Going out on a family camping trip is an exciting experience. But it can be tricky with kids as they can get bored pretty quickly. However, there are plenty of activities you can do to keep your little ones entertained.
We have compiled this list of great camping activities for kids.
Let Kids Help Pitch the Tent
Setting up your camp is one of the first things you’ll need to do after reaching your campsite. While you can pitch your tent yourself, involving your kids is better.
Assign them simple, meaningful, and age-appropriate tasks. You can ask them to move firewood, unpack luggage, roll out sleeping bags, and fill up water bottles.
You can also teach them basics like choosing the right spot and driving tent pegs correctly. It will keep them busy and entertained and help them learn important camping rules.
Take Kids to Explore The Campsite
After setting up your tent, you need to explore your campsite to find services like showers and toilets. It also allows you to find out about the nearest attractions that you can visit.
You should take your kids with you while getting around. It’ll keep them involved and help them develop social skills. Just make sure that you don’t let them out of your sight.
Play Camping Charades
While you’ll go out with your family to explore new places, you’ll spend a lot of time at your campsite. During that time, playing fun camping games is a great way to keep your kids from getting bored.
Camping charades is one of the most popular and involving games that you can play with your kids. Not only will it entertain your little ones, but your whole family will have so much fun.
You’ll need to split into two teams, and someone from one of the teams will select a secret camping word. Then the actor will need to act out that word without making lip movement or any sound. The other team will need to guess the camping word before the time runs out.
Play Chinese Whispers
Chinese Whispers is a fun-filled game that’ll make your entire family laugh. You’ll need to sit in a circle, and one of your family members will whisper a phrase to the next person.
The next person will whisper whatever they heard to their neighbor and so on. Everyone will have only one chance to whisper the phrase they heard.
Then the last person will say the phrase out loud, and it’ll probably be entirely different from what the first person whispered. That’s because errors usually accumulate in the retellings.
Sometimes the results of this game are hilarious. You must try this game on your next camping trip.
Play Murder in the Dark
It’s yet another game that every family with kids should play while camping. You’ll need a piece of paper for each person and place them in a bowl after wrapping.
All paper pieces will be blank except two. One will have the letter “M,” and the other will have “D” written on it. Each person will pick up a piece of paper from the bowl. Whoever gets the “M” will be the murderer, and the “D” will be the detective.
The murderer will make eye contact with people to kill them by winking. The victim will die with a dramatic display. As the murderer proceeds, the detective will need to identify them before all the people are killed.
Decorate Campsite
You should pack a camp crafts kit, water paints, chalk, and crayons while going on a camping trip with your family. These supplies will help keep your kids from getting bored during the day.
You can ask them to use these items to decorate the campsite just the way they want. They can paint on rocks, make wind chimes, decorate a picnic table, etc.
There are so many great ideas you can use to decorate your campsite. You can also hide the painted rocks or chimes around the campsite with your kids for other people to find.
Build a Campfire
As the sun sets, ask your kids to gather firewood to build a campfire. It’ll allow you to prepare for the night to spend fun time with your toddlers and older kids before they sleep.
Sitting around a campfire by gathering fire-starting material is an interesting activity in itself. You can make it even more interesting by teaching your kids how to roast marshmallows and hot dogs.
Be extra careful with fire and advise your children to stay at a safe distance. Consider drawing at least a five-foot perimeter around the campfire and warn kids not to cross it.
Make Fire Colorful
Nighttime will be a different experience for your kids while camping. Using magical flames is a great way to make that time as fun as possible for your little ones.
Throw a couple of unopened magical flame packets into the fire, and it’ll create an attractive array of colorful flames that’ll amuse your children.
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t cook or roast anything over these flames. They contain copper sulfate colorant that can lead to vomiting when consumed.
Tell Campfire Stories
Telling stories around the campfire is essential for every classic camp trip. You can tell older kids some spooky stories as they usually appeal to them.
You can also ask kids to tell a tale by making up their own narratives. It will keep them involved and improve their creativity.
Ask Fun Questions
Camping provides you with a great opportunity to bond with your family. You can start asking your kids fun questions so that you can learn more about their thoughts.
For example, you can ask your younger kid to tell you the most memorable time of their life. You can also ask them to give all the family members new names.
