Family camping with kids: a plan for your first weekend out

Camping with children sounds harder than it is. Most worries come down to three questions: will they sleep, will they be safe, and what will they do all day? A short plan answers all three before you leave home. This guide is for a family’s first night out in the UAE winter: one night, driving to the spot.

Pick an easy place for the first time

For a first trip with children, a managed site beats wild desert. You get a marked plot, parking next to the tent and people nearby. The Hatta Wadi Hub campsite has 18 plots, each with a fire pit, a barbecue area and a table, for up to five people per plot. You bring your own tent; see Camping in Hatta with your own tent. Gulf News also names Suhaila Lakes in Hatta and the Masfout camping huts in Ajman as good first places for families. For other emirates, read Where can you camp in the UAE?

A timetable that works with children

• Leave after lunch and arrive by mid-afternoon. Khaleej Times advises arriving before dark to pitch your tent safely.
• On arrival, the tent comes first. Give each child a job: carrying stakes, holding a pole, putting sleeping bags inside.
• Late afternoon: play and a walk while it is light.
• Sunset: an early dinner, before the children are too tired.
• After dark: fire, stories, stars. A head torch on every child.
• Bedtime: earlier than at home. Fresh air makes children sleepy.
• Morning: breakfast, a last walk, pack up before the midday sun.

A warm night for small campers

Night-time comfort is one of the biggest challenges on a first family camping trip. A winter night can be far colder than the afternoon, and a cold child does not sleep. Khaleej Times recommends sleeping bags rated for 5 to 10 °C on winter trips.

Give each child a bag made for children; in an adult bag they have too much empty space to warm. Kelty designed the Space Cadet 30 for small children with safe-sleep practices in mind. No sleeping bag replaces adult supervision, so follow the size guidance on the product page and check on young children during the night. The Kids’ Mistral 30 has a draft tube along the zip and locking zips. The Kids Callisto 30 is rectangular, so a restless sleeper has room. Both are rated to about −1 °C; the 30 in their names is the US rating label, not degrees Celsius. A rating is not a comfort guarantee. Put a pad under every child: much of the cold comes from the ground.

The tent: more room than the label says

Tent sizes are nominal: a 4-person tent fits four adults with nothing else. For a family of four, a 6-person tent is the comfortable size, with space for bags, shoes and the toy nobody can sleep without. Two doors help too: nobody climbs over a sleeping child at night.

The sun rises early and a bright tent wakes children at dawn. The Daydreamer 6P has a Twilight Tech rainfly that helps block sunlight, for afternoon naps and later mornings. The Wireless 6P has two doors and two vestibules, covered porches for shoes and bags, and colour-coded Quick Corners for simple setup.

Shade for the daytime

Winter afternoons can still be warm: in November 2025 Khaleej Times reported highs of about 30 °C at several camping spots. Children need a shaded place to play and rest that is not the hot tent. The Sunshade with Side Wall stands on a tripod frame that copes with windy days, and its wall moves to block the sun as it travels. The Cabana is a closed shelter with Quick Corners, a front privacy wall and windows you can open; it works as a shady den and a place to change.

Fire and the kitchen with children around

• Mark a circle around the fire pit and the grill that children do not enter, with stones or a line in the sand they can see in the dark.
• Children help at the table, not at the grill. Hot charcoal looks grey and harmless long after the flames are gone.
• Keep lanterns at least 50 cm from tents, and never take a barbecue, coal burner or candle into a tent (Gulf News).
• Keep a fire extinguisher and a full water container next to the cooking area.
• One adult is in charge of the fire until it is fully out.

More on layout and food safety in Camp kitchen for families.

Toilets and hygiene

Find out about toilets before you go. The Hatta campsite page does not mention them, so ask when you book. In open desert there are none: some families bring a portable camping toilet and bags, and take the waste home with the rest of the rubbish. Pack hand soap, a water container with a tap, wet wipes and a bag for used ones. Wash hands before eating and after the toilet, and keep a small bottle of hand gel in each child’s pocket.

Safety: other family rules

• Cars: children stay away from moving vehicles and ride seated inside, never hanging out of windows, as Visit Ras Al Khaimah advises.
• Water: if rain is forecast, choose high ground far from wadis, and leave if water starts to flow.
• Lost child plan: each child has a head torch and a whistle, and knows to stay put and blow it.

What to pack for the children

• A warm layer, a hat and dry socks for the night.
• A change of clothes in a separate bag. Sand gets everywhere.
• Their own head torch.
• A favourite toy or blanket from home.
• Simple evening games: cards, a ball, a star map.
• Snacks they already like. A first trip is not the time for new food.
• Sun cream, hats and plenty of water.