Camping with a Toddler
My Dad’s favorite “Glamping”/Camping in an RV spot is in Matagorda, TX. My husband and I took our 2 year old toddler Leo to meet my parents in their RV at the Matagorda Nature & RV Park. Matagorda is less than a two hour drive from Houston, TX making it a great option for nearby camping. You can read more about camping in Matagorda here.
Here are my top tips to make your camping trip a little easier with a toddler.
Snacks on Snacks
Fruit leather, crackers, peelable oranges, bananas, all of your toddler’s favorite snacks. I loosen some of my food standards while camping. Pre-washing some berries before you go can be a helpful ready to go snack as well.
Easy Meals
Time went by so fast. You have an activity then everyone is hungry, and it doesn’t always feel like you have a lot of time to get everyone fed quickly.
Tacos are great, because you can grill marinated meat and put it in a taco. You can even make ahead pico de gallo (or buy salsa) or cut up an avocado to make it a fancy taco.
My son loves corn on the cob, and that can be made on the grill as well.
Breakfast tacos are a great filling meal to start the day and you can even make those ahead and throw them on the grill in the morning. Just keep them cool during the trip.
Also, I do recommend paper plates when camping with a toddler, just to help save time on clean-up!
Familiar Toys
Bring some toys from home to play with.
My son’s favorite toys on this trip were:
We bought a toddler fishing pole and life jacket for a toddler as well! I felt better when my son wore his life jacket on any piers as well!
Familiar sleep routine
We brought our sound machine that we use at home for familiarity and also to drown out any outside noise when we are going to sleep earlier than other campers.
Coffee
We brought our own espresso maker and milk to make sure we had the energy we needed on the trip.
Extra Clothes
I brought a lot of clothes. We didn’t end up needing it as much as I thought we might, but you never know!
Relax Cleanliness Standards
My son didn’t shower or bathe in the few days we were there, just a good hand washing occasionally. I did start keeping the hand sanitizer in my pocket for a quick spraying before snacks. If you will need to shower, make a little toddler bath bag beforehand to bring to park restrooms.
