Campfire cooking with children, safely

There is a reason every adult who ever toasted a marshmallow as a child still remembers it. Food cooked over a fire tastes of the whole trip: woodsmoke, singed sugar, and the enormous pride of having made it yourself. For plenty of families the campfire is the part of camping the children talk about all the way home, and then for months afterwards.

It is also, obviously, an open fire a few feet from people who cannot yet be fully trusted with a fork. The good news is that campfire cooking with children is genuinely doable, and genuinely safe, with a handful of firm rules, jobs matched to ages, and honest expectations about how slowly embers actually cook. Here is how to run it, what to cook first, and exactly what to do if a small hand finds something hot.

First, find a site that actually allows fires

Not every campsite permits open fires, and plenty that do restrict them to raised fire pits so the grass survives the weekend. Among our verified family sites, campfire-friendly options include Far Peak Camping in the Cotswolds, Oxford Oak Camping, Barefoot at Northmoor Lock on the Thames and Evelyn's Garden at Uffington below the White Horse. One caveat with the riverside option: the Thames needs the same constant adult supervision as the fire, with life jackets for any non-swimmers who go near the bank. Check each listing for the current fire policy, whether pits are provided and whether firewood is sold on site, because rules do shift, particularly in dry summers when fire bans can arrive at short notice.

A word on wood. Buy seasoned logs from the site or a local supplier rather than bringing your own, as many sites ask you not to import wood, and scavenged damp branches produce more smoke than heat and a lot of coughing children. Kindling collecting, on the other hand, is a job small people take extremely seriously, of which more below.

The family fire rules, stated plainly

Agree these before the first match is struck, out loud, so the children hear the adults being bound by them too.

• One adult on fire duty at all times, named out loud. If that adult needs to leave, the job is handed over in words, never assumed.
• Mark a no-go zone before lighting: a physical boundary such as a ring of logs, a rope, or the chairs themselves, at least a metre and a bit back from the pit. Crawlers and toddlers do not learn invisible lines, so the marker is really there to keep the adults enforcing it.
• Fill a water bucket and put it beside the fire before you light anything. It is there for dousing, and for burnt fingers on their way to the tap.
• No running games on the fire side of camp. Send the fast ones the other way, and if you need ideas that work at the far end of the pitch, our camping games for children guide has plenty.
• Long sleeves in natural fibres, hair tied back, nothing flappy or nylon near the flames.
• Douse fully before bed: water on, stir the ashes, water again until there is no hiss. A fire pit stays hot enough to burn skin for hours after the flames die, so the no-go zone lasts until morning.
• And the rule that is life and death: never bring a lit or smouldering BBQ, gas stove or any fuel-burning heater inside a tent or awning, or into the porch, not even to keep it out of the rain. Carbon monoxide kills quietly, and canvas is not ventilation.

Jobs by age, because a busy child is a safer child

Children mostly get hurt around fires when they are bored and hovering, not when they are occupied and instructed. A proper job at the right distance keeps them out of trouble and quietly teaches respect for the fire.

• Babies and under 2s: no fire jobs. A sling on the non-fire side of an adult, a highchair well outside the zone, or the honest option, which is timing the fire for after they are asleep in the travel cot.
• Ages 2 to 4: kindling collectors and kitchen crew. Gathering dry twigs long before lighting, washing potatoes in a bowl, buttering rolls at the table and counting marshmallows onto a plate. Everything happens outside the no-go zone.
• Ages 5 to 8: assistant toasters. Marshmallows on a long-handled fork with your hand over theirs, wrapping foil parcels, and placing one stick at a time on the fire with an adult at their shoulder.
• Ages 9 to 12: junior fire cooks. Toasting solo on a long fork, turning parcels with long tongs while you supervise, learning how a fire is laid and helping with the ceremonial dousing at the end of the night.
• Teenagers: fire lighting and ember management under supervision, and genuine cooking, which is a lovely thing to hand over.

These bands are a starting point, not a rule. You know perfectly well whether your particular seven-year-old is a careful soul or a heat-seeking missile, so adjust accordingly.

Five starter recipes that always work

Start sweet and simple. Every one of these can be prepped at the picnic table by small hands, well away from the flames.

