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Family Camping Trips

Camping at the Lake Hauea Campsite, New Zealand
©Photo by Flying Kiwi Tours (CC BY 2.0)

Before Reading Tasks

Task 1: Look at the photo and answer the questions (🗣️ or ✍️)

a) Look at the picture - do you think this is a nice place to go camping? Why?

b) Do you like going camping?

Going Camping

My family and I used to go camping every summer holidays when I was younger. I liked helping my parents pack the car. We always took so many things, like tents, sleeping bags, camping table and chairs, torches, games, a chilly bin, boogie boards, togs, clothes, and heaps of other things. The car was always packed to the brim.

The drive there was always fun. Dad always asked me and my sister to help him choose about 10 CDs for us to listen to on the drive. We used to play I spy on the way too. We usually stopped at a petrol station on the way to get an ice block or a pack of lollies.

Sometimes we stayed in a holiday park, and other times we camped at a campsite. We camped by lakes, beaches, and in forests. I didn’t mind where we went, but I preferred staying at campsites than holiday parks. Campsites have much less facilities, and because there was no kitchen, we had to cook on a camping stove or barbecue. Cooking in the open air was lovely because it helped us connect with nature. At night, we sat together and talked and told stories. Sometimes we lit a campfire and toasted marshmallows on it. It was so nice listening to the fire crackling and the sounds of nature, like the cicadas.

I loved our family camping trips. I think they taught me to enjoy the simple things in life.

After Reading Tasks

Task 1: Decide if you think the following statements are true or false (🗣️ or ✍️)

a) The writer is telling a story about one specific camping trip.

b) The parents packed the car by themselves.

c) The writer prefers camping in a place that has lots of facilities, such as a kitchen.

Task 2: Answer the discussion/reflection questions (🗣️ or ✍️)

a) On a camping trip, would you prefer to cook in the open air or in a kitchen?

b) What about this family's camping trips do you like the sound of?

c) Does this remind you of any of your family holidays (now or when you were growing up)?

Task 3: Find the bolded word/phrase in the reading that match each definition below

a) Insects known for being very noisy, especially in summer: cicadas

b) Soft rectangular boards that you use to ride waves in the sea:

c) Very full, with no more space left:

d) Small lights that you hold in your hand:

e) Popping and snapping sounds:

f) A frozen sweet on a stick:

g) A box that keeps food and drink cold when you put ice in it:

h) Outside, not in a building:

i) The clothing you wear when you swim:

j) Sweets/candies:

k) Buildings or things used for activities, like a shower, toilet, kitchen, laundry, playground:

l) A place to stay on holiday with tents, campervans, or cabins and many facilities, like toilets, kitchens, shops, and playgrounds:

m) A simple place to stay on holiday with tents or campervans and that only has a few facilities:

Task 1 'True or False' Answers:

a) The writer is telling a story about one specific camping trip.
False. The writer is talking about family camping trips in general, not just one specific trip. The reading has phrases like 'we used to go camping every summer holidays”'and 'sometimes we would camp in a holiday park and sometimes at a campsite', showing it’s about many different trips.

b) The parents packed the car by themselves.
False. The writer helped the parents. In the reading it says 'I liked helping my parents pack the car.'

c) The writer prefers camping in a place that doesn't have a kitchen.
True. The writer says that they preferred going to a campsite because not having a kitchen meant that they had to cook on a camping stove or barbecue.

Task 3 Vocabulary Answers:

a) Insects known for being very noisy, especially in summer: cicadas

b) Soft rectangular boards that you use to ride waves in the sea: boogie boards

c) Very full, with no more space left: packed to the brim

d) Small lights that you hold in your hand: torches

e) Popping and snapping sounds: crackling

f) A frozen sweet on a stick: ice block

g) A box that keeps food and drink cold when you put ice in it: chilly bin

h) Outside, not in a building: open air

i) The clothing you wear when you swim: togs

j) Sweets/candies: lollies

k) Buildings or things used for activities, like a shower, toilet, kitchen, laundry, playground: facilities

l) A place to stay on holiday with tents, campervans, or cabins and many facilities, like toilets, kitchens, shops, and playgrounds: holiday park

m) A simple place to stay on holiday with tents or campervans and that only has a few facilities: campsite

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