Go Stargazing
Go stargazing once you’re done with your campfire time, and there is still time before everyone sleeps. You don’t need any planning to perform this activity.
However, you can make it special by taking a small telescope and a star map on your family camping trip. Once darkness falls, head out to a quiet and dark open spot and set your telescope to watch the night sky.
You can also use a smartphone app to identify different constellations and planets. Your kids will love this activity, and it’ll also increase their knowledge of astronomy.
Go Bird Watching
If you want your kids to learn new things while enjoying nature, consider taking a couple of binoculars on your camping trip. Go outside the tent with your family and start spotting birds using binoculars. Tell the names and living styles of new bird species, which you know, to your kids.
Go Fishing
Going fishing early in the morning is one of the best kids camping ideas to start the day. The best strategy is to announce that everyone is going fishing in the morning. This way, your kids will sleep early and wake up excited.
Make sure that you find the nearest water body before going out. It’ll allow you to make fond memories with your younger ones and teach them basic fishing and camping hacks.
Encourage them to explore the riverside when they’ve finished casting. Even if you fail to catch any fish, your kids will still have fun.
Stroll in the Woods
Take your kids into the woods to explore the great outdoors. You can educate them about different species of flora and fauna along the way.
Make sure that you arrange a kid-friendly trip. Don’t take your young child on a long walk if they can’t manage it. Just because it is simple for you doesn’t mean it is the same for the kiddos.
Go For a Camping Scavenger Hunt
Another activity that you can do during the day at the campsite is a nature scavenger hunt. Kids love this activity, and it also helps them develop exploration skills. You’ll need to plan before taking your kids on a scavenger hunt.
Go out and do some research on the local fauna and flora in the region and make a checklist of objects. You can include unique trees, plants, rocks, and any other notable object on your list.
You can also hide objects like wind chimes and painted rocks that your kids made in different places. Then you can make a simple map on paper with clues and give it to your kids to find those objects.
Go Geocaching
Geocaching is one of the most popular camping activities for kids and adults. It’s similar to a scavenger hunt, but you need to look for hidden geocaches instead of natural landmarks. These hidden stashes are placed by other campers around the campsite and woods.
Your kids will need to use a GPS receiver to locate these caches. There are logbooks inside the geocaches that you and your kids can sign to prove to other campers that you found the cache.
Paint Nature
Campsites are usually located next to scenic views. You can take advantage of those views by asking your kids to draw them. Give each family member a piece of paper and colors and ask them to draw anything they see.
It’ll keep your kids entertained and help them improve their art drawing skills. You can organize a painting contest to make this activity even more interesting.
Go Swimming
If you’re going to a summer camp, you should swim with your kids. You and your kids will enjoy it, and it’ll also help you blow off some heat. Make sure that you pack your swimming suits and waterproof sunscreen before leaving home.
Plant a Tree
Planting a tree is one of the best kid camping activities, and it benefits both the environment and your kids. It’ll help you teach your little ones the basics of gardening and the benefits of planting trees. Make sure it is allowed at your campsite before performing this activity.
Conduct a Sleeping Bag Race
You’ll already have sleeping bags for each person in your tent, and you can use them for a sleeping bag race like a potato sack race.
If you’re worried about getting your sleeping bags damaged or dirty, consider using heavy-duty trash bags.
Play Capture the Flag
Playing “capture the flag” is a great way to help your kids develop teamwork skills. There will be two teams, and each one has a designated area. Each team will hide a flag in their area, and the other team will need to find it.
The team that finds and brings the other team’s flag to their territory will win. Players can capture opposing members by tagging them and be rescued by their teammates, but they’ll need to come and tag them.
This game requires planning, teamwork, stamina, and speed. Playing it will allow your kids to develop all these skills while having fun.
Take Pictures
You should capture your best moments while performing different activities with your kids. Consider using a smartphone you can easily carry. Make funny poses and ask your kids to do the same. You can also teach your kids the correct way to capture pictures if they’re interested in photography.
Summary
These fun camping activities will help you get the most out of your family camp trip. Just don’t stress out over organizing every minute of your trip. Try to spend as much time as possible with your family and use any of these ideas if you get complaints about boredom.
