Whether you like to take a big family tent, go glamping in provided camp shelters, or haul your own travel trailer, getting organized for camping is a must! Today, I’m excited to share a hand lettered family camping checklist printable that will make trip planning so much easier!
Does your family love camping? Mine too! There’s nothing better than getting out into the great outdoors and slowing down the pace of life for a few days to enjoy some quality time together. I have four kids, and getting everyone organized can be such an undertaking. There’s nothing worse than arriving at your camping spot and realizing you’ve forgotten the swim shorts or toilet paper or someone’s sleeping bag!
That’s why I’ve made this free printable. This planner is here to take the stress out of the preparation part of your camping experience. I’ve created the ultimate family camping planner to help you organize the important things, so you have a better chance of arriving at your camping adventure site fully prepared with everything you need to create beautiful family memories.
And, this post is part of a collaboration that I’m doing with some of my favourite printable designer friends, so you can scroll to the bottom and find even more camping printables from some very talented ladies!
Let’s get to it!
What to bring on a family camping trip
I truly believe that the best way to make your next family camping trip a success (whether this is your first trip or you’re a seasoned camping professional) is to have a master list of camping essentials. I break this down into four main categores:
- Food items
- Clothing
- General packing items
- Activity supplies
This way, you can reference your list as you’re putting stuff in the car or trailer. I know that each family will have a slightly different list, so I have left my printables blank for you to fill in yourself. However, we all pack the same general things, so I’ve created an empty free printable camping checklist for each category!
I recommend printing these out and filling them in. You can laminate them and reuse them or just print them out each trip. I like to have a master copy of camping supplies since that rarely changes trip to trip.
Let’s take a look.
Family camping printable menu planner
First up is my menu planning printable! Especially if you are a camping newbie, this can be a daunting list. It’s a good idea to have a very detailed meal plan because you really need to remember absolutely everything for your camp kitchen, right down to the salt and pepper and condiments!
I’ve provided a template with a space for each day, plus a spot for snacks and general notes. The general notes is where I would put things like water bottles, a water supply, or even a water filter if you are doing some serious camping! Make sure anything food-related is on this list so you don’t forget it!
Family Camping Printable Clothing Checklist
Next we have clothing! This is also a very important list, because you don’t want to forget your coat or rain gear if the weather conditions are going to be cool or wet, or your flip flops if it’s going to be hot!
Since we all know the weather forecast can very often be wrong, I recommend packing a little bit of everything you would need for any weather. Sit down and think of everything you could possibly need to be comfortable, and then write it on the list! Don’t forget the basics like underwear and socks, especially if you plan on letting your older kids use this list to do their own packing.
I print one of these clothing packing planner pages for each of my family members that’s headed camping with us. I fill it out for them and then it’s so easy for them to take the list and go pile everything they would like to bring, checking off all of the items and then I just have to double check. This is a great way to get kids involved in preparing for your camping trip.
Camping Activities Printable Planner
We always like to pack games and activities for our camping trips. Depending where we are headed, this could look different. Here’s some things you might like to include:
- Yard games (we love ladder ball at the campsite and kubb on the beach!)
- Water sports equipment
- Printable activities for younger children
- Fishing rods, bait and tackle box
- Board games
- Volleyballs, soccer balls and frisbees
- Card games
- Water floaties + beach umbrellas
- Buckets and shovels for sand play
- Craft or art supplies
- Boating equipment like tubes and life jackets
- Pattleboards and kayaks
- And bikes. Always bikes!
Whatever your preferred camping activities are, you’ll want to plan for those. These are what make your camping trips so special, make sure you add all the pieces you. need so you don’t forget any.
Generic Printable Checklist for Camping
Then, we have a general packing list printable! This is basically your list of family camping essentials, and it’s one you want to pay special attention to. I included a section devoted to kitchen tools, which is where you would put everything you need to put camp meals on the table.
Think cooking utensils, cast iron pans, and a table cloth to throw over the picnic table. I would say pack everything except the kitchen sink, but if you’re tenting you need to pack a tub to use as a kitchen sink, ha! You get the idea for this one.
The bedding section is straightforward, but it’s still so easy to forget something you need! Make sure you add a camping foam or air mattress, pillow, and a good sleeping bag for each person if you are tenting. Even if you are in a trailer, extra blankets are also a great idea. Write it all down so there’s less info floating around in your head to forget.
I’ve included a first aid section because this is also SO important, especially if you will be camping far away from civilization in a national forest or park. Besides the regular first aid items, make sure you include bug spray, sun screen, after sun and lip balm too. Be prepared for everything!
There is also an “other” section on this list. This is for everything else that doesn’t fall into the categories we’ve already discussed. Really rack your brain on this one. Maybe you don’t want to forget your favourite book or a journal? Change for the tuck shop, if there will be one? Firewood? Charging cords for devices you are bringing? Consider this your miscellaneous list where every last thing you might need goes.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE Camping Planner
To download this free camping planner, all you need to do is enter your email below and have it sent to your inbox. When you click the confirm button on the email you receive, it will open the file directly.
Some browsers will start download immediately, others you’ll need to right click and save. Once you’ve downloaded it, you can print it and write your list on or you can add your list digitally and print it off after.
Need more tips? Check out this guide to printing free printables.
This camping planner file is free for personal use only.
There you go! A super cute and easy to use family camping checklist printable bundle to help you plan your family’s camping needs for your next big trip, plus my top tips on what to put on each list! Did I forget something? Put it in the comments below!
Pin this for later!
Don’t have time to print off this camping planner right now? Want to save it for closer to your annual camping trip? Pin this so you can come back to it! Plus, pinning or sharing on FB helps this post reach more people which helps me be able to keep sharing with you. Thank you!
Even More Free Camping Printables
I’ve joined forces with some amazing printable designers to offer not just these free camping planners, but 18 other rad free printables with a camping theme! Follow the links below to their camping printables!
Camping Bingo Printables – Homemade Heather
Printable Sign for Camping – The Girl Creative
Camping Scavenger Hunt – Creatively Beth
Camping Word Search – Smiling Colors
Camping Charades – Kara Creates
Smores Word Search – My And My Inklings
Poisonous Flower Chart – Try It Like It Create It
Camping Coloring Page – Team Creative Crafts
Camping Activity Page – Arsty Fartsy Mama
Camping Rules – Tried & True Creative
Camping Planner – Lemon Thistle
Camping Invitations – Handlettered Printables
Camping Word Scramble – Shower and Party Printables
Camping Bucket List – Crafty Blog Stalker
Camping Photo Challenge – A Hundred Affections
Camping Log – Michelle James Designs
Camping Journal – Leap of Faith Crafting
Choosing the Best Vinyl for Decals with Cricut
We camped for years before I ever even thought about printing out a dedicated packing list! I would have random post-it’s and note pad papers strewn about with item written down as I remembered them throughout the week before the trip. And I ALWAYS forgot something. One year it was matches/lighter and there was no store nearby so we had no fire! That was before we got our camp stove too. I’ve forgotten way too many valuable camping items before so when I found my printable camping list a few years ago, hands down best decision. I even laminated it so every year I just add a couple updated items with an expo dry erase marker and check off each item on the list with the same marker as I go along. I love my current list but it’s pretty outdated at this point. I love how this is a bundle of EVERYTHING camping, not just the packing! I will be throughly enjoying this list all summer! Thank you Colleen!