7 Fun Games to Play While Camping with Kids

Camping is an activity that many families enjoy every time. This is the time when children and teenagers are without their electronic devices and get to actually spend some quality time with their parents.

Making camping fun for kids. Try including the following 7 fun games to play to keep everyone entertained. Not only will you and your kids enjoy them, but they’re activities that will leave all of you with great memories of your time spent together in nature. These games are great for the whole family to enjoy once camp is set up and everyone has some spare time on their hands.

1. Obstacle Course

A favourite with most campers and is one of those fun camping games for kids that is ideal for helping them work off a whole lot of pent-up energy! You can make up your own obstacle course that could be activities like:

• Running to the closest ablution block and back
• Hopping from one foot to the other
• Jumping over a series of objects
• Doing 20 jumping jacks

All of the above are sure to get the kid’s heart rates up and burn loads of energy.

2. Sleeping Bag Relay

Almost the same as a potato sack race, but using sleeping bags instead, this game is great for adults and children alike. Besides having lots of laughs, it’s also a good way to exercise! Participants have to hop while in the sleeping bag to an agreed-upon finish line, with the winner being allowed to decide what’s for breakfast the next morning.
Following are fun team camping games for six or more campers, with kids playing against kids, kids against adults, or adults against adults.

3. Camping Olympics

Set up a variety of games that participants can rotate to and the whole family is guaranteed to have plenty of fun! Your camping Olympics could include games like:

• Jumping rope
• Bean bag toss
• Tug of war
• Water balloon toss

Make sure to have a scoring system in place, as well as a points system for first, second and third place for your Olympics and let the fun begin.

4. Canteen Bucket Brigade

Campers should be divided into two teams for this game. Place two large buckets filled with waterside by side at one end of your campsite and another two empty buckets at the other end. Full and empty buckets should be at least 10 feet away from each other. Each team is given an empty canteen and players must run as fast as they can to the full buckets, fill their canteens, run back and empty the water from their canteens into the empty buckets. Whichever team fills their empty bucket first, is the winner.

Next, are some games that are best played after a long day’s hike and everyone is settled around the campfire.

5. Tic Tac Toe

Once the kids have settled for the night, mom and dad can unwind by playing a game or two of tic tac toe. These wooden puzzles are great for parents to spend some quiet time together when out camping with the kids. Be warned though – if you know some tic tac toe tricks, you might only get to sleep when the sun’s coming up.

6. Telephone Game

Everyone should be sitting shoulder to shoulder to play this game. The person at the start of the line thinks of a long sentence and whispers it to the person sitting to their right. That person then whispers it to the person on their right and so on, until the sentence has been whispered to the last person in the line. That person then repeats the sentence out loud. The sentence will be very different from the way it started out, since everyone in the line will more than likely have added a word or two when it was their turn.

7. Charades

A classic game and a favourite with both kids and adults alike, charades is a great way to enjoy time together around the campfire! Players get divided into two teams and using only movements and hand gestures, one player at a time gets to act out a word or phrase that is given to them quietly by the opposing team. That player’s team members then only have one minute to guess what the word is. Players from teams are switched after each word is played out and whichever team correctly guesses the most words, is the winner.

Caroline Bird is an inspired writer. She loves sharing her thoughts and personal experiences related to travel lifestyle, healthcare, personal improvement, and productivity through her writing. Connect with Caroline on Twitter @bCarolinebird12.