The back door
Yard Nights began as a rained-off plan. The campsite trip we'd promised the kids was cancelled by a storm warning, and to soften the blow we pitched the tent on the lawn "just for fun". It was, by every measure that matters to a six-year-old, the best night of the year — supper on a blanket, torch games, one bat, uncountable fireflies, and the deep satisfaction of sleeping in a tent while knowing the bathroom was ten steps away. We never entirely went back to real campsites. This site is the notebook of what we learned.
Backyard camping is not a lesser version of the real thing. It is its own thing: zero driving, zero booking, bail-out always available, bedtime flexible, and repeatable any clear evening between spring and autumn. It is also, quietly, the best possible rehearsal for the campsite trips that come later — children who have done ten yard nights arrive at a real campground already knowing how tents, torches and night noises work.
How the nights are written
For the grown-up organising it, with the children's point of view always in the frame. Every night note says what the adult does, what the kids can own, and where it usually goes sideways.
Cheap on purpose. A basic tent, blankets from the house, a torch each. The whole format runs on things most households already own; where we suggest buying anything, it's small and it's earned.
Honest about the 2 a.m. wobble. Someone usually goes inside at some point, and the notes treat that as part of the design rather than a failure — that's what the porch-light promise is for.
Three languages
The nights are written in English, Portuguese and Spanish for their own readers — yards, seasons, sunset times and what the neighbours think all differ between countries, and each version is written for its own backyards.
Independence
Yard Nights is an independent editorial project. Anything mentioned by name was bought with our own money; nobody has paid for a mention. If that ever changes, the night in question will say so at the top.
A yard-night story, or a question before your first one? The porch light is on.