Travel near for a Camping Adventure

      You don't need to travel far for a camping adventure; kids know the backyard will do just fine.

"We take pillows from the TV room, and we bring them out here," explained Benjamin Share, 7, in the family's backyard in suburban Potomac, Md. The second-grader likes to sleep in a tent with his father just 20 feet from the kitchen door and listen to the crickets. "If we need fresh air, there's a top with a zipper" that opens up the roof of the tent, he said.

Benjamin got interested in camping after staying overnight with a couple of older friends who slept in tents in their bedrooms. What Benjamin discovered is that pitching a tent at home is a simple way to enjoy the fun of camping without all the hassle of a real camping trip.

Abigail Hines of Silver Spring, Md., had a sleepover in her backyard for her 11th birthday last month. Six girls slept in a giant tent that Abigail's mother has kept in the basement for years; it's big and heavy, and the grown-ups had to put it up. But once it was made into a shelter, it was perfect.

"It's just cool to be outside and have your friends in there and have sleeping bags and be able to talk," Abigail said. The family dogs even stayed in the tent for part of the night.

Parents who are avid campers find that pitching a tent in the backyard is a good way to teach kids the basics of camping and get them used to the different noises you hear outside at night. Of course, with backyard camping, those noises aren't always the sounds of nature.

"If we weren't talking, it was just really quiet," Abigail said. "It sort of felt like we weren't in the backyard, like we were in the woods or something. But then every once and a while you'd hear a car go by."