• Toasted marshmallows. The gateway. Hold them near glowing embers rather than in the flame and turn slowly for an even golden skin. Melted marshmallow is far hotter than it looks and it drips, so the rule is blow, count to ten, then eat.
• S'mores, UK style. Squash a toasted marshmallow between two chocolate digestives, chocolate sides inwards, and press until it oozes. No specialist ingredients required, whatever the internet tells you.
• Campfire popcorn. A handful of kernels and a splash of oil in a double-layered foil parcel, sealed loosely with plenty of room for popping. Set it at the edge of the embers, shake it with tongs, and listen for the pops to slow before opening carefully, away from faces.
• Dough twists. Mix self-raising flour, a pinch of salt and enough water or milk to make a stiff dough, roll it into snakes, wind them round a stripped stick and turn over embers for about ten minutes until golden. Pipe jam or chocolate spread into the groove afterwards. Slightly doughy middles are traditional and nobody has ever minded.
• Foil bananas. Slit a banana through the skin, push chocolate buttons into the gap, wrap in foil and sit it at the embers' edge for five to ten minutes. Eat with a teaspoon once the foil is cool enough to hold, because the chocolate inside will be molten.

If you want more substantial ideas the children will actually eat, our guide to camping food children will actually eat goes into proper meals.

Ember cooking, for when you are feeling ambitious

The secret adults are rarely told: flames are theatre, embers are the oven. Let the fire burn down to glowing, greyish embers, usually 45 minutes to an hour after lighting, before you attempt anything more serious than a marshmallow. Cooking over roaring flames just produces food that is black outside and raw inside, and disappointed children.

Jacket potatoes are the classic. Prick them, double-wrap in foil, settle them at the edge of the embers with tongs, turn once, and allow a full hour. Test with a knife straight through the foil. Foil parcels are quicker and endlessly adaptable: halloumi with peppers, salmon with a slice of lemon, corn on the cob with butter. If you cook meat over embers, sausages included, cut into it and check it is steaming hot all the way through with no pink before it goes anywhere near a child, because embers cook unevenly. When in doubt, finish meat off on the stove.

Only adult hands go near the embers, and those hands should be holding long tongs and wearing a stout glove. Anything that has been in or near the fire, including the foil, is treated as hot until proven otherwise.

The gas stove is not cheating

An honest truth from many smoky evenings: fires are slow, weather dependent and temperamental, and children reach peak hunger roughly 40 minutes before the embers are ready. The relaxed move is to cook the actual dinner on a gas stove at the usual time, then let the fire handle puddings, marshmallows and atmosphere. Nobody sitting around a campfire eating a foil banana has ever complained that the pasta came off a stove, and our family camping meal plan is built on exactly this principle.

The stove lives outside, always. Never cook in the tent, the porch or under a closed awning, even in rain, for the same carbon monoxide reason as the BBQ rule above. A tarp rigged high and open on all sides is the wet-weather answer.

If a small hand finds something hot

Even in careful families, burns happen, so know the drill before you need it. The NHS advice is to cool the burn under cool running water for 20 minutes, as soon as possible, and it is worth doing up to three hours after the injury. Remove clothing or jewellery near the burn unless it is stuck to the skin. No ice, no butter, no creams, whatever your grandmother swore by. Once cooled, cover the burn loosely with cling film laid lengthways, or a clean plastic bag for a hand, and keep your child warm while you decide on next steps.

With children, err heavily on the side of getting it looked at. Seek medical advice for any burn to the face, hands, feet, joints or genitals, anything that blisters or is larger than your child's hand, and any burn at all on a baby. Call 111 if you are unsure and 999 for anything large or deep. None of this is medical advice, so for anything beyond basic first aid the NHS burns pages, 111 and your own GP or health visitor are the right doors to knock on. And keep that water bucket by the fire filled, because it is your first responder as well as your fire extinguisher.

Questions parents ask

Open fires and children need one adult on watch at all times; never bring a lit or smouldering BBQ, stove or heater inside or near a closed tent, and cool any burn under running water for 20 minutes and follow NHS advice. Kids Under Canvas is an independent guide; for health concerns speak to your GP or health visitor, and follow NHS and Lullaby Trust guidance for babies.