The Squirrel’s of Yosemite Recommend The Story of Elmer!!

With tweens and teens spending so much of their time indoors these days, between school with no recess and more and more free time being spent on electronics, it’s important to instill a love of the outdoors in our kids. Aside from actually get out into nature, which is especially important, one great way to get kids interested in the wilderness is by giving them great stories about wilderness adventures.
The books on this list will probably be familiar to you, most parents currently with kids in the “young adult” book audience are of the age to have read a lot of these books themselves growing up. While modern adventure stories can be great, sharing stories that you enjoyed, that are still appealing for kids today, can be a great way to connect with your teens and tweens around nature and adventures. If you haven’t read these books, rest assured, they are classics for a reason! These stories are all very well written and have timeless storylines and life lessons in abundance. You may just want to buy two copies of the books and read (or reread) them along with your kids. Continue reading
Camping with your kids is an awesome experience, but it can also be pretty scary the first time. The key to making your first family camping trip is: preparation, preparation, preparation! Taking the time before your trip to really plan things out will make everything just go so much smoother once you’re out at the campground.
We’ll take you through the most important things you’ll need to do to prepare for your camping trip including where to go, what to bring, and how to the kids ready. Once you know the basics of how to prepare, you’ll be all set to get started and make that first trip a huge success! Continue reading
As a kid growing up, my family went on annual camping trips. All of us kids would spend the day riding our bikes, hiking, adventuring and generally goofing off, and once we’d worn ourselves out, we’d come back to camp for an evening of games. We would have epic tournaments where we’d try to become the reigning champion of a card, dice or board game. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of those game nights in the campgrounds.
Games are a great way to bring the family together with some friendly competition on your next camping trip. This list will focus on card games and dice games since those are easy to pack and each can be used several different ways for hours of fun. Continue reading
A camping trip just wouldn’t be complete without making s’mores over the campfire. Of course the classic graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow combo will never go out of style, why stop there? Why not add some new flavors and some pizazz to your s’mores? Here are 10 ways to jazz up your s’mores on your next camping trip (or even at home, we won’t judge!) Continue reading
Long drives can be hard, especially for kids. When boredom sets in on your next family road trip, you’ll be glad to have some tips and tricks up your sleeve. Continue reading
For those of us who really enjoy a reading, there’s not much better than spending an hour two in a quiet local bookstore and picking out a new book. Buying trends, in the last couple of decades, have not been kind to those local bookstores. With online sellers and big-box bookstores gaining traction with low prices, many independent bookstores have been forced out of business. Fortunately, it seems that the tide is turning and independent bookstores are making a comeback.
The success of independent booksellers and independent book publishers go hand in hand, they both help each other, and you can help both of them! Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but I always seem to forget something when I take my kids somewhere, even when I write a list. Camping is one place you definitely don’t want to find yourself without some essential kid-care item, so be sure to make your list, check it twice and check again that it includes the following items Continue reading