Camping Ideas and Activities for your Kids

Camping Ideas and Activities for your Kids



The greatest charm of going camping is the fresh air, peace, and quiet. You won't need anything other than that, but what if you take your kids camping with you?

Of course, the children won't sit quietly next to the tent and enjoy the silence, they still need something more to have fun. For this reason, it would be a good idea to design a few activities or games for the children before going camping.

We believe kids will enjoy games that don’t include cell phones, tablets, computers, and Wi-Fi. Some of these games you have probably played when you were younger and now you can teach your kids how to have fun in nature without technology and without spending money.

Choose games according to the age of the child, although most of them are suitable for all ages. Here is a list of games and activities your kids could play.

 

Treasure hunt

On a larger piece of paper, make a map with various pictures of flowers, ants, grass, pebbles, and other things that can be found in your camp. The task for the children is to find everything from the map and whoever is the fastest can get candy for the prize. This is a great way for children to stay in nature, but be careful - watch them so they don’t get too far away from the camp. The game is suitable for all age groups but you will only need to adapt the search to their age.

 

Camping Olympic Games

In case you have a whole team of kids, you can make competitive games. Choose 5-10 different games (like potato sack race), and divide the children into teams or pairs. The team that loses, drops out of the game and the game continues with the other teams and so on until you get a winner. This game can last all day and you adults can also participate. Teams that drop out can cheer for the rest so everyone still participates in the game.

 

Water Gun Races

If you are camping during the summer heat, this is the right game for you. You will need a few water guns, plastic cups, and water. Place triangle-shaped plastic cups in several locations so that there are as many ‘triangles’ in each location as there are players. Using a water gun let the children try to knock down all the set glasses. The one who knocks down all the glasses the fastest is the winner of the game. Squirting is also allowed to distract opponents.

 

Empty the bucket

Another great game for summer days. Fill the buckets with water and place an empty bucket a few meters away. Give the children a sponge to transfer the water from one bucket to another. As in other games, the winner is the one whose bucket is emptied first. It doesn’t have to be a sponge, you can use glasses or water guns again.

 

Baseball (with balloons)

A very simple and incredibly fun game, also for summer days. Just fill smaller balloons with water, tie them up and use them instead of a classic baseball. The rules of the baseball game at camp don’t have to be classic, you can set them by yourself. Kids in the camp can shoot trees with a stick and a balloon. Don't forget to throw the punctured balloons in the trash after the game.

 

Ping Pong

This is one of the toys you can make by yourself. You will need balloons, a ping pong ball, duct tape, and a few plastic cups. Cut off the bottom of the plastic cup and cover the edges with duct tape. Tie the end of the balloon and cut off the other part. Pull the balloon around the edge of the cup you cut, glue it and that's it, you have a toy. Kids can put a ping pong ball in a glass and pull the end of the balloon to make the ball fly away. If you aren’t able to get the balls, you can also make them by yourself using paper. 

 

Football game

Campsites adapted for children are likely to have a football pitch and even if they don’t, mark the field using sticks, just take the ball with you. Divide kids into teams and to make it even more interesting, bring a whistle for one of the kids to be the judge. 

 

Bigfoot

Did you ever tell the kids who is the weird creature named bigfoot? If you haven’t, it’s the right time to do it before camping. As the footprints of various animals on the ground can often be seen in the forest, this suggest to the kids that they leave theirs as well. Cut two pieces of solid cardboard in the shape of a huge foot. Instead of fingers, you can glue five balloons. It will be necessary to glue the slippers so that the children can walk. Then mark the start and finish of your racetrack and let the game begin.

 

Fighting sticks

Take two straight sticks and the noodles that need to be divided into four equal parts so you can wrap and glue each end of the stick. You don't want kids to really get hurt from this kind of "wrestling". Firm the noodles well. Now each opponent has his own weapon. To make the game even more fun (and harder), have the kids stand on stumps and fight like that. Of course, the opponents won't hit each other, the rule of the game is to hit only the sticks.

 

Potato Sack Race

This is probably the most played game on all school trips you have ever played. Bring potato bags with you, and have the kids jump in and race. There’s no need to explain this game to you further, everyone knows the rules. We believe that the sight of children jumping in sacks will take you back to childhood. Also, this can be one of the games that will be played in your camp's Olympic Games. A good replacement for a potato bag can also be a sleeping bag.

 

Simon Says … what?

We continue with the classics. This is a game that can be played anywhere and even on a camping trip because there are so many ideas that kids can come up with. Choose Simon and he will continue to decide what the others should do. Don't be the one to tell the children what to do, let the child's imagination do it instead for you.

 

Hide And Seek

The favorite children's game of all time. In nature and camp, kids will have so much different places to hide that game can last literally from morning to night. Assign them an area within which they can play so they don’t get lost in the campground. The more players, the more fun the game will be. Instead of all the children hiding and only one looking for them, you can play in another way. Let one child hide and all the others look for him, the one who finds him hides the next.

 

Catch the bubbles

You can buy a bubble blower that children will adore and if it's an expensive option for you, you can buy a small tube for a dollar and blow out the bubbles by yourself. The kids will have a great time and you don’t have to worry about the mess because remember, you are in nature! When you have used up all the liquid, take water and a little dishwashing detergent, shake the tube and get ready for another round of catching the bubbles.

 

What if it rains?

Rain in your camp can ruin your plans and to prevent that from happening, you must also have option B. You can make a box full of crayons, pens, notebooks, or some other things that are interesting to your children. A crate can serve you instead of a table. If your children are a little older, Uno-tickets, bingo, monopoly, and other board games can help.

 

Conclusion

We’re sure you want the kids to bring back wonderful memories from camping. Playing casually in nature with you or with other kids, your children will surely want to repeat the camping as soon as possible. In addition to these games, there are various other activities that you can do together such as walking, hiking, singing, or whatever comes to mind. Try to make the most of beautiful and sunny days by playing outdoors and as you can see, even in the case of rain camping with children still can be fun.