Pages

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Camping Fun and Games For Families

by: Trisha Novotny
24/7 MOMS

Are you planning a family camping trip?  Plan ahead for some family fun with one or two of these Camping trip games or activities to create simple family memories.

Bubble Fun - Bring along the wands, bubble and buckets and allow your kids to spend hours blowing bubbles all ages enjoy this activity.  Get creative and have contest biggest bubble, smallest, most creative etc.

Domino's - Pick up an inexpensive set of Domino's and teach your family this good ole' fashion game.  There are a variety of games to play and are generally included inside your box of Domino's.  Click here for additional game instructions.

Exploring- Take a family day hike.  Ask the camp host or forest Rangers for hiking trail information.  Be sure to take a back pack wit water and snacks.

Game Of Cards - Card games are a well loved camping game and can become a family tradition for all ages.  Click here for fun Card game ideas and instructions.

Camp Fire Stories - Is someone in your family a great story teller?  Assign them the fun each night of telling an ongoing campfire story each night prior to bedtime.  Be sure it is suitable for all ages listening - unless you want little ones in your sleeping bag that night.  Another idea would be to read a book each night around the campfire.

Camp Fire Sing-along - Get out the guitar and start a campfire sing along.  Click here for lyrics to traditional campfire songs.

Where are we - Prior to leaving for your camping trip go a little research on the history and tourist attractions near your campsite.  Teach your kids something new about the area or terrain.

Cloud Watching -Remember when you were little and you would look into the sky and imagine the clouds were different animal or scenes? Grab a blanket place it out i an open area and lay down with your kids and imagine what the clouds could be.

Lawn Games - Camping is the perfect tie to teach your kids lawn games such as Bocce, Croquet, Frisbee, Croquet, Horse shoe, Ladder Golf, Capture the flag, Lawn darts.  Click here for ideas and instructions.  Also google Lawn Games for more ideas.

Outdoor Cooking- Camping is a great time to teach kids cooking.  So when making your camping meal plan think about a dish or two that you can have your children help you cook.  Try making Foil packet meals that all ages can participate in creating.

Skits - Have a skit night where everyone breaks in to groups and comes up with camp skits.  You could plan ahead with ideas and scripts for those that have never participated in camp skits.

2 comments:

  1. We camped a lot when I was little, our whole family LOVED it, even my grandparents. Camping is such a great way to spend bonding with family and friends, without all the distractions of phones, TVs and everyday problems. I still have such great memories of our camping trips.
    I know now-a-days it's even harder to get away from all our toys. I think camping is needed even more now, because we all literally have tons of distractions in our pocket!
    I'd suggest anybody going camping, that you make everybody leave all those things at home or at least limit the time they can spend using them. Schedules would probably work best at keeping these things to a minimum and as not to have a big fight on your hands.


    These tools could be used to make your camping experience better if you use them for things like Ghost Stories around the camp fire.
    Here are a few sites that I recommend to enhance your camping pleasure. They are: True Ghost Stories From Around the World Creepy Tales App and Scary Campfire Stories App
    All three are free and you can find stories for the little ones all the way up to adult. Just make sure you use good judgment when telling scary stories or you could be sharing your sleeping bag with a kid or two, as Trisha explained earlier it could get a little over crowded.

    Thanks for the great camping tips Trisha, it brought back some fond memories. I think I'll try to put a camping trip together within the next year or two since my 2 year old grand-baby hasn't been yet and I'd love to experience sharing her first time and seeing it through her eyes.
    "I have the links listed if you can't find them"
    Smart Moms Saving Money


    Happy Mother's Day!
    Laura

    ReplyDelete
  2. I so want to go camping again but my hubby is the hotel-type. Thanks for this post it may help to convince him! Am stopping by from MBC Simply Follow, check out my musings about motherhood when you get a chance.

    Happy Mother's Day
    Nicole
    http://www.myidealife.com.au

    ReplyDelete