Camping Activities for Kids

Camping can be fun for everyone, especially kids. Here are some excellent camping games that your kids can play outdoors while camping.

Flashlight Tag

Flashlight tag is one of our favorite nighttime camping games for kids.

The Rules of Location: No going out of bounds. Before the kids play flashlight tag in the night make sure that everyone understands not to go out of “bounds” which means create a safe area to play flashlight tag. Anyone going out of bounds will have to sit out that portion of flashlight tag.

The Rules: Have someone count to 30. Once they reach 30 they should turn on their flashlight to tag a person with “light” instead of physically touching them. The flashlight holder and seeker should creep around the play area until they have spotted someone to flash the flashlight upon. Once someone has been spotted, they take a seat by the campfire and await for everyone else to be in the “spotlight.”

The Goal: After everyone is caught, the game is over with the last one found being the seeker. Let the games begin again.

Roasting at the Campfire

To roast marshmallows for a campfire, you need twigs, including a fire created by an adult at the campgrounds. Here’s when the nature side comes out.

Have the children seek for a long branch tough enough to hold a large marshmallow, but not too round in size. A parent should observe and inspect the long branches found for any lurking dangers. Once the long branch passes inspection and has been wiped down properly and thoroughly, grab those marshmallows and park it next to the campfire.

Place a marshmallow onto a stick, slide inward two inches down. Slide another marshmallow on that stick. Make sure that the top marshmallow does not have the stick poking through it completely. If the stick had poked through the marshmallow end, stick another marshmallow on. The idea is to “cap” the stick with a marshmallow so that way you can eat the marshmallow off of the top of the stick.

Marshmallows melt and can be hot, hot, hot, so be careful by having a plate around in case you have to put that stick somewhere for one reason or another. It is always wise to have a lightly damp rag to wipe off any sticky marshmallow droppings left behind upon your fingers.

How do you cook them and to what color?

You place the marshmallows lightly on the edge of the flame coming from the fire. Kids should sit far enough back to reassure safety against fire hazards. That is the beauty of having a long stick. The length of the branch helps a person’s safety when it comes to campfire marshmallows.

But when is it done? When the marshmallow turns light brown on all edges, but not at melting stage or of charcoal black, it is done. Let it sit for 1.5 minute(s) to cool so that you do not burn your lips. Marshmallows, again, is hot, hot, hot! Supervision is a must for roasting at the campfire.

Spooky Comical Campfire Stories

What can the kids do during a campfire? Tell spooky or funny campfire stories. First everyone decides when spooky is too spooky, and how long each story should span at most. The average is ten minutes. Then the children would choose who will begin by playing rock, scissors, and paper.

Go around with only two kids at a time putting their fingers in rock, scissors, or paper sign to beat out the opponent for the head story teller spot. When there is only one kid beating all, the kid begins their story, and that is the moment they tell you whether it’s of comical genre or of horror.

Counter-clockwise, continue until everyone has had a chance to tell a scary or funny story.

Kick What Can?

Kids love to run, and Kick the Can is a great game to run into. Kick the Can also gives back. While all the kids play, mom and dad has time to sort out the camping area and the camping gear.

In order to play Kick the Can, you will need a can, any size. Taking a clean can with you from home has great benefits. You may find a can at the campsite to use, but make sure it is a can. If you do not use a can, it’s no longer Kick the Can.

To begin, the children should map out a Kick the Can area. Everyone should agree where the game is to take place, including where not to go.

Once the map has been discussed and agreed upon, you need to agree upon where a “jail” is going to be. It could be between a set of trees where all the kids caught should stand like George Washington had before he escaped. It could be a dirt clearing. Most any area will do as long as there is enough space to fill.

The game begins where someone counts to twenty-five while the children hide within the agreed location. Then the “it” person tries to find and tag. Once a person is tagged, they go to jail. Everyone tagged or who went out of bounds should stand in the jail until someone can run to reach the can, kicking it to set the prisoners free. The prisoners run out of the jail while the “it” person tries to tag them to send them back to jail.

The most important rules of this game is to not go out of bounds, no going to the bathroom or any other location without sharing your plans with others, no name calling or fighting, do not play at nighttime unless thoroughly supervised, do not kick the can with complete force (poses possible dangers), do not kick the can onto another person, no cheating on the count (or you are in jail and “the we the people” intervenes in choosing another leader), and keep the hands off of the can.

The object to this game is to kick the can and let everyone out of “jail.” But if the one tagging and protecting the non-removed can tags everyone before someone kicks the can, they pick another winner or does it again.

With these fun camping activities kids will not soon forget their experience. These fun camp activities are not only for the kids, parents are known to join in as well.