Do kids always need to be entertained?

[GeneF]

As the years have gone by and I have been on this and a couple of other forums, the need to take electronics along, make plans for the kids to be entertained, and what videos to bring, I wonder what is happening to our society.

We really have only begun to bring along a tv and a laptop the past year or so and the main reason being that we are doing more snowbirding.  We just finished a week of camping without a tv but we did have the laptop.

When our kids were young and camped with us, board games, books, card games, hiking, swimming, fishing, frog catching, ghost stories around the campfire, playing catch, exploring the forest and shorelines at a lake or the ocean were all we needed.  Our kids meeting other kids and us meeting other adults was a great part of our camping.  And doing the tourist stuff.

We did a 49 day cross country trip when the kids were 6 and 11.  DS could read and did a lot of it.  DD could not read that well.  The two of them invented a double deck game of UNO that they never finished but it kept them busy and entertained on a long days drive.

I guess my question is, Why do parents feel that they have to entertain their children?  Why can't they just let them find their own entertainment and perhaps join in that?  What is wrong with reading a book instead of playing a video game?

[threebeachboys]

As the years have gone by and I have been on this and a couple of other forums, the need to take electronics along, make plans for the kids to be entertained, and what videos to bring, I wonder what is happening to our society.

What is wrong with reading a book instead of playing a video game?

We take electronics with us.  But that doesn't mean the kids have a free-for-all in using them.

We do all the hiking, biking, swimming (especially!), frog catching, etc.  We also play ball, collect twigs for the fire & go for walks.  One of our favorite campgrounds is near the library, so we go there & get comic book reading materials.  

We also camp at places that have the more "glitzy" activities; those trips are infrequent & considered a special treat.

But when it is pouring rain or late at night and I'm exhausted, I don't see the harm in them playing video games or watching a movie.  

Pam

[Calstate361]

My answer is that you don't.  It's up the the parents to train the kids to be independent.  We don't have kids at home, but my step-son does so I have 5 grandkids.  We took the 3 oldest to Yosemite with us over a year ago and they were 10, 6, and 5 at the time.  They didn't need entertaining during the long trip nor at the campground.  They found kids to play with and the older 2 read books.  I do carry kid games in the 5er for them to play with, but they picked what they wanted to play along with riding their scooters.  They also love to do puzzles which is what they do at home with the family.  They have 2 smaller sisters ages 3 and 2 and they help with the puzzles also.  I guess it is just a matter of what the family is used to doing.  My daugher-in-law is very adament about only allowing the kids a certain amount of time with their game boys, on the computer, or video games so they learn to find other things to keep busy.

When I was a kid we drove from Sacramento, CA to Montana, which was a long trip, but we played at counting the horses where my sister would have one side of the road and I would have the other.  Mom helped us both...if you got a white hores your total doubled or if you got a black hourse you lost all your points.  We had other "car" games we played and had lots of fun.

However, with this day and age of computers, most parents use them as baby sitters.

Joan

[AZsix]

We don't take a television or DVD player when we camp. We let the kids take their Gameboys and Nintendo DS's in the car but they stay in the car once we reach the cg. This past weekend we did have rain for the first time camping and we did let the kids play their Nintendo's during the rain. We are lucky that our kids love to explore looking for lizards, insects, tadpoles, scorpions and anything else they can find. Around the campfire we like to have one person start a story and everyone else takes turns adding to it. Madlibs can be fun too. We did bring my wife's laptop to the Grand Canyon but that was only so that we could download pictures from the camera if the card got full. One reason that we camp is to get away from television, Xbox and all the other distractions. We are also very lucky that our kids are very creative and make up a lot of games. I don't think there is anything wrong with people taking electronics but it's just not what we want to do.

There are times when we have camped at places where we know the kids would have something to do such as swimming and panning for fossils and gems. There was also a time we went specifically to a regional park because they had nature related activities planned for the kids on Friday night and Saturday morning.

[PattieAM]

I have a little television in my PUP, but rarely hook it up.  As to the kids, generally they wear themselves out swimming, biking, hiking, etc., so there's little need to entertain them (at least my kids....now grown).  My grandkids however have television at home as a babysitter, as well as video games for the older ones....and these kids haven't a clue about the world outside.....

My now adult children are very different, the eldest and mom is into television, yet the youngest who is/was very much into television will read books - !

I have coloring books/crayons in the PUP, but took out the board games (took up too much space and boxes were getting crushed, pieces getting lost), and have a few decks of cards.  I do have 2-3 dvd's for the little ones, and a few of my sit-com dvds that I will put on should the need arise (rainy day or alot of time before bed).

