As purported by many child health advocates, such as the American No Child Left Inside Coalition, Nature is necessary for a child’s mental, emotional, and physical health. So, if you are thinking about taking children on your Yellowstone camping trip, here are some encouraging points to support your choice.
Yellowstone Holiday is a good destination for children because it affords the convenience of having a cabin in West Yellowstone, instead of camping in a tent, while still providing immediate access to the great outdoors and the many opportunities of the area.
Many of the things that apply to adults also apply to children. When we step into nature, we experience a respite from all the stressors and triggers of our complicated lives; we can breathe easier, and we are flooded by a sense of calm and wellbeing. It is the same for children. Especially if your children struggle with school or family-related stress, or conditions like ADHD, Nature not only provides a soothing salve, but also offers many ways for children to channel their energy.
Children are sensory individuals. They learn a lot through their senses and are greatly impacted by the auditory, tactile, olfactory stimulations in their environments. Camping provides a full-blown sensory experience with a diversity of outdoor sounds, the touches of breeze or exposure to the elements, beautiful sights, and strong scents. Camping offers them an experience they ordinarily may not have in their daily lives.
If those benefits are not enough – consider that camping is a hugely educational experience for a child. Children get to learn about the cycles and ways of nature. They hear different bird sounds of in the mornings; they have the opportunity to witness small wild animals search for food, interact with each other, or build a home in their natural habitats. They see a large amount of diverse vegetation in a different environment. When trees might have just seemed liked ornaments before – in the wild they are fully alive and make homes for many creatures. Thus, children learn to appreciate why nature is important, and the importance of taking care of it.
Camping can also teach children basic skills in independence and survival. It teaches them how to tackle challenges with industriousness and patience. Performing even minimal tasks while helping to prepare, set up or pack up camp, or being in charge of things while camping, teaches a child responsibility and boosts their self-esteem.
Camping most often comes with other great activities that boast their own benefits. There are many hiking trails around Hebgen Lake that you and your family can enjoy. Hiking offers great exercise and close-up views of small wildlife that otherwise seem to live in hiding. The exercise benefits of hiking are good for muscle toning and strength building, cardiovascular endurance, and lungs.
While they hike, children can learn about different types of trees and ground cover, while observing the kinds of animals that live in various levels of the environment – inside the trees, in holes in the ground, under rocks, etc.
Fishing offers children the opportunity to learn a true outdoors craft – all the mechanics of throwing a line, baiting, knowing when and where to cast, the different kinds of fish and their habits, how to reel one in…The list goes on with the amount of things a child can learn while fishing with adults. They will gain a sense of pride while learning skills that they can take with them for life. Fishing at Hebgen Lake is a fun and popular sport. The lake is known for its great fly-fishing opportunities and large trout.
If you won’t take your children fishing this time around, many of the watersports available at the Hebgen Lake campground will be a sure hit with them. Boating at Hebgen Lake can range from canoeing to a serene sail on the water. Boating encourages reflection and connection with the environment, inspires wonderment about the world within the water, so different from the one above, and will both excite and delight children.
Taking your children camping will alter their minds whether you do it once or make it a regular tradition. It will also help to shape a positive lifelong attitude towards nature, not to mention the lifetime memories that will inspire good personal growth.