Campers

We went camping with three other families at the beginning of this year. It's hard to imagine anything more exciting than bringing kids to sleep in the open air, under nothing more than a tent.

Real phobias aside (say, in case my daughter says no to the smelly loo, yuck), family camping will just give us the right mix of fun and imagination. No matter whether it's the first time or the third time, everyone feels nervous and excited at the same time.

As I learned from the parent guide, there are few essentials for the successful camp-out: friends (the more the better), a tent (the bigger the better), sleeping bags and, of course, the permit for children to build the tent together (like banging the tent stake into the ground).

While we were out, we could think of 101 ideas for a fun day without screen time. There are plenty of other things we can do without iPhone. Musical chairs, frisbee, racing, studying shy Mimosa pudica, digging sand - the list is endless. Things don't have to work out the way classic camping definition suggests, such as building a campfire to roast marshmallows. The truth is, boiling water to make hot chocolate and adding marshmallows were impressive enough for our kids. And if these activities don't make it worth sleeping rough, nothing will.