Camping with Kids: A List of Some of the Best Activities
Camping makes sense for a family vacation and means camping with kids. It’s an inexpensive family activity in a tight-budget economy and a way to give your kids what they may lack in this go-go era. It has an unstructured time outside, away from all the electronics, homework, and an avalanche of after-school activities. Camping provides a rare chance for everyone to be a kid, and what could be more important?
We, as a family,
Activities for Small Group of Kids
Game Boards
Travel game boards are the perfect entertainment for camping with kids. They are small enough for travel and light enough for packing small in your camping packs. We have Hungry Hungry Hippos Grab & Go Game, Connect 4 Grab and Go Game (Travel Size), Clue Grab and Go Game (Travel Size), and Pop-O-Matic Trouble Grab & Go Game (Travel Size) for some family fun.
There are a few tips and tricks to keep these games working, and prolonged for the outdoor use. For example, I like to laminate any cardboard or paper cards included with these games. The travel Clue game includes paper cards and destroyed if I didn’t put them into a protective seal.
Nature Story Cubes
My girls love to write or tell stories all the time, which is a perfect activity camping with kids. I chose to extend this with our camping activities. This project is like telling ghost stories, but we use our natural surroundings and Rory’s Story Cube Complete Set that you can purchase online.
First shake and roll as many story dice that you would like out on a table. Using the picture as a story jumping-off point, make up a story up that is wacky, wild, and fun but has to do something with nature, and the pictures rolled out. It has to make some sense to win points.
Everyone either writes the short story down and reads it out loud, or you go around add just say it out loud without writing it. Each person gets one point for every cube used in the story. The more story dice rolled, the harder the game is to get as many points for each story as possible.
Card Games
Card games are a sure go-to gaming option. You have your original deck of cards that are fun to play Rummy, Hearts, or even Go Fish for the younger kids. But you can also get these other great card games that are a scream to play for both adults and kids alike outside.
We love Man Bites Dog and Mad Libs The Game card game. These are both extremely excellent and fun games that help and boost vocabulary and literary skills. Again, if these games are played outdoors a lot, I suggest laminating the cards. They are paper and laminating will extend the life of them tremendously.
Activities for Large Group of Kids
Oh, Deer! (Works with groups of 15 kids or larger)
Materials: Paper and pen to write down “water”, “shelter”, “food”
Players count off by fours, and each number separates the kids into groups of a specific area. The ones become the “deer,” twos are “food,” threes turn into “water,” and fours are “shelter.” Each hold signs with their respective areas on them so others don’t forget and the “deer” can see.
Now all the deer stand together at one end and the rest stand about 20 feet back together. Deer need to decide if they will need water, food, or shelter but keep that decision to yourself. When ready, the “deer” is let go and say “Oh, Deer”. They run to grab one person of a specific habitat component and take them back to the deer side – only one deer to one habitat, (water, food, shelter). The deer are competing among one another for their survival. If a deer can’t get a habitat component then it “dies” and becomes either water, shelter, or food. They can choose themselves. This ends the first round.
You can keep playing this for a few rounds and then add a predator like a wolf or a cougar. To do this, one deer that dies from a previous round becomes a predator and stands in the middle of the group. When the deer are let go to find a habitat component, the predators are also let loose. But predators can only hop or skip to catch their deer. Any trapped deer will then become another predator. If a predator goes hungry, it dies and becomes a habitat component for the next round.
The Thicket Game (Works with groups of 6 or larger)
Materials: None
This game is a hide and seeks game in nature. One person is “IT” as they are the prey. The prey must stand in a comfortable and stable spot, not move, and close its eyes. The remaining players are the predator. The predator goes to hide around the prey as the prey counts to 30 seconds or any amount required.
Next, the prey opens their eyes and tries to find the predator without moving an inch. They can turn their head and the top half of their body only but not their feet. Once the predator is spotted with sights and sounds, the prey calls them out and the predator is now out, and sits away from the rest of the game.
After the prey can’t see any
Judge Nature (Works with groups)
Materials: Piece of paper with instructions for judge to call out and what they should do.
Every player chooses the name of an animal they would like to represent. One player is chosen to be JUDGE NATURE. Next, the other animals follow the instructions given by the judge. If animals should happen to die during the game, they go to a designated area called SOIL. Animals may be given tasks by the judge like “hop on one leg” or “skipping.” Then the Judge calls out one of the following instructions:
- SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: Players run around a designated tree and tough the Judge. The first four players back remain alive, and the others die.
- DROUGHT: Players run to an area designated as the water hole and touch the Judge. The first three back live and the other die.
- HUNTER COMING: Players have 5-10 seconds to run and hide from the sight of the Judge. If they are seen, they die.
- ILLEGAL HUNTER: This hunter “shoots” every animal he sees, so all the animals run and hide.
I hope you like our growing list of fun activities to do when camping with kids this summer. If you like hiking, then check out our post on Hiking with Kids! Let us know how you enjoy these games and if you have other ones you like to play.