School children to get lessons in camping

A campaign has been launched to encourage primary school children to learn how to pitch a tent and get out camping.

The Cheeky Little Campers campaign will initially involve 10 primary schools across the South West of England.

Each school will be gifted a Vango tent, and their pupils asked to create a video showing how they go about pitching it.

The aim is to encourage more youngsters to get outside and explore nature.

Schools taking part in the campaign, which also involves Britain’s biggest outdoor learning programme, the Natural Connections Project and the Camping and Caravanning Club, will be able to keep their tent for future use.

Teachers will also give children the opportunity to sign out the ‘class tent’ so they can share the camping experience with their family and friends.

And the Camping and Caravanning Club is providing vouchers which will give children the chance to camp for free at sites across the UK.

Natural Connections project manager Ian Blackwell said: “One of the things that makes learning outside so special is the children always seem to take so much away from it, and they enjoy the learning experience, even if what they learn varies from child to child.  “With a bit of creativity and shared resources it’s possible to teach any subject outside.”

He added: “I’m really pleased Vango has asked us to work with them on the ‘Cheeky Little Campers’ campaign. It’s wonderful that these children are going to be trying out some of the best tents at school and then with their families. I always think it’s ‘make-or break’ on the first camping trip, and if you’ve got good gear you’re more likely to fall in love with sleeping under the stars. 

"Camping gives you the priceless opportunity of spending quality time together as a school group, with friends or family while engaging with the natural world.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the inventive videos the primary school children come up with to show us how to pitch a Vango tent!”

Vango brand manager Emma Robinson said: “Natural Connections works directly with schools to get teachers and children learning the outdoors so they were the perfect fit for this campaign. 

“Some of these children might have not had the opportunity to try camping before which, after the initial cost of gear, is an inexpensive way to enjoy spending time with the family.

“The idea for the campaign came from a teacher who wrote to us asking for a Vango tent that she wanted to use to teach her children how to write instructions. After receiving her classe’s handiwork, and seeing how much the children enjoyed making the instructional video, we knew we had to get more children involved; hence ‘Cheeky Little Campers’ was born.”

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