Camping Out at Home

Here’s an idea for family fun that has connections to cleaning, keeping possessions orderly, and mechanical maids and all the benefits we get from them.

Plan a camp out in your own house. The ground rules are

• You cannot open any cupboards, drawers, or closets to get what you “forget” to take camping with you.
• You cannot go to a store for any supplies.
• You cannot use any electricity or running water.
• The only convenient thing you can do is flush the toilet!
• You need to cook outside with a camp stove or a grill. No inside cooking! If you cannot cook outside, then plan cold meals.
• You need to keep cold items in a cooler with ice.
• Be prepared to “leave” on your camping trip late in the afternoon. Plan to “return” the next day either before or after supper, depending on how well things are going.

On-the-Sly Emergency Drill

This also is a wonderful emergency drill (though the children do not need to know that at all).  Here is  a way, though, for you to see how prepared you are if you would be without electricity for several days. I’m quite sure after the first camp out, you will have some ideas of things you’d like to have on hand.

Preparation Day(s)

You need to have everyone pack clothes for the night: extra underwear, socks, jackets, and a set of extra clothes. You will be thinking about warm and dry if you are thinking about emergency preparation in a behind the scenes way. Everyone should put all their personal possessions in one pillow case. After it is packed, they cannot get anything else. If it becomes too full, they need to decide what to leave behind.

You need to have everyone gather sleeping equipment: pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, air mattresses (remember, no electricity for those fancy blow up beds!). Waterproof tarps are not needed for the indoor camping experience, but they are good to have as part of the emergency preparation, so you can throw them down over your flooring to protect it from spills. Pack these in larger plastic garbage bags, labeled so it will be easy to read with only a flashlight.

You need to plan menus for at least three meals (supper, breakfast, and lunch), plus an extra supper and some snacks. Get the requisite two gallons of water per day for however many are camping. Pack the food items in plastic totes with tight fitting lids.

You need to gather dishes, cookware, flashlights, battery operated lanterns (no flame in the house), pans for washing dishes.

You need to gather activity materials: puzzles, books, table games, crayons and coloring books. If the weather is nice, you can certainly plan a family walk after dark, or play in the yard. If you are ‘training” for an emergency, however, assume the emergency is because the weather is bad, and being outside is not an option.

If you want the super experience. Have everyone shoulder up the camping equipment and carry it outside, walk around the yard or the house a couple of times and then take everything to the campsite. It won’t take too long to determine if you really have packed light enough if you really had to hike with it all (the water alone will present a big problem!).

The campsite should be a large space with the major furniture pushed to the walls. If you want, turn all chairs and sofa seats against the wall. Dining rooms often work well. The chairs can go to another room, and one or two people can usually sleep under the table.

Keep food simple, and, again, if emergency preparedness is part of the plan, select packaged meals that need no refrigeration. Here is the chance to try things you would never buy under normal circumstances.