Caravan and Camp Site Child Safety: 4 rules I lived by whilst camping with my family
Jul 09, 2026
There's something special about caravan park life. Kids run free between vans, best friends are made in an afternoon, and everyone leaves their doors - literally and figuratively - wide open. It's community in its purest form.
But it’s also not without risk and that's exactly why I built a clear set of body safety rules for my daughter before we ever hit the road.
As a former Detective Senior Constable and Specialist Child Interviewer, I spent nearly six years investigating child sexual abuse cases. One thing I learned, over and over again, is that predators don't look like strangers in white vans. They look like the friendly neighbour three sites down. The "great with kids" guy everyone trusts. The person who offers to keep an eye on the kids so the parents can have a break or ‘wine time’.
Caravan parks and camp sites are wonderful - but the very things that make them wonderful (open trust, shared spaces, kids roaming free) are also what can make them a soft target for opportunistic abuse, if we don't put simple structures in place.
Here are the rules we lived by.
The Rules
- No toilets or showers without an adult or older sibling. Camp bathroom blocks are shared, often poorly lit, and used by strangers. This one is non-negotiable.
- No going into other people's caravans or tents. All games and hangouts stayed in open, visible spaces - where any adult walking past could see what was happening. Private spaces are where boundaries quietly disappear and be crossed.
- No leaving an area without first telling a parent and asking permission. Not "letting us know" - asking permission. It keeps a live line of communication open, every time, without exception.
- If something or someone feels wrong or makes you feel uncomfortable, come tell a safe adult straight away. Whether it's a person, a game, or a moment that breaks one of our body safety rules - she knew, without hesitation, that coming to tell us was always the right thing to do, no matter who was involved (adult or child).
We added a few more the longer we spent on the road:
- Buddy up - always with at least one trusted friend, never off completely alone.
- No wandering near water - dams, rivers, pools - without an adult actively watching.
- No food, lollies, or gifts from adults or kids, without checking with us first. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and caravan parks - full of friendly strangers - are exactly the kind of environment where it can slip past unnoticed.
- Know your site number and van details, so if she ever got briefly separated, she could find her way back or tell an adult exactly where to take her.
Why This Matters More, Not Less, in a Trusting Environment
The instinct in a caravan park is to relax. Everyone seems friendly. Everyone seems safe. And most people are.
But body safety isn't about assuming the worst of people - it's about giving kids a clear, simple script and lessons, so they always know what's okay and what's not, regardless of how safe a place or person feels. Predators rely on exactly that relaxed trust to operate unnoticed.
A child who has been given clear rules, and who knows without question that they can come to a safe adult with anything, is a much harder target.
This isn't about raising anxious kids. It's about raising confident ones - kids who know the rules, know their own boundaries, and know that telling an adult is how they get help and it’s ok to share.
Want to Build These Conversations Into Everyday Life?
The Conversations with Kids® card decks are built to make these exact conversations second nature - practical, age-banded tools that take the guesswork out of body safety education, whether you're at home or on the road.