If my kids were to come to me or even the grand kids and tell me they were bored, I'd hand the a leash and tell them to walk the dog!  (My parents on the other hand would have given me 'work' to do).

[viking camper]

We did allow MP3 players on our 1st trip, other than that nothing. Wife and I decided from here on out NO electronics except cell phones (no texting friends allowed) and books are allowed. We did bring board games in case of rain. It was amazing to see all 4 boys amuse themselfs without a psp or ds in their hands. 2-16 year olds a 12 and 5.

[ScouterMom]

My now 18 yr old son grew up camping with me and we never had 'electronics' while camping.  I didn't have them as a kid ; my mom and dad took us for weeks at a time to the boundary waters - the only 'entertainment' we carried was a deck of cards for our family Canasta games. So Jon was also taught to make his own entertainment.  

My son now has many memories of catching fireflies, minnows and fishing - building sandcastles, or swinging in a hammock with the first issue of Harry Potter, watching the big turtles come out and dig their nests and lay their eggs all over the campground (we were the last campers left on a late sunday afternoon in an empty campground) hiking, climbing, learning to paddle a kyak, walking the dog, making new friends, learning how to make a bubble with bubble gum, finding a Luna moth,  blowing bubbles for the dog to chase, making crafts, flying a kite, making a boat out of paper or bark, learning how to build a fire, poking the fire, learning to cook, riding bikes, riding a horse, petting a goat or cow, learning to read a compass, learning to identify constellations, roasting marshmalows, watching an ant hill, patiently tempting a squirrel to take a treat from his hand, waking up at night to watch the 'coons raid the garbage, asking thousands of questions, and talking....

How on earth could any kid be BORED??? I can think of times at home, when Jon had watched TV or played video games all day, I'd come home from work and he'd say "there's nothing to do" - but I NEVER heard him say those words while camping!

[Kelly]

When I was a kid we drove from Sacramento, CA to Montana, which was a long trip, but we played at counting the horses where my sister would have one side of the road and I would have the other.  Mom helped us both...if you got a white hores your total doubled or if you got a black hourse you lost all your points.  We had other "car" games we played and had lots of fun.

Joan

I'm gonna remember that game, Joan.  We'll use it on our trip to Montana this year ~ maybe we'll count cows in North Dakota!  

My kids are allowed electronics in the car ~ PSP, Gameboy, MP3 players.  My DS wanted to get a DVD player for the car and when I asked him how often we watched TV at home, he said "never mind"!  LOL  Once we get to the campground all devices get put away until the ride home.

One of my favorite sayings (which makes the kids roll their eyes) is "I am not  your playmate.  If you are bored, I have some chores."  They usually disapppear at that point.

If it isn't storming, we're outside.  I have some craft supplies, cards, board games, etc in the PU that only come out when it rains.  Sometimes we go out when it rains.  Nothing like puddle jumping to bring out the kid in you!  

[Calstate361]

Kelly, please do use our game.  You can even make up your own rules.  Another car game we played was to read the billboards and make up more of a sentance at the end of the billboard saying, or we would read the billboard and add "between the sheets".  We would play these for hours and giggle the whole time.  Mom also had a car bingo set where the card had little slide things that covered the item (instead of a bingo number).  When you saw a cow you would slide/cover the item on your card and so on until you got a bingo.  We played the different types of bingo like black out or corner-to-corner, etc.   I think Toys-R-Us, carries car games.

Good Luck and have fun.

Joan

[Tim5055]

Do kids always need to be entertained?

I know I need to be entertained :p

[cyclone]

We played that counting horses game when we were kids, except instead of horses we looked for VW Beetles.  We also played the Alphabet game with billboards a lot.  Last summer my sisters and I took a road trip from Nashville to Wilmington, NC to the Outer Banks, to WV and finally back home.  Lots of miles on the road and billboards aren't always real plentiful on the interstate.  So, we decided to see if we could get through the alphabet using company names on semi trucks.  Even now, there were lots of giggles as we looked at every passing semi.  Apparently we just never grew up.

[tlhdoc]

No kids don't need to be entertained all the time.  We have camped at Assateague Island for over 15 years and DS has only been to the board walk at Ocean City MD one time.  That was because we had friends and they wanted to go there.  When DS was little we didn't take any electronics along.  Now in order to get DS to go with me I do allow electronics.  He is at the age of not wanting to camp with mom.