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Play Camping Games
Games are a great way to get your kids involved in camping and make the experience more fun.
Design nature scavenger hunts and keep them busy looking for flowers, trees, squirrels, and birds.
Outdoor games like ring toss or bean bag toss often come in portable containers. Other games like flashlight tag and I Spy require little or no supplies.
You can even encourage your children to make up their own game. Maybe they will want to play pretend park ranger or act like their favorite animal.
Kids are notoriously picky eaters. Make sure you are stocked with their favorite snacks to keep them happy and comfortable for the duration of your camping trip.
Packing baggies with fruit and vegetables, cheese sticks, or crackers can help them keep their energy up with long days outside.
For meals, fun campfire cookouts may encourage your child to try new foods.
Eating off of special camping dishes or straight out of a tinfoil wrapper can put a fun twist on classic foods.
Bring Camping Toys
If your child has camping toys at home, bring them on your trip!
They can enjoy bird watching through their set of child’s binoculars, play flashlight tag with an LED headlamp, or explore their surroundings with a compass.
Bringing familiar toys from home can make your child feel more comfortable in a new place, and buying special toys for your camping trip can help build excitement for the experience.
Assign Jobs
Kids of all ages can be involved with building and maintaining your campsite.
Make your child feel like an integral part of your camping trip by assigning them a job.
From collecting sticks for the fire to helping make dinner, you can pick the jobs you know your child will enjoy.
Camping chores are a surprisingly fun way to teach your child about responsibility and make them feel even more included on your camping trip.
Plan Plenty of Activities
Planning more activities than you need is better than being left with a bored child on a camping trip.
Plan for a variety of activities, both in nature and at your campsite, so that you have a range of options.
The weather, your child’s mood, and countless other factors can make some activities impossible.
Having plenty of options ensures there is always something to do.
Bring supplies for fishing, hiking, coloring, swimming…anything that may interest your child during your trip.
Learn Something New
Learning a new skill, like how to fish or how to read a compass, can make a camping trip even more memorable.
Children learn and absorb information very quickly, and picking up a new skill can add a sense of accomplishment to camping.
You can pass on a skill you already know well or you can take the time to learn something new alongside your child.
If they are old enough, ask for their opinion on what they would like to learn about nature.
Observe Animals
From squirrels and birds to fish and bugs, there is no shortage of animals to safely observe while camping.
Look for information online or in books to share with your child on local wildlife, create a scavenger hunt or Bingo game to see how many animals you can spot, or simply sit back and watch animals in their natural habitat.
Just make sure your child knows not to touch wild animals and how to keep their distance and stay safe around them.
Have a Back-up Plan
On a camping trip, anything can happen. From unexpected storms to faulty equipment, problems can arise throughout the trip.
Having a back-up plan is important, especially if you are camping with children.
Map out where the nearest hotel is or how long it will take to get back home. Bring extra gear in case something breaks, and locate the nearest grocery store for extra supplies.
Also, be sure you know how to get in touch with park rangers or local authorities. It’s always easier to have fun camping if safety comes first.
Summary
As you can see, there are lots of ways to make camping fun for kids.
With a little bit of planning and imagination, you can ensure that your next camping trip will be lots of fun for the whole family!