I heard recently about this new craze that Australian families are getting involved in called Gramping – camping with Grandparents, kids and parents.How could I resist such a fabulous opportunity! There are so many benefits of having a backyard campout with the family and why not involve the grandies (grandparents)? The bigger the better I’d say…… so we embarked on our very own “Grampout”. Our girls invited their very special Grandmother (Nanny). Nanny made the Grampout so much more memorable and special because she has so much knowledge, wisdom and experiences to share. She is a great story teller too! What is Gramping?
Camping + Parent + Kids + Grandparents = Gramping Gramping is a craze that has really taken off here in Australia. The Gramping Association was established to help Aussie Grampers come together to find valuable information to make their Grampout as fun as possible. The Gramping Association, proudly sponsored by Aerogard and Mortein is a FREE community for sharing Gramping knowledge, discovering stories, and picking up great tips and deals on the gramping essentials. Australian families are encouraged to pitch a tent and enjoy the great outdoors with three generations (grandparents, parent and kids).The Gramping Association is running a fabulous giveaway for new members for a chance to WIN 1 of 7 Great Gramping Getaways. Prizes include two nights accommodation for you and your family at the location of your choice. <CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN> *Terms and conditions apply; visit Gramping Association for further Details Making Memories:
Creating those magical memories for our children that will last a life time is one of the benefits of gramping. Almost everyone can recall a favourite camping trip or outdoor moment from their childhood. Some of my greatest memories include a time while sitting around a campfire, sleeping in a tent and being around extended family. A Family Grampout in the backyard is a sure winner for creating many of those lifelong special memories. It removes all the distractions of our busy everyday lives; you have to get creative on how you will entertain each other. It is when those spontaneous moments happen that they leave an imprint in your child’s/children’s memory forever. They may not remember what was said but they will remember how they felt. Valuable Family Time:
Gramping is one of the best ways to connect and bond with your family. Sometimes when our hectic lives leave us with little time for our family members, a backyard Grampout is the perfect answer. With less or no distractions, it provides a time to build stronger relationships and reconnect with the special people in our lives. The benefits of gramping is that everyone works together and spends quality time setting up, playing games, telling stories, cooking together. Connecting or re-connecting with one another as a family builds stronger relationships and children who feel loved, important and respected by their parents/family grow with confidence and strong self-esteem. Opportunity to Learn:
I believe that nature and the great outdoors is the best classroom for children as there are so many opportunities to learn and discover. One of the biggest benefits of taking your kids gramping is that it will instil in them a love for nature. It teaches them to be responsible and caring individuals and treat their campsite with respect and leave it the way that they found it.The experience of Gramping provides an opportunity for kids to develop social skills, the ability to get along with others, responsibility, problem solving skills, resilience, life skills and help them learn to work together. The opportunities to learn on a Grampout are endless! Switching off Technology:
Removing the distraction of all technological devices has endless advantages for families on a Grampout. I feel that a very important benefit of switching off all technology is that it provides an opportunity to really ‘switch off’ relax and take the time to enjoy the simplest of things in life. Children will learn to slow down and appreciate other worthy experiences. Living life in the slow lane for a little while gives children the opportunity to find other hobbies and experiences to entertain themselves such as reading.A fun Grampout will remove you from those temptations and enable you to really switch off and just be with the family. Grandparents always have the best stories to tell which begin with…. “When I was young” or “When I was your age”. Grampout Essentials – Packing for a GREAT “Gramping” Experience
