Camping Season Starts

With the glorious weather this weekend I have been so jealous of those people that had booked camping trips with their families. With campsite booking up between 20 and 30% for the summer it looks as though those last minute trips won't be quite so spontaneous this year.

In addition to campsite bookings being up the incidence of skin cancer is also showing an increase. Anybody that suffered from sunburn as a child, probably most of us, knows how miserable it is trying to sleep with lobster skin. As a typical pale skinned Brit I am constantly nagging my kids to put on the lotion and keep on their sun hats. We have just added some sun hats to our product range and these can be found in the accessories section of our website http://www.littlewideworld.co.uk/.

The Sahara hat is particularly good with it's light weight fabrc, terry forehead band for absorbing moisture and the stowable neck shade. Made by Vaude you can be sure of the quality and is well worth the £18 price tag.

If you need to be weight or space conscious then the Kids Switch cap (pictured) is a real bargain. At only £6 it offers SPF40 sun protection and is adjustable to fit children from toddlers up to about 8 years of age. It has the added benefit of having a softer peak than many caps which means it can be folded (or if your kids are like mine screwed up) to fit into a pocket or pack.

We have also extended the range of bags we stock with the Vaude Ayla 6 backpack which is a great size for 3-6 year olds and comes with it's own soft "companion" to share all your kids adventures, and the snazzy Daisy shoulder bag which is ideal for little girls who would rather not put their lunchbox in a backpack. Both of these items can be found in the "bags and packs" or "Vaude" sections of our website.

That's the plugs over for this week, with half term I am splitting my time between Camping Kidz and my own kids so it's going to be a busy one. I promise not to go on about the product range in my next update and plan to share some of our favourite camping recipes.

Have a fabulous half term (if your lucky enough to be off work/school) and if you have a favourite recipe you want to share feel free to send it to me at campingkidz@littlewideworld.co.uk.

Staying Dry

As the weather warms up I start dreaming of the first camping trip of the year. As Small is still so small I like to be sure that spring is really here before we hit the canvas. I can put up with being cold, I can't put up with the moaning that comes from a cold child.

As bad as a cold child, of course, is a wet child. Whilst my kids are happy to get soaked running around in the rain they aren't happy to stay soaked, so unless we are on a campsite with a drying room we need head to toe waterproofing. Small looks cute in the yellow Rukka Raingear, as the pictures show, but the 7 year old (henceforth known as Loki after his spiritual ruler) looks a bit daft in waterproof dungarees. For him it's waterproof trousers and the worlds most hideous kagool.

Caught short on a camping trip in the Cairngorms we had to make a dash between the rainstorms to Avemore to find a waterproof that would fit him. He was too large for the all in one toddler waterproofs and too small for the waterproof jackets available, so it was a stuff mac in "medium". I'm not sure what size a "medium" child is but looking at this kagool I would estimate they are about 4' 2" and have a waist measurement of about 47". I suspect Loki will never grow in to this particular garment.

It's a little shamefull really - I run a children's outdoor clothing retailer and my son wears the most repulsive waterproofs ever produced. I've tried to tempt him into a better fitting and much more respectable blue anorak, but if you have boys you'll know that trying to get them not to wear something is a guarenteed way of making them want to wear it.

I wonder if reverse psychology will work......

We are still running our prize draw via Twitter. If you use Twitter follow us (@littlewideworld) and we will enter you into a prize drawer to win a child's Rukka Anorak. The first 100 followers will be entered into the draw - we're currently up to 53.

I am also collecting recommendations for family friendly campsites. I would like to add a directory page of family friendly sites to http://www.littlewideworld.co.uk/, so if there's a site you particularly like and think other families will enjoy please send details of the site - including the site name and location - and the reasons that you think it's a great family destination to us at campingkidz@littlewideworld.co.uk and we will add it to the directory.