Camping Books for Toddlers

Introducing our children to the magic of camping has been one of our favorite things to do as parents. We’re big believers in introducing them to camping while they’re young, so we’ve camped with both of our girls when they were still very young toddlers. One thing that has really helped our little ones enjoy camping is reading about it at home. So far, these are our favorite camping books for toddlers:

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Little Observers Go Camping by Clare Beaton

This simple board book introduces children to different sights they may see while camping like animals, trees, ferns, and insects.  Focusing on the sensorial experience of camping, this book would appeal to an older toddler. Toddlers are actively seeking new experiences and want to explore the world more around them.

At the end, it has a little scavenger hunt for kids.  Scavenger hunts are something that both my daughters enjoy- my older daughter enjoys helping her baby sister with.

The pictures are simple and full of color. Each page features a sentence that you could talk about more with your toddler so that they have an idea of what you might do on your camping trip.

I do however wish there were a few things added to this book.  There’s not any textures or flaps, so it’s not the most interactive for young toddlers.  Additionally, I wish it talked about what it’s like to sleep in a tent, as this is the most challenging part of camping with a little one.

All in all though, we still enjoyed it and it’s a great first camping book for toddlers. It’s available for purchase on Amazon here.

My Mountain Baby by Rose Rossner

I’ll be honest- this isn’t the most creative book we’ve ever read to our girls, but it’s cute and it rhymes. 

A baby bear spends the day in a forest going on hikes, seeing animals, and ultimately camping.  It’s a simple board book that’s easy to pack up and take along. 

The illustrations are adorable and my preschooler loves reading it to her baby sister.

It’s available for purchase on Amazon here.

A Tent Too Full- (Barney)– written by Stephen White

This one might be a bit hard to find, BUT this is one that I had in the early 90s as a toddler. As an adult, I STILL rememberED how much I loved the incredibly vibrant and saturated pictures. 

Barney and Baby Bop go camping and they’re excited to see forest animals.  However, they’re not having any luck finding forest animals.  But once night comes and the rain starts, all sorts of forest animals want to take refuge in their cozy, dry tent.

This one captured my heart so much as a toddler that I knew I had to find it for my own daughter before her first camping trip.  There’s used copies available on Amazon and ebay, and it was so much fun to see her enjoy it as much as I did.

She loved the coziness of the rain in the tent and she loved how all the animals snuggled up together.  In fact, she loved it so much, that she repeatedly plays like she’s camping in the rain and that all of her stuffed animals have to get cozy in the tent we’ve made out of a bedsheet in her room.

Even though this one is trickier to track down- it is our absolute favorite camping book for toddlers if you can snag a copy.

Daniel Goes Camping- Ready to Read

Of the books on this list, this is the best for walking kids through the idea of what camping really looks like. It goes through all of the steps, from packing a cooler to putting up a tent, going on a nature walk, and eating around the campfire.

Calling the tent a cozy little house” really made my 20 month old eager to sleep in a tent.

The nature walk was also a great idea- we easily replicated this in our campsite. I packed a “treasure” bag for her. At the campsite we tried to find the same items that Daniel Tiger and his friends found. She loved pretending that she was acting out the book.

This book is really positive and hypes kids up. If you have a Daniel Tiger fan, this is a great book to introduce camping with.

And bonus- it pairs well with a Daniel Tiger Episode.

In the episode, Daniel Tiger and Prince Wednesday are getting a little spooked in the tent. Dad Tiger helps them identify the sounds and sights they’re actually experiencing. Ultimately, they realize they had let their imaginations run away with them. 

This is a GREAT exercise for helping your toddler or preschooler identify what they’re hearing and seeing while camping- especially before they try to go to sleep, because everything sounds bigger in the woods. Before we went to sleep, we laid there and identified all the sounds we were hearing.

The book is available on Amazon here.

While there’s plenty of camping books out there for toddlers, these have been the most loved in our home. I hope they help your family as well as you introduce your little ones to the wonder of camping!

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