One of the greatest obstacles to overcome in maintaining an outdoors lifestyle is an expanding family.
No one wants to say that kids keep them from doing things, but they can. There are plenty of ways to mitigate what obstacles come with the growth of a family. One such way is to simply treat them like a beginner. The prevailing thought is that if you — and/or your partner — are experienced with being outdoors, and you want to bring someone into the fold, you would have to prepare differently.
Here are FOUR kid-friendly tips that can help introduce your family to the outdoors.
Finger-food Sandwiches
This is the lowest hanging fruit to get kids out into nature. As such, it is appropriate to link to the PERFECT way to pack your cooler.
If you follow those “Only 7 Steps You Will Ever Need,” there is a perfect spot inside any cooler for keeping kids calm. Just remember to come back to that link.
Assuming you are ready to rock, there is plenty of space for finger-food sandwiches. Whether is it bread or crackers, cold cuts or pre-packaged pepperoni, shredded or pre-cut cheese this is an addition that can make any roadtrip more tolerable.
Dry Cereal
Okay, this is a layup. That said, sometimes the easiest answers are the best. Do not overthink this. You have a kid that is young/fussy/anything, and you want to mitigate disaster. Dry cereal is a perfect answer.
First, it is dry storage. That is a massive benefit because it does not have to be stored in a cooler.
Second, you are going to use this as an emergency hatch. If your young child is losing their mind, a snack pack of their favorite cereal is a comfort zone that will buy you plenty of time. Have a pack of dry cereal for your drive days. it can afford you hours of drive time if you can keep rolling instead of stopping.
Fruit or Yogurt
I hate to link to another option but, again, if you follow some fundamental tips to packing, exponential growth exists.
If you have packed correctly, there is a clean spot for both fruit and yogurt. Again, writing for the masses and not the exceptions, most kids are going to be easily soothed with fruit or yogurt.
Both are clean options for the weekend and are easily recommended as packed options for the trip.
It creates three, very safe, options for packing the cooler. There is still one more, for the more aggressive.
Salad!?!
The other three options are crowd pleasers.
It is going to be a tough argument that kids do not want finger-food sandwiches, dry cereal, and fruit or yogurt. One of those is a locked in winner. Salad is a great option for young people who expect it as an option. If you have raised someone on salad, take the easy victory.
Just know salad is risky.
It also falls into a reason to “empty ice from a cooler.”
If you want to take kids out in the spring, this is a great starting point.
