I grew up camping with my parents and two siblings. We had a small 12' Shasta trailer and camped mostly at parks in California. I was lucky and later as an adult, had a job that gave me a lot of time off to go camping all year. We liked to boat, so during the summer and at Easter break we often went camping/boating.
During other parts of the year, we went all over the western U.S. We went to the Worlds Fair (Expo) in Canada in 1986 for five weeks. Our children at the time were 4 and 6. Even though a child may not seem excited by large holes in the ground, like Yellowstone, they will surprise you. When places like Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, etc, were discussed in school and the teacher asked if anyone had ever been there, my kids were the only ones to raise their hands.
Now, later in life, both my daughters have their own families and their own RV's. Guess what, they're now excited to show their kids the parks they saw when they were young, just like I was excited to show them.
I always tell young familes that there is NO better way to keep your kids out of trouble than to go camping. Allow them to bring friends. Our kids looked forward to every trip. We were lucky, we kept our kids busy and never had any issues with drugs, alcohol or other social issues found in schools/society these days.
