Tips for camping with kids at Embers Camping

I thought I could preframe you for this post about our experience with Embers Camping by telling you about my friend’s responses when we said we were taking the kids camping. The first friend I asked if I could borrow her air bed and was sent a reply that asked if Adam had pissed me off enough to find himself on the floor (we have no spare room now!) and if everything was ok. Her response when I said we were camping? “Bahahahaha hahahaha” and nothing more.

Second friend tried to mansplain the difference between camping and glamping. He really thought we were glamping and when I told him that, nope, this was real camping, he was stunned into silence, followed by laughter.

People, I am not a camper, happy or otherwise. I am the kind of gal who feels most comfortable in a 5* hotel or spa, but when I was asked if I wanted to try out camping and turned to my husband to exclaim “camping!!” The boys overheard and became so excited I couldn’t say no. They have heard stories about camping and enjoying smores by the campfire, playing out late and exploring, but they haven’t tried anything beyond a little camp in the garden. So, taking the plunge with a toddler in tow was scary, doing it 5 hours from home was even more so.

But we did, and it was the best decision ever!

When we arrived at Ember’s campsite it was quite late at night, so we were met by the managers Gerry and Kate, who were so lovely. They took us most of the way through to the campsite as cars are only allowed in at selected times to keep everything safe. It’s actually one of the things I really liked about the site because it meant that the kids were playing out at 9pm in the middle of the big field, and they were totally safe.

What I really loved about Embers campsite was that this was the half way house between full out wild style camping and enjoying the luxury of glamping with proper beds and an ensuite. The kids were given the opportunity to actually enjoy the real side of camping, with the tent set up (ours was already there but you can take a tent to pitch too!) and the camp fire to sit around in the dimming light and cook sausages on and toast marshmallows over. Yet at the same time there was easy access to running water, hot showers and clean toilet facilities. From 8am to around 7.30pm there was a shop that had drinks, coffee/tea, various things you could need and sausages from the local farm. Even more popular was the ice cream that was made at the farm next door and was delicious. If you are there on a hot day, the orange sorbet is a must try.

Everything about Embers was designed to make camping fun and easy going for anyone who wasn’t sure about camping or camping for the first time with kids. Despite my post recently about being useless and not suncreaming the kids because it was overcast, I actually ran out of sun cream and when I asked if I could buy any, Kate handed me a bottle and said that they kept it on site for people to just use as so many forgot it.

On the Saturday we took advantage of their pizza making services. Made on site, by hand, Embers has a pizza oven and you can go and watch Gerry make your pizzas – it takes 60 seconds!! How cool is that? The kids were invited to come and watch the pizzas being made and Gerry talked to them about how the oven gets up to 400C and how he makes the dough fresh. It gave them one more thing to go back to school and tell all the teachers about.

The only things I would perhaps change slightly was that our bell tent was made from light material so it was still quite bright in there at 9/9.30pm when we were trying to get the kids to go to sleep – this really didn’t make much difference to the boys as they were shattered, but Edith had napped and flat out refused to sleep until 10pm. The other part I was slightly disappointed with was the shower – it was slow, albeit hot, and it was impossible to shower Edith and I at the same time. I expected a slightly more powerful shower but it was far FAR better than having to use wipes and a bottle of water.

So, tips for camping with children:

• You will forget something – find out where the nearest local shops are. As we were leaving Adam wanted some e-liquid and we set out to find a newsagents or something. Turns out literally at the bottom of the hill there is a large co-op with everything you could need, including the camping plates and utensils I’d forgotten.
• Don’t expect bed time to be a normal time – seriously, don’t. All the kids are up and playing, all the grown ups are chatting and the one thing that is absolutely not sound proof is a tent.
• Prepare for cold nights, even when it’s hot. I took the kid’s sleeping bags, pjs, an extra blanket AND their dressing gowns. I probably should have taken an extra blanket to be fair – but I think whatever level of layers you’ve got, take another one to be sure.
• Air mattresses are amazing and we used a “my first ready bed” (not sent to us, we bought it from amazon) and it was brilliant. Edith loved it, it was small enough for her to feel cosy and content, but big enough for her to sleep in comfort. Getting it down at home was an issue as she loved it so very much…
• Junk food is, without doubt, absolutely ok. Make like Elsa and just let it go.
• Packing games and activities is 100% a must. We took a football and I wish we had taken more, some people even had badminton sets.
• Screw top wine. Or try to remember the corkscrew, which I didn’t do…
• Cool boxes are essential if you are taking meat, ask if you would like to hire one, some places have them – Embers certainly do.

If you aren’t sure about camping then I really urge you to give it a go, especially at Embers. It really was an experience that the kids won’t forget.

H 🙂