Few family adventures offer as many benefits as a camping trip. The outdoor excursions teach children valuable survival tips as well as the importance of the natural world. It is a healthy, electronics-free environment. Of course, children have too much energy to spend their entire trip napping in a hammock or waiting for a fish to bite. Here are several ways to keep young campers entertained during the quieter moments of an outdoor vacation.
Educational Game Play
Scavenger hunts work perfectly on any trip because they are adaptable to the age of the kids and the items found in the area. Work as teams or individuals with the number of items to find based on the age range. Limit the search to three or four items for young children and a dozen or more for ambitious teenagers.
A skills triathlon is another educational opportunity. Compass skills, fire starting, and food foraging are important survival skills that could be the tests in the triathlon. Make certain an adult is available to supervise all challenges and choose subjects the children have experienced beforehand.
Basic Childhood Fun
A campground is the perfect place for cards, charades, tag, and hide-and-seek. A lush forest setting also offers ample options for 20-questions. Many of the simplest ideas are ignored, but the games that were fun to you as a child could also be interesting to your children too.
Rainy Day Ideas
There is no guarantee the weather will cooperate during a camping trip. Rainy days are often when games are needed the most, and the wet weather does not have to stop the fun. Have a paper boat race, but make sure to watch an online tutorial about how to make paper boats before you leave.
Race to collect the most worms in the wet campsite. Make mud pies or take a walk in the rain. When it is time to dry off, consider a game of bingo around the campfire. Pre-print bingo cards before leaving home. There are many children’s printable bingo cards online with fun images instead of numbers. Make certain to print copies of the images for calling. Use small stones collected at the campsite as markers.
Hot Weather Fun
The water pass is an active game that is not overly active, and it allows kids to get wet. It is perfect for warm days when a hike or run around the campsite seems like too much effort. Divide into two groups of equal size and stand in a line behind one another. The person at the front of the line gets a full cup of water. Everyone after the person at the head of the line has an empty cup. The first person must dump the water over and behind their head and into the cup of the person behind them. Continue in this manner until the water is in the cup of the last person in line. The group with the most water remaining wins.
Camping trips supply many happy memories for children and help them to build traditions they can pass on someday. Games often offer valuable lessons, but the main purpose of any game should be to have fun. Always include competitions that appeal to all age ranges in camp so everyone will want to join in.