wonders possess, kids are all too easily turning to the little super computers as a crutch for just something to do.
What they don’t know is that, especially while RVing, there’s an entire world of wonder and discovery, adventure, experiences, sites and scenery waiting for them a few short steps from the plug-ins and charge stations.
But how do we get kids to put the devices down for more than half an hour? Jeff Redmond, General Manager of Bucars RV Centre in Balzac, Alberta, and father of two ‘tween’ daughters says it’s all in making it interesting.
Here are Jeff’s surefire was to keep the tablets at bay this May Long Weekend:
- Encourage physical activities like scavenger hunts, Frisbee golf, bike riding, hiking and exploring around the campground. Give them a challenge to complete in return for an extra S’more after dinner.
- Explore campfire cooking together. Get the kids to select dinners THEY want to prepare and help them make it. Ask what flavours they want to achieve and explain how they can do it. Experiment ways to cook over an open flame (safely). Pretend it’s all for a cooking show on TV or YouTube and actually record it!
- For the science lover in the family, get them to catalogue plant and animal life around the campground. Get your child to keep an illustrated logbook that she can reference later.
- Play Man vs. Wild. Share simple survival techniques with your children and play out a mock scenario nearby while someone has hot chocolate waiting for you upon your return to the campsite.
The key’s here are to make activities interesting, while also safe and enjoyable. Happy camping!
