A boy’s greatest hero is his dad.  From the time he is a baby he likes to walk in his daddy´s shoes and tries to imitate everything his daddy does.  He does his best to make his dad proud of him.  As he is growing he wants to go to work with dad, he reflex you if you are a mechanic he aspires to be a mechanic, a carpinter he is too, even if you are a garbage man he wants to desires to be one too.  So you should plan a father/son campout to spend the much apreciated and desired attention that he so very needs.  To have this campout you need to give him his own kids camping gear that he could use to imitate you and feel that he is so important to you. 

You could round him up his own kids camping gear.  You can help him pack his backpack and fill it with items that you are planning to use- he can carry a can of baked beens and some of the lightweight food that you are going to use, or his clothes and childs flashlight or lantern this shouldn´t be too weighed down or he can hurt his back.  He can carry his fishing pole and tackle box-his tackle box might be able to fit in his kids backpack.  He might be able to attach his Coleman for Kids Sleeping Bags, Pads, & Mats to his backpack. You might even bring along his kids camping chair so he can sit along side of you.

When you get to the camping spot you should get him involved in helping you setup camp and if he brought along his own kids tent then you and him can set it up together This will build his self esteem in knowing that he helped you set up the tent and other camping items.  After he sets out his own camping gear you can prepare a quick supper over an open fire or if you brought along a grill you can grill something.  Spend time talking with him over the campfire, let him share his thoughts with you.  You can use this as time to exhort him or share some of your wisdom with him but don´t make it a chewing out session or you might ruin the whole camping trip.

You should go swimming if the water is okay to do so.  If he doesn´t already know you can teach him to swim.  He should take along a kid’s life jacket or kids swimming gear in case of an emergency.  He needs to burn off energy and swimming will do that and kids love water so he will get a good amount of exercise.

Take him fishing if he´s never been teach him how to do so, encourage him when he does something good, if he makes a mistake ensure him that it will get easier.  With his own camping/fishing gear he can learn to use his own gear-he will feel grown up along side of you with his own camping gear-have him take along his own kids lantern and kids camping chair.  If you catch fish show him how to prepare it for eating purposes.  He will love to learn from you-remember he thinks you know everything, so if he learns to do it then he will be excited that he pleased you. 

Atleast one day you should take him exploring have him take along his kids camping gear with containers for collecting things and bring along his kids lantern or kids flashlight in case it gets dark while you are still out.  Teach him about snakes - what to do and not to do around them. How to know if they are poisonous or not,  what to do if you are trapped by one. Show him different plants or items of interest that come up while exploring.  This will be so much fun for him he will enjoy learning because he is continually gathering information from life.  When you take a trip like this with him he will feel very important to you and you will have rewon his heart.  If you make this a great trip with great planning it will be a safe trip making it the perfect kid friendly camping trip.