Camping Bedtime Stories
A camping bedtime story works for two kinds of night: the real one, in a tent, when every sound outside is new, and the ordinary one at home, for a child who loves the idea. A good camping story names the night sounds before they happen, so a rustle is just a rustle, and ends zipped up warm.
Here is a complete camping story to read aloud, free. If you are going camping for real, reading it a few nights before can help. To make one starring your child, by name, it takes about thirty seconds.
Lena’s First Night in the Tent
A free story to read aloud tonight
The tent was green, and it took Lena and Mom three tries and a lot of laughing to put it up. But now it was up, by the lake, and it was theirs.
They cooked sausages over the campfire on long sticks, and then a marshmallow each, which caught fire, which Mom blew out, which made it even better.
When it got dark, it got very dark. Darker than home. And it got noisy in a new way. An owl went hoo, hoo. Something rustled in the leaves. The lake went lap, lap, lap against the stones.
“What’s that?” whispered Lena. “That’s the owl,” said Mom. “That’s probably a mouse. And that’s just the water. They’re the night sounds. They’re always there. We just don’t usually hear them.”
They lay on their backs with their heads poking out of the tent door and looked up. There were so many stars that Lena stopped counting at forty-seven.
Then they zipped the door shut, zzzip, and wriggled down into their sleeping bags, warm all the way to their toes. The owl said hoo. The water said lap. And Lena fell asleep listening, in a tent, by a lake, under all those stars.
How can I help my child sleep on a first camping trip?
Telling them about the night sounds beforehand, bringing something familiar from home like their pillow or a soft toy, and keeping a flashlight within reach all tend to help. Reading the same bedtime story you read at home, in the tent, keeps one part of the night the same.
Can we read this if we’re not going camping?
Of course. Lots of children love camping as an idea. Some families even camp out in the living room or the backyard to try it.