The Gramping Association has developed a suggested essentials list of items to include when packing for a backyard or great outdoors Grampout. I found the Gramping Association Essentials suggestions really helpful and gave me some lots of ideas that I hadn’t even thought of. You won’t miss a thing with this list.Speaking of essentials, Aerogard and Mortein, are proud sponsors of the Gramping Association and provide fabulous low irritant repellent and other outdoor products to help make your Grampout as fun as possible by protecting you and your family from those annoying pests. Unfortunately it is true, we love the great outdoors, but here in Australia mosquitos and other annoying insects are a sure way of ruining the wonderful experience of Gramping.To protect our family on our backyard Grampout we used Aerogard Odourless Protection, shown in the photo. It is a great product to use for children as there is no smell and is low irritant on skin. It is suitable for children 12 months and over, and provides up to four hours protection. You can find Aerogard Odourless Protection in roll on, aerosol and pump format.When I think about protecting my family against mosquitoes, citronella and natural based products have always been go-to products to for me. Mortein has a great range of outdoor products such as Mortein Outdoor Coils, Mortein Outdoor Lanterns, Mortein Auto Protect Outdoor Citronella and Mortein Citronella Candle Outdoor. During our Grampout, we used Mortein Auto Protect Outdoor Citronella which has a plant based active ingredient and is an automatic insect control system. It was great as we just set it to spray at intervals and could forget that it was there, knowing that it was providing some protection from mosquitoes and flies. We also used the Mortein Citronella Candle Outdoor as dusk fell in the evening. I have always liked citronella products as it is not over powering and is pleasant smelling. The Mortein Outdoor Candle contains natural Citronella and burns up to 25 hours. GIVEAWAY – GIVEWAWAY – GIVEAWAY – GIVEAWAY – GIVEAWAYAnswer the following question for a chance to win* a giveaway pack of the following prizes- “What essential item would you take with you on a family Grampout?”
- 1 x $100 Turu voucher
- 1 x “gramping essentials” pack of Mortein and Aerogard products, valued at $52.96
- 1 x $250 Anaconda voucher
Hi Janice, your idea is just beautiful. Time goes so quickly and the one item I would take is a hand held voice recorder or an old fashioned cassette player where we pop a tape in a push play and record! Treasure the stories. Think back to your first time you heard your voice on one. makes me smile. Share history and make history by telling the stories. Perfect. They are so valuable.
I would take my parents (my children’s grandparents) and my grandparents (the kids great grandparents) of course. It wouldn’t be a Gramp Out otherwise!
Making memories with family and getting outside is so special!
I would take a camera to capture pics of the fun!
I would have to sure to bring a voice recorder to keep the stories forever, and of course an open mind ready for creating great memories.
Hi Janice, Gramping would be awesome fun, i can’t wait til Lewis is old enough (he is only 10 months old) to experience it. I would recommend apart from the ever reliable Mortein and Aeroguard outdoor products, that you take a camera to capture some everlasting memories.
Grampout is a wonderful memory making idea. I am definetly doing it this summer and fall. My camping essential is marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars for smores.
A camera. Memories are so wonderful, but some can be so easily forgotten by my young daughter or her grand and great grandparents that a camera is something to be taken along.
Gramping looks like fun. The one thing I would like to take is my girls poppy and his guitar and sit around singing songs like I use to when we went camping.
Sounds like lots of fun Janice! Might be able to squeeze a Grampout in before mum and dad leave. My essential Grampout item would be some music to sit around and listen and dance too.
i would take my granddaughters and marshmallows for toasting
A torch & fluro bangles for night time games.
Aerogard!
Preparation for the Grampout will be key to a great night away! I would take lots of camping food to teach the kids to cook the old fashion way!! (think dampers, sausages on the open fire, marshmallows) I would also take some of the boardgames i grew up with (get the likes of Hungry Hippo, Stratego & Uno out of the cupboards!) and of course all the little luxuries that will make camping fun, like camping table & chairs, aeroguard, laterns, tent and of course you can’t forget the pillow!!
We would love the Anaconda voucher because Grandad & Nana will need a better quality camping mattress then the rest of us and that should cover it nicely! We want them to be comfortable so they will Grampout again with us. Arthritis and sleeping on the ground don’t really mix
not to mention a new camp oven to make a family sized roast in.
We go camping with our three small children and my family a lot. The one thing I always regret if it hasn’t been packed is toilet paper! Not only can it be used to clean dirty hands and snotty noses, but the worst thing, whether at a camping ground or out bush, is to be stuck without toilet paper for a few days! Definitely an overlooked